A court-appointed trustee has ordered the Glenshaw Glass Co. plant to cease production on 22 November 2004, a move that will cost over 200 jobs.
The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based company“s debt is …
A court-appointed trustee has ordered the Glenshaw Glass Co. plant to cease production on 22 November 2004, a move that will cost over 200 jobs. The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based company“s debt is more than double its assets and it does not have the funds for repairs to furnaces that were damaged in a September 2004 flood, said Margaret Good, president of the Meridian Group and a management consultant appointed by a judge to manage the plant. The plant, which made bottles for Pittsburgh Brewing Co., Yuengling Brewing and other breweries, will begin the process of shutting down on 22 November 2004. By 25 November, only about 45 of the company“s 220 employees, most of them in distribution and billing, will still be working Good said. Officials with Local 34 of the Glass, Molders, Pottery, Plastics and Allied Workers International Union were informed of the closure on 19 November 2004 and a notice was also posted at the plant. “We are not giving up on a potential sale, but if one takes place it will be after the shutdown,” Good said in a statement on 19 November 2004. The company has been battling for over two years against growing competition, over-supply of glass bottles, rising natural gas and oil prices and companies changing to aluminum and plastic packaging. Workers walked out for nine days in 2003 before agreeing to a concessionary contract that included a 5% pay cut to keep the glassworks open. Heavy rains from remnants of Hurricane Ivan flooded the plant on 17 September damaging two furnaces and forcing a suspension of production for two weeks until employees, on their own time, tried to restart the furnaces. While they were working, two more furnaces malfunctioned, one of which sent molten glass into a basement. Company officials said the flooding caused USD 27 million in damage to the plant. On 10 November 2004 workers rejected another concessionary contract with USD 860,000 in cost-cutting. Lou Brudnock, president of Local 34 of the Glass, Molders, Pottery and Plastics Allied Workers International Union, had hoped the plant“s largest creditor, PNC Financial Services Group, would have invested more to keep the plant running until a possible sale. “I“m still hopeful a deal can be done,” he said. “We have a tremendous work force and produce an excellent product.” Five investors, including Boca Raton, Florida-based buy-out firm Sun Capital partners, are examining the plant, Good said. Some possible buyers have said the plant needs to increase capacity beyond the two furnaces currently running to turn a profit, said Jim Watt, a staff representative with the United Steelworkers of America, which represents about 11 employees at the plant. Watt said getting another furnace running could cost as much as USD 900,000.