PepsiCo abruptly shuttered a southwest side facility Monday, leaving dozens of employees out of work in a move their union alleged was illegal.
In a statement, Teamsters Local 727 secretary-treasurer John Coli Jr. called the closure of the 650 W. 51st Street plant “despicable” and said the union would take “any and all legal action we can to do right for our members.”
The Teamsters allege the sudden closure violates the workers’ collective bargaining agreement with PepsiCo as well as the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires 60 days’ advance notice of certain mass layoffs and plant closures.
PepsiCo said in a statement that its plans to close the facility “meet applicable legal requirements.”
In a notice to the union Monday it said was “pursuant to any possible obligations” under the WARN Act, PepsiCo said it would continue to pay union employees at the facility through December 28.
In a statement to the Tribune, the company said it had filed a WARN notice and that employees would “be paid and continue to receive benefits as set forth in the collective bargaining agreement for 60 days.”
Representatives for the state’s labor department and its Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity said they had not received a WARN notice from PepsiCo as of Monday afternoon.
The company said in its notice to the union that 79 Teamsters were impacted. Coli Jr. said in a phone call with the Tribune that those workers were production and warehouse employees who work producing sodas at the plant. The union has another approximately 70 members at the facility who work as distribution drivers, he said, adding that the union had not been told if those workers were being laid off or not.
Local 727 business manager Caleen Carter-Patton said workers at PepsiCo ratified a new collective bargaining agreement with the company earlier this year. Teamsters members had voted to authorize a strike at the facility in April before they were able to reach a deal with the company, she said.
“We just wrapped negotiations with Pepsi earlier this summer — they had the opportunity to let us know this was coming and to act in good faith,” Coli Jr. said.
Carter-Patton said the Teamsters filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board on Monday over the closure in which they alleged bad faith bargaining and retaliation.
PepsiCo did directly address questions about the unfair labor practice allegations.
“We will actively work with Union leadership on the details related to the closure,” PepsiCo said.
In a statement, the company said the decision to close the facility was a “difficult one.” The plant was more than 60 years old and had “physical limitations,” the company said.
“Our top priority is to support our employees during this transition, and our commitment to serve Chicagoland remains strong,” the company said.
“To lay off over a hundred Teamsters workers with no notice to them or the Union, in violation of both our collective bargaining agreement and the law, is about as low as you can get,” Coli Jr. said in a statement.