10.21.05
Colgate-Palmolive Co. announced that its 500-employee plant in Indiana will shut down by January 2008. This branch makes most of the company's U.S. toothpaste supply.
The unexpected closing will happen in stages, according to Larry Edwards, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 15.
Workers were told the building will eventually be vacated or sold. Colgate