Fridley bakery closing amid strong job market
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A Twin Cities union leader said that he expects 170 people who work at a commercial bakery in Fridley will be able to find similar jobs in other union shops after the facility closes later this year as part of a cost-cutting move.
In an email to MPR News late Thursday, a spokesperson for Rich Products Corporation wrote that the decision to close the bakery came after “a regular assessment of our operations to ensure we’re running our production as efficiently as possible — at both the right capacity and at the lowest possible cost for our customers and consumers of our products.”
The bakery, which makes artisan bread and packaged desserts, including for the Papa John’s pizza chain, informed the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development that layoffs are set to begin in mid-September and the plant will close no later than Dec. 31.
Wally Borgan — president of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union Local 22 — said in a phone interview with MPR News on Thursday that many other area bakeries are hiring, and expected severance pay will give the employees time to find new jobs.
“We’re in the process of bargaining a pretty nice severance package, which is better than anything that I’ve ever seen for the members,” Borgan said. They’re going to get one and a half weeks of severance per year of service, with a minimum of four weeks of severance.”
DEED reported this week that Minnesota’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for June was 2.9 percent — a tenth of a point higher than in May but still more than a full percentage point below the national rate.
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