Kellogg’s Snacks will close a distribution center in Rockland County, cutting 25 jobs as part of a national change in the company’s delivery model.
The company filed a WARN notice with the state Department of Labor on April 6, disclosing plans to shut down a distribution center in Orangeburg at 29 Corporate Drive. The plant is expected to be closed by August.
In February, Kellogg’s announced that it would shift from a direct store delivery model to a warehouse model already used by some of its other snack brands, such as Pringles.
The company said the move would reduce “complexity and cost structure while driving growth and profitability,” but it also means that 39 distribution centers will be closed around the country. The same day that notice of the plant closing in Rockland was filed with the state, a similar notice was filed for a plant on Long Island. A distribution center in Hauppauge will close in August, cutting 16 jobs, according to the WARN notice.
Estimates reported by the Detroit Free Press in February said about 1,100 jobs would be cut nationwide.
Employees at the Rockland distribution center are represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 560. The layoffs at the distribution center include union and nonunion employees, according to a Teamsters spokesperson. The Teamsters spokesperson said the union is still in negotiations involving Kellogg’s decision and impact of the closing.
After Kellogg’s announced the change in distribution model in February, a press release from Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa called it an “outrage for Kellogg”™s ”“ an iconic American company ”“ to turn its back on working families.”
Kellogg’s said it was optimistic that employees could “find similar employment once this transition is complete.”
“As the distribution shifts from our network to our retailers”™ networks, so too will the work,” said Kris Charles, a Kellogg’s spokesperson. “We”™ve been actively engaged in conversations with some of our biggest retail partners who have expressed strong interest in hiring these employees for high-demand roles once the transition is complete.”
