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Frozen Foods International News
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| McCain Foods Shutting Down Wisconsin Operation |
McCain Foods USA, Lisle, Illinois, is shutting down its specialty
foods operation in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, USA. eliminating 126
jobs.
"With the economy this year the way it is it reached a critical
mass where we needed to make the right decision for the company
as well as our overall workforce," says Scott Bartlett, Vice
President of Manufacturing for McCain USA. He says production
will be moved to its Appleton, Wisconsin, factory. "It has to
do with the flexibility in the infrastructure and the efficiency
that we can gain."
"You could have heard a pin drop when he made the announcement,"
said Bill Roberts, union rep for United Food and Commercial
Workers Local 1473. "Their decisions is to end all specialty
production at the Fort Atkinson plant," says Roberts. "Which
will roughly happen in August or September at the end of the
zucchini season." Production of specialty items like breaded
mushrooms and zucchini has gone down in recent months as people
stopped ordering appetizers at restaurants or eating out
altogether.
The onion rings side of the plant will remain open. The union
will award jobs based on seniority. As of right now, Roberts
says the seniority cutoff stands at 10 years experience. "It's
ten years to stay in the plant."
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| 02-Jun-09 |
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