Over 500 layoffs in Live Oak
Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. will lay off 505 of its Live Oak employees between February and March 2009.
The Live Oak facility at one point employed about 1,500 and was Suwannee County’s largest employer, according to the Suwannee County Chamber of Commerce. Suwannnee County is located about half way between Jacksonville and Tallahassee.
News of the layoffs came just two weeks after the PIttsburg, Tex.-based poultry producer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Dec.1, receiving a commitment for up to $450 Million in debtor-in-possession financing. The company’s Mexico operations and certain operations in the United States were not included in the filing and will continue to operate outside of the Chapter 11 process.
PIlgrim’s Pride (NYSE: PPC), which employees 48,000 in the U.S. and Mexico, has made numerous cut backs this year in response to soaring feed prices and an over supply of chicken in the U.S. It started in March with the closing of a chicken processing complex and six of the company’s 13 U.S. distribution centers, including the two Florida facilities in Plant City and Pompano Beach. In April it reduced its chicken processing by approximately 5 percent. The company also consolidated one chicken processing facility and idled two others in 2008.
Also in April, according to published news reports, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in coordination with the U.S. Department of Justice and other law enforcement agencies, arrested more than 280 foreign nationals employed at Pilgrim’s Pride plants in five states, including the Live Oak facility, who were suspected of committing identity theft and other criminal violations in order to obtain their jobs.
The Live Oak facility is one of 34 fresh chicken processing facilities in the U.S. and Mexico, and the only processing facility in Florida. According to the company’s Web site, the Live Oak facility features air-chilling technology to process chickens that are antibiotic-free and raised on an all-vegetable diet and are part of a premium product line for the natural foods retail supermarket segment. There is also a Pilgrim’s Pride hatchery in Live Oak.
The Live Oak facility at one point employed about 1,500 and was Suwannee County’s largest employer, according to the Suwannee County Chamber of Commerce. Suwannnee County is located about half way between Jacksonville and Tallahassee.
News of the layoffs came just two weeks after the PIttsburg, Tex.-based poultry producer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Dec.1, receiving a commitment for up to $450 Million in debtor-in-possession financing. The company’s Mexico operations and certain operations in the United States were not included in the filing and will continue to operate outside of the Chapter 11 process.
PIlgrim’s Pride (NYSE: PPC), which employees 48,000 in the U.S. and Mexico, has made numerous cut backs this year in response to soaring feed prices and an over supply of chicken in the U.S. It started in March with the closing of a chicken processing complex and six of the company’s 13 U.S. distribution centers, including the two Florida facilities in Plant City and Pompano Beach. In April it reduced its chicken processing by approximately 5 percent. The company also consolidated one chicken processing facility and idled two others in 2008.
Also in April, according to published news reports, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in coordination with the U.S. Department of Justice and other law enforcement agencies, arrested more than 280 foreign nationals employed at Pilgrim’s Pride plants in five states, including the Live Oak facility, who were suspected of committing identity theft and other criminal violations in order to obtain their jobs.
The Live Oak facility is one of 34 fresh chicken processing facilities in the U.S. and Mexico, and the only processing facility in Florida. According to the company’s Web site, the Live Oak facility features air-chilling technology to process chickens that are antibiotic-free and raised on an all-vegetable diet and are part of a premium product line for the natural foods retail supermarket segment. There is also a Pilgrim’s Pride hatchery in Live Oak.
Labels: Florida, layoffs, Pilgrim's Pride
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