AKRON, Ohio (News release) -- Amcor Flexibles North America will permanently close its Akron, Ohio-area label-making plant in March, consolidating its operations with a plant in New York and eliminating 108 jobs.
Amcor Flexibles North America, the Buffalo Grove, Illinois-based unit of Amcor plc in Zurich, Switzerland, has two plants that make plastic labels for bottles and other containers, said Mark Hein, the company's corporate communications director.
Amcor acquired the plant at 1972 Akron-Peninsula Road, which is located in Cuyahoga Falls, in 2019 when it acquired Bemis Co. in Neenah, Wisconsin, for $6.8 billion, creating a global packaging leader.
After an extensive business review, Amcor Flexibles decided to restructure its U.S. label division.
"Part of that was the very difficult decision to close the Akron plant and consolidate that work at our Edgewood, New York, facility," Hein said.
The company will begin laying off its 92 hourly workers, represented by Chemical Workers Union Council of the UFCW, Local 1033, and 16 salaried workers on Jan. 24, 2021, according to its WARN letter.
Companies are required to file WARN letters with the state under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act) when they expect a mass layoff.
The Akron-Peninsula Road plant was built in 1974 by Jaite Packaging, Hein said.
Amcor (NYSE: AMCR) is a global leader in packaging for food, beverage, pharmaceutical, medical, as well as home- and personal-care products.
The company operates flexible, rigid and carton packaging and closure businesses in 230 locations in more than 40 countries worldwide, employing about 47,000 employees, according to its Nov. 2020 investor presentation.
Amcor has pledged to develop all-recyclable or reusable packaging by 2025.
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