St. Cloud's New Flyer bus factory to lay off 70 workers

A St. Cloud bus manufacturer recently touted by Vice President Joe Biden is laying off workers. A delayed order is forcing New Flyer to lay off 13 percent of its work force.

St. Cloud, one of three New Flyer plants, will lose 70 jobs by December. All of the plants will close for two weeks at the end of the year.

New Flyer plans to lay off 270 employees at its plants and 50 salaried workers, mostly at its Winnipeg, Manitoba, headquarters. A company official says the cutbacks result from a delayed order for 140 diesel-electric hybrid buses by Chicago Transit Authority, which couldn't secure state funding.

About 630 workers will remain at the St. Cloud plant after cuts are complete.

In March, Biden came to the St. Cloud plant to tout the federal stimulus bill.

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Information from: St. Cloud Times