Slowed sales due to high fuel costs in the medium-duty truck market is the reason for lay offs of 231 union workers at a Navistar plant in Springfield, OH, according to company officials.

On Thursday, Oct. 13, Navistar, the parent company of International Truck and Engine Corp., announced that UAW Local 402 will lose 217 jobs and UAW 658 will lose 14 jobs beginning Oct. 28, the Dayton Daily News reported.

According to a press release, the lay off decision was announced Oct. 5, but final numbers were not released until this week. Tentatively, 217 of the lay offs will be production workers, and 14 will be clerical, a spokesperson for Navistar told Land Line.

The number of additional non-union employees who will be laid off was not disclosed.

“We clearly understand the reason for the layoff to be the soft market,” Charlie Hayden, president of Local 402, told the Daily News.

Approximately 1,350 people are employed at the Springfield plant. The cutbacks will reduce the facility’s workforce by 17 percent.