LETTER

September 23, 2011

Dear Chris O’ Keefe,

RE: MICHELIN DOWNSIZE

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we regret to inform you that your position in Michelin Tire Company has become redundant. The lay offs will take effect on November2, 2011 and has affected 750 of our esteemed employees in the East Providence branch. the lay off should not reflect badly on your exceptional performance on the job and we are willing to provide references to this effect.

The company has struggled to remain competitive in the tire production industry but has suffered a substantial loss in the past year. The increased cost of production and subsequent loss has forced us into the decision to let go of our valued employees.

The company is holding a seminar hosted by the Heenan Blaikie Onatorio Labor and Employment group in the Hilton hotel’s second floor central conference room at Downtown Providence. The seminars will begin at 10 a.m. and end at 3p.m. each day and span over a three day period. There are all expense paid rooms booked at the Hilton hotel for laid off employees to stay over the seminar period. The seminars are designed to help employees navigate important updates in legislature, labor and employment.

The company is offering two months severance pay, health and life insurance benefits for one and a half months, and sterling references for employees affected by the lay offs; cheque can be collected at opening hours in the Human Resources department  of the branch and will be paid in one lump sum.

We would like to offer you our thanks for 17 years of flawless performance. We wish you well in the future.

Sincerely,

 

Bre’ Anna Metts-Nixon

CEO Michelin Tire Company

SPEECH

Good afternoon everyone,

As the President of the Grand Northern Railway Company I would like to issue a formal statement on the incident that occurred involving our GN mainliner on October 19, 2011.

On behalf of the GN Railway Company I would like to apologize to everyone who depend on our trains to get them to their destinations. We can only be thankful for our capable employees that responded swiftly and competently to the situation. We are also grateful that no one else was hurt.

As I am sure you have heard on the news, the incident involved a young minor who cannot be named. He suffered a severe asthmatic attack on the mainliner but the situation was immediately controlled by the GNR employees. The conductor on duty administered CPR which is part of the basic training required of all our staff. A medical team and police detail was deployed within five minutes to transport the injured party to the nearest hospital and ensure the safety of the other passengers. Alternative transportation was also provided and transferred passengers within 30 minutes.

All passengers of the Mainliner have been offered a two day free pass on any of the GN trains and the minor’s medical bills have been paid by the company.

We understand that our past behavior has not inspired loyalty or esteem and that the promises made in the previous Press Conference have been negated by recent events. We have already put in motion some of the restorations we had promised. We have decided to keep management and staff unchanged because their skillful handling of yesterday’s situation proved their competence and ability to act swiftly in a difficult situation. They have also been offered bonuses for the parts they played. We will continue to maintain this excellent level of expertise in future training.

No more promises will be given, only results. Thomas Edison once said, in regards to his efforts to create the light bulb, “I have found over 1000 different ways how not to make a light bulb.” We have learned from our mistakes and have scheduled the following updates to reverse the bad stigma on our good name. Our efforts are being put into ensuring our customers enjoy a comfortable trip to their destinations.

The overhauls we have taken to improve long term and short term services include:

• Total renovation of current trains and replacement of those that cannot be renovated. This project has already been started and will continue over the next three months.
• We also contacted the farmers whose cows wander onto the train tracks and are building fences around their property to ensure the safety of the herd and passengers. The fences will be finished in the next week.
• Drainage systems are being put beside the tracks and these tracks are also being elevated to prevent flooding and snow clogs. These two projects will be implemented gradually over the next six months.
• Snow ploughs will also be mounted on the trains during the winter season to clear snow drifts. This is a seasonal solution, although it is already put on standby for the coming winter months.
• A new electronic timetable has been put into operation at all our train stations to ensure the dependability of train schedules. All trains will also be announced as they arrive and depart from the station.

If you have any questions please contact our Human Resources center in the San Antonio Headquarters. The offices are open all day on business days.

Thank you for your understanding; we are grateful for your loyalty to us in the 60 years the Grand Northern Railroad Company has been serving you.

FEATURE ARTICLE

Grand Northern Promises Real Change for Passengers

By Enifo Agodo

San Antonio, Texas – when eight year old fourth grader, Tommy Thornton boarded the GN Mainliner for school that morning he did not know that the train would make an impact on his life. Despite the hot and dusty day the mood around the San Antonio station was mellow, 8 a.m. not generally being the time for volatile emotions.

Thornton, who is mildly asthmatic, was saved by the conductor a Mrs. Oppong who had the basic emergency training required of all Grand Northern employees.  A bystander, Mr. Aln said “it was very sudden; tommy always sits beside me on the train because I know his parents, we were talking and in the middle of a sentence he had a severe asthma attack.”

