Smithfield Packing Company is shifting production from its Bedford, Virginia, pork-processing plant in a move that will affect 139 employees.
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The Smithfield Foods subsidiary started to phase out its Bedford operations yesterday (17 August), as part of its East Coast restructuring operation.
“This is another difficult but necessary decision for our company to streamline our processed meat operations and lower our operating costs,” said Joseph Luter, president of Smithfield Packing. “We know that this will create adversity for the employees affected and we will be providing assistance to them to find future employment.”
Smithfield has agreed to provide a 60-day notification of the plant closure to employees or their bargaining representative, and said it will consider transferring qualified management employees based on knowledge, skills, performance and job availability.
“After a thorough analysis of all our production facilities and product needs, we decided to discontinue operations in the Bedford plant. The facility is one of our smaller plants and is in need of significant renovation to meet our standards,” said Jere Null, executive vice-president of Smithfield Packing. “This move improves our competitive position and will not affect our ability to provide our customers with products we have produced in this facility.”
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