Charleroi’s World Kitchen plant closing delayed
Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter
The closing of the World Kitchen plant in Charleroi has been delayed and the plant may not close until April 30.
Daniele Byrne, vice president of Steelworkers 53G, which represents workers at the plant, said Corelle Brands LLC sent a new Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) notice that was received by the employees Monday. She said the dates likely were changed to accommodate the workload.
Byrne said the first round of layoffs has been pushed back to Jan. 27, with the final round set for April 16. April 30 is now the date for the plant’s permanent closure.
“At least people can have a decent Christmas,” Byrne said. “That doesn’t make up for the people that we’ve already lost. We’ve been bringing temps in to try to keep running.”
The initial WARN letter, which was sent in October to Mayor Gregg Doerfler, set a permanent closing date for Feb. 28, with the first 173 employee terminations originally scheduled for Dec. 9.
Borough Manager Joe Manning said the borough knew of the possibility of the timeline changing.
“We were made aware of this that the plant may stay in operation longer than the deadline,” he said. “They said that was flexible and could change based on the amount of orders they have left to fill.”
However, Manning was not optimistic that the delay signals a change in the company’s plans to shutter the plant.
“I highly doubt it,” Manning said. “I wish they said because of this we’re rethinking the whole thing, but that really hasn’t been the indication. But I think they just had more unfinished business there; it was probably more than what was anticipated. I think that’s what led to this.”
Workers were told in September that plant operations would be moved to Lancaster, Ohio, putting 270 employees out of work.
In November, a federal district court granted a motion from Attorney General Michele Henry for a temporary restraining order to pause the closure. However, U.S. District Judge Nicholas Ranjan denied the request to temporarily block the relocation of the plant, saying his decision was based upon the fact that the loss of jobs was not deemed irreparable.
World Kitchen manufactures kitchenware and tableware, including Corelle and Pyrex brands. The history of the plant dates back to 1893, when it was MacBeth-Evans Glass Co.
Ownership has changed hands numerous times in its long history, with the most recent owners being New York-based Centre Lane Partners, following the acquisition of the appliances division of Instant Brands. Anchor Hocking is another company under the Centre Lane umbrella.