Without Warning Pepsi Closes Illinois Plant
Earlier today (Monday October 28th) Pepsi sent a letter to Teamsters Local 727 that its 51st street Chicago facility would be closed immediately.
Almost 80 union workers and over 200 employees who work at the plant say they were blindsided at the closure and are now laid off as the holiday season is about to begin. Pepsi says they will continue to pay and provide benefits for the over two hundred workers through the end of this year.
Local 727 says that Pepsi skipped a sixty day notice that is required under the WARN Act. The union says that they have requested a meeting mid-week with Pepsi to talk about the closure, the skipped sixty day notice, their contract and potential legal issues.
In a statement, Pepsi says the decision was a difficult one and that the plant at sixty years old has “physical limitations”.
Is this just the next big American company to begin to close facilities this fall? Is it just a one off because of substandard facilities? Stay tuned.
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