While the conductor was administering CPR, the train driver made the decision to reroute the train to the nearest town with a hospital two minutes away from their current destination. It was during a difficult maneuver to reverse the train and change tracks that the Mainliner expired. Following procedure the driver called the GN office in San Antonio and a full medical staff and police detail was sent to the scene. Within five minutes young Tommy was on his way to the hospital and the stranded passengers were being transferred to another train with the guarantee of a two day free train pass.

Mr. and Mrs. Thornton said they were grateful for the swift efforts of the Grand Northern employees, “No price can be put on the life of our child, we are just grateful that we can trust our son into the capable hands of the GN Railroad Company.”

According to hospital staff Tommy made a full recovery and had all medical expenses paid by the Grand Northern Railroad Company.

PRESS RELEASE

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 27, 2011

 

ECONOMIC RECESSION FORCES MICHELIN TIRE COMPANY TO LAY OFF 750 WORKERS

 

East Providence, R.I. – Michelin Tire Company announced, at a press conference, their decision to lay off 750 employees from their U.S. East Providence office.

 

The lay offs will take effect on the November 2, 2011.

 

The lay offs affect all departments in the East Providence office.

 

A general meeting was held to announce the lay offs while specifics about the people let go were withheld to be delivered in a private letter to the residences of those concerned.

 

Michelin Tire Company suffered a ten percent deficit of profits in the last quarter putting them in debt.

 

The deficit was due to drop in consumer demand, and an increase in the cost of production equipment. As a result, the company is unable to employ the same number of staff as in previous years without facing bankruptcy.

 

The CEO of Michelin Tire Company, Bre’anna Metts-Nixon said at the press conference “the decision to let go 750 of our employees was a tough one to make.

 

We apologize to those who have lost their jobs. We are focusing on saving the company, but hope that in the near future we will have the financial stability to rehire those we have laid off.”

 

The Company is offering two months severance pay, health and insurance benefits to employees affected by the lay offs.

 

Michelin Company is holding a seminar hosted by Heenan Blaikie’s Ontario Labor and Employment group at the second floor conference room of the Hilton hotel in Downtown Providence.

 

The seminar will span over 3 days and will start on November 5, 2011 at 10 a.m. and end at 3 p.m. each day.

 

These seminars are designed to help employers navigate the important developments and legislative updates in labor and employment.

 

The laid off employees will be expected to stay at the hotel for the time span of the seminars.

 

Chris O’ Keefe, a laid off regional production manager expressed his disappointment at the conference saying “it is upsetting to have lost my job, but I feel the company has been very generous given the economical situation and I sincerely hope this is only temporary.”

 

 

 

Naïf Alghamadi

Public Relations Officer

Media Department, Michelin Company Headquarters

4015365310

napr@michelinman/mediadepartment.org

MEDIA PITCH

Editor of Times Magazine

Business and Finance Section

Dear Mr. Who,

I am the Public relations officer for the Michelin Tire Company. As you may know the Michelin Tire Company has suffered an almost 50 percent loss in the past year and has been forced downsized its minor branches. The company will be a seminar at the Hilton hotel in Downtown Providence hosted by the renowned Heenan Blaikie Ontario Labor and employment group and is open to the public.

The Seminars will be held on the second floor central conference room of the Hilton and will last for three days (10 a.m. to 3 p.m.)

The Times magazine is known for its publication of current news that is also relevant to the readers daily lives. The recent economic collapse has been seen to affect small companies and individuals, but not any big companies until now. The readers would want to know the circumstances of the downsizing and how it affects them, especially as other major companies may also have suffered a similar substantial loss and are heading towards the same decision.

BACKGROUNDER

 Michelin is a tyre manufacturer based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne region of France. It is one of the two largest tyre manufacturers in the world along with Bridgestone. In addition to the Michelin brand, it also owns the BFGoodrich, Taurus, Riken, Kormoran and Uniroyal (in North America) tyre brands. It is also notable for its Red and Green travel guides, its roadmaps, the Michelin stars that the Red Guide awards to restaurants for their cooking, and for its company mascot Bibendum, colloquially known as the Michelin Man.

Michelin was incorporated on 28 May 1888. In 1891, it took out its first patent for a removable pneumatic tyre which was used by Charles Terront to win the world’s first long distance cycle race, the 1891 Paris–Brest–Paris.

Michelin has made a number of innovations to tires, including in 1946 the radial tyre (then known as the “X” tyre). It was developed with the front-wheel-drive Citroën Traction Avant and Citroën 2CV in mind. Michelin had bought the then bankrupt Citroën in the 1930s. As of August 2008, this tyre is still available for the 2CV. In 1934, Michelin introduced a tyre which if punctured would run on a special tire with a foam lining, now known as a run-flat tyre (self-supporting type).

