By AP/KWMU
Belleville, Ill. – A company in Belleville that makes military boots for U.S. troops plans to lay off 40% of its workers later this summer.
Belleville Shoe Manufacturing Company President Eric Weidmann says the layoffs are due to two large Department of Defense contracts ending. The company employs 260 people in Belleville.
Jim Dougherty, president of the union that represents workers, says he can't recall a layoff this large at the plant.