More than half the workers who make seats for F-Series Super Duty trucks have lost their jobs at Johnson Controls in Shelbyville, Ky., a United Auto Workers official said.

Letters went out to 114 workers last week telling workers they were laid off immediately, said Tim Arvin, bargaining chairman of United Auto Workers Local 2926.

Until last week, the plant employed 217 workers earning $19.56 an hour, he said.

“We understand with the economic status of the country right now, it is a business decision that had to be made,” said Arvin, a 32-year-old production worker.

Only one shift, instead of two, will make seats for F-250, Ford F-350 and Ford F-450 trucks when Johnson Controls resumes operation Aug. 4, he said.

Johnson Controls spokeswoman Debra Lacey did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

The supplier layoff arrives as Ford Motor is cutting production at the Kentucky Truck Plant from three to two shifts, which will result in the layoff of between 300 and 350 workers by late August.

So far this year, Kentucky Truck workers have manufactured 133,497 Super Duty trucks, a 35 percent drop from production logged during the first six months of 2004 and 2005. But those were boom times for truck sales.

Now production cuts mirror the stunning drop in truck sales in recent months, triggered by rising fuel prices. The layoffs at Kentucky Truck will leave that plant with roughly 3,300 union workers, down from a recent high of 4,700.