Navistar Closing Indianapolis Foundry

Slowly but surely the great manufacturing plants which fueled Indianapolis' economy in past decades is disappearing. Crain's Chicago Business reports Navistar is closing its Indianapolis foundry where it makes engine blocks and heads. About 180 good-paying jobs are being eliminated in a move Navistar says will cut its annual operating costs about $13 million a year. An agreement reached with the UAW workers to cut their pay substantially from $25 an hour to $17 an hour averted the plant's closing in 2010 after the company announced in 2009 it intended to close the foundry. In 2011, Mayor Ballard's website boasted of his administration's efforts to keep the plant open and "preserve 200 jobs" after the City awarded tax breaks to the company after it failed to live up to commitments it made when previously offered tax breaks.