TEAMSTERS LOCAL 727 FILES SUIT IN FEDERAL COURT AGAINST PEPSICO BEVERAGES NORTH AMERICA AFTER UNLAWFULLY CLOSING PRODUCTION FACILITY WITH NO NOTICE
(CHICAGO) – Late Friday morning, Teamsters Local 727 filed suit in federal court alleging that PepsiCo Beverages North America violated the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act) as a result of the closing its former 51st Street facility and resulting in mass layoffs of its Teamsters workers. The Union asserts that PepsiCo Beverages violated the WARN Act by failing to include overtime, premium pay, holiday pay, and other benefits in the calculation of the payments mandated by the WARN Act. Additionally, the Union has filed unfair labor practice charges with Region 13 of the NLRB alleging bad faith bargaining, retaliation, and failure to provide information.
Teamsters Local 727 met with representatives from PepsiCo just one day after the Company closed the facility with no real notice to the Union or its employees. Unfortunately, the Company sent only one representative employed by the Company – a regional HR representative that has no relationship with Teamsters 727 or its members. Additionally, there was one spokesperson. Ken Sparks, outside counsel from Vedder Price. The Company’s representatives were unable to answer the majority of the Union bargaining committee’s questions but did inform the Union and its members the decision to close had been contemplated for months. The Company also confirmed that they had informed the Chicago Police Department at least one week prior to the closure and requested their presence at the facility on Monday. The Company came completely unprepared with none of the information the Union had requested via email and no proposals, despite putting in writing that they were ready and willing to meet to bargain and that their employees are their “top priority.” To date, the Union’s information request remains unfulfilled, and no further bargaining dates have been scheduled.
“PepsiCo’s behavior is so egregious it is unimaginable,” said John Coli, Jr., Teamsters Local 727’s Secretary-Treasurer. “To the press, they said the building was 60 years old and not worth repairing. In our meeting, they told us that the Company is ‘over capacity’ whatever that means. When pressed why they didn’t raise a potential closure in the negotiations that ended less than 6 months ago. management had no answer. Chicagoland is one of the biggest markets for PepsiCo Beverages. Not having a production facility just doesn’t make sense. It’s hard not to believe that this is retaliation for their Teamsters workers’ strength and solidarity in getting the contract that they deserved. We will continue to pursue any and all legal remedies to make sure our members are taken care of.”
Teamsters Local 727 represents nearly 10,000 hardworking men and women throughout the Chicago area.
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico.
CONTACT: Caleen Carter-Patton
Nothing in this article should be read as the union’s waiver of any legal argument, position or grievance(s), or as a waiver of any rights, arguments, or defenses under any contract, collective bargaining agreement, or applicable law. The union does not forfeit its right to make any and all supplemental arguments.
Category: Union News