In 1988, Michelin acquired the tyre and rubber manufacturing divisions of the American B.F. Goodrich Company founded in 1870. This included the Norwood, North Carolina manufacturing plant which supplied tires to the U.S. Space Shuttle Program.[7][8] Two years later, it bought Uniroyal, Inc., founded in 1892 as the United States Rubber Company. Uniroyal Australia had already been bought by Bridgestone in 1980.

Michelin also controls 90% of Taurus Tire in Hungary, as well as Kormoran, a Polish brand.

As of 1 September 2008, Michelin is again the world’s largest tyre manufacturer after spending two years as number two behind Bridgestone. Michelin produces tires in France, Germany, USA, UK, Canada, Brazil, Thailand, Japan, Italy and several other countries. On 15 January 2010, Michelin announced the closing of its Ota, Japan plant, which employs 380 workers and makes the Michelin X-Ice tyre. Production of the X-Ice will be moved to Europe, North America, and elsewhere in Asia.

MEDIA ADVISORY

 

 Contact: Shirley Maiken Nixon

555.181.5292 or 555.529.1815

MICHELIN TIRE COMPANY LAYS OFF 750 PEOPLE

What:             Press Conference

The Michelin Tire Company will stage a press conference to discuss their decision to lay off one – third of the total staff at its East Providence branch.

When:                        Saturday, September 24 2011 at 2p.m.

Where:          Michelin Headquarters, 41 Michelin road East Providence. Parking is available behind the building.

 

Who:              Bre’Anna Metts-Nixon, Executive Officer

                        Michelin Tire Company

                        Perry Chambers, Productions Director

                        Michelin Tire Company

Why:             

 The lay offs are a result of the recent decline in the American economy. Michelin has realized that the resources to produce at the rate and amount of previous years are unavailable. The board of directors thus decided to reduce the output in productions. As such, many of the staff employed by Michelin have become superfluous. The employees who have lost their jobs will be told in a private interview where they will be offered severance packages and the continued use of medical insurance benefits for two months.

Background:

Michelin is a tyre manufacturer based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne région of France. It is one of the two largest tyre manufacturers in the world along with Bridgestone. In addition to the Michelin brand, it also owns the BFGoodrich, Taurus, Riken, Kormoran and Uniroyal (in North America) tyre brands. It is also notable for its Red and Green travel guides, its roadmaps, the Michelin stars that the Red Guide awards to restaurants for their cooking, and for its company mascot Bibendum, colloquially known as the Michelin Man.

Due to the recent decline of the economy Michelin has had to cut back on productions in order to stay a competitor in the tire industry. A decision was also made to upgrade to mechanical efficiency in an effort to reduce human error.

Media Visuals:

 Leaflets documenting the reasons and decisions taken for this fiscal year will be distributed.

Photographers and Media personnel are allowed to bring their cameras and other recording devices

For more information contained in this release, please contact Brandie Campbell at 559.278.7940 or visit http://www.Michelinman.com.

 

LEAFLET

This was a leaflet exercise done in my Public Relations class that was never distributed. The leaflet was targeted at the public of a fictional company created in the class. It was built around the Hurricane Irene event and offers safety precautions that those involved should use to stay safe.

Hurricane Irene Sweeps into Providence

Hurricane Irene, a powerful category one storm is approaching the Providence, R.I. area. The hurricane is anticipated to arrive by noon on August 28 2011. We anticipate strong winds and rain, possible power outages, water lock offs and possible property damage. We are concerned for your safety so we advise that you take the following precautions to ensure the safety of yourself and loved ones during the storm:

• Have batteries, candles, battery operated flashlights and a battery operated radio in your immediate vicinity
• Buy non – perishable food i.e. canned goods and plenty of water to last through the storm and a while after.
• If you reside in a flood zone, please evacuate to a settlement on higher ground.
• Pay attention to news stories about the hurricane.
• Weather proof your property: Tape windows to avoid cracks, put sandbags underneath doors and/or windows to prevent flooding, check roof to ensure that it is sturdy enough to withstand storm and get car(s) of the street and into a garage.
• Call Police (911), Fire station (401 474 3348) or Providence hospital (401 444 4000) in case of emergency.
• Above all, stay indoors!

To learn more please call our hotline at 4015363105 or visit us at castexindustriesInc.org.

We sympathize with you and assure you that no matter how hard Irene knocks, she’s only passing through. Stay safe.

Castex Industries

4015363105 or 4015363103

CastexindustriesInc.org

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