PepsiCo abruptly closes plant on South Side, with hundreds of workers laid off

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Hundreds of PepsiCo workers are being laid off, after the company decided to close the plant in the Back of the Yards neighborhood Monday.

Some workers said they have been with the company for more than 45 years. The workers said they came to work as normal, and were told the plant was closing and to go home.

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Many workers left with tears in their eyes, trying to figure out how they will provide for their families.

"No notice, none of that, blindsided," former PepsiCo truck driver Eric Gadson said.

Gadson had been a PepsiCo truck driver for 21 years, until he was notified when he showed up at work Monday that PepsiCo is permanently closing its 51st Street facility in Chicago, effective immediately.

"I'm the sole provider in my household," Gadson said. "My wife has MS. My daughter's about to go to college next year. So, it's, I can't put into words what I feel right now."

Gadson said he was just nine years away from retirement, but now is forced to start from scratch elsewhere.

PepsiCo Beverages North America said in a statement, "The decision to no longer operate at 51st Street is a difficult one. This is a more than 60-year-old building that has physical limitations. Our top priority is to support our employees during this transition, and our commitment to serve Chicagoland remains strong. Our plans meet applicable legal requirements and we will actively work with Union leadership on the details related to the closure."

A statement from the Teamsters Local 727 union, who represents the workers at the plant, said PepsiCo's late notice is "in violation of the WARN Act, which requires employers with 75 or more full-time employees to provide 60 days advance notice of pending plant closures or mass layoffs," calling the decision, "disgusting and a disgrace."

"Being 58 years old, it's like starting all over again. It's going to be hard," Gadson said.

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Gadson said more than 200 people worked at the plant. He said PepsiCo has agreed to continue pay and benefits through the end of December, but said this experience is going to take all of his faith to get through.

"My message to my coworkers is, you know," Gadson said. "God closes one door and opens up another, and it might be better."

PepsiCo had a second meeting with more employees Monday at 2 p.m. to give them the news, but word had already gotten around for the second shift.

"I have a daughter in school. I have a house. Come on, just don't do people like that. You all can't do people like that; you're a big company. At least give us a heads up," former machine operator Johnathan Valentine said.

The union said they have proposed a meeting with PepsiCo on Wednesday.

"It's a shock to everybody right now," said Daryl Smith, a former PepsiCo worker and Teamsters steward. "Everybody doesn't know how they are going to take care of their kids right now; it's shocking to everybody."

Former lineman Demetrus Lanier said he loved working at PepsiCo.

"I was there early every single day. At 1 (p.m.), you see my truck rolling through, and that was five, six days a week. And I don't start until 2 (p.m.)," he said.

Juan Gonzalez was on first shift, and had worked at PepsiCo most of his life.

"You work 45 years, and is over in two minutes," he said.

"I've never seen anything like this. A big company acting this way is deplorable," said John Coli, Teamsters Local 727 secretary-treasurer.