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Pilgrim's Pride considering El Dorado plant closure; 1,620 could lose jobs Friday, Apr 11, 2008 By Jason Wiest Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Pilgrim's Pride Corp. is considering closing a chicken processing complex in El Dorado that employs 1,620 people because the facility has consistently lost money, a spokesman for the company said Thursday. Employees there were informed of the possibility this week, less than a month after the company announced it was closing one processing complex and six of its 13 distribution centers in the U.S., and that it would consider other closures, consolidations or mix changes. "We don't want to shut the complex down, but unless there's a significant, immediate change to improve our financial conditions and operating deficiencies there, that's going to be our only option," said Ray Atkinson, director of corporate communications for Pilgrim's Pride. Pilgrim's Pride took over the facility in 2003 when the company acquired ConAgra Foods Inc.'s chicken division. Pilgrim's Pride is the world's largest poultry processor. "We've invested millions in that facility, and there has been no return," Atkinson said. "That complex has consistently lost money, plant costs are not competitive, it hasn't been able to attract new customers, and quality and productivity are well below other similar facilities," he said. U.S. ethanol policies that have driven up the cost of chicken feed as well as an oversupply of chicken were cited by Pilgrim's Pride last month when it announced the batch of closures, which eliminated 1,100 jobs. Atkinson said the company would be talking with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union to "see if there's some things that they would agree to to improve our financial performance at (the El Dorado) plant." |
