More than 475 to Lose Jobs With Smithfield Closure

NORTH CAROLINA - Smithfield Packing Company, the nation's largest pork producer, has confirmed that it will close its only unionized plant in Kinston, NC, with the loss of 476 jobs.
calendar icon 11 March 2008
clock icon 2 minute read

The decision came after a team of engineers decided that it would be too expensive to modernise factory the factory to the standards demanded by today's customers.

The company is the largest private employer in the area - it employs 10,000 people in North Carolina. It says it is doing all it can to minimise the job cuts.

Speaking to the News & Observer spokesman Dennis Pittman said that workers will be offered jobs at other Smithfield Foods facilities in Eastern North Carolina.

"We should have enough positions for pretty much anyone who wants to make the relocation," he said.

The Kinston plant, which dates back to 1948, will remain open until early May. Smithfield has separate $100 million Kinston facility which it November 2006 after receiving the promise of as much as $11.5 million in state and local incentives. Some displaced employees will get jobs at this plant.

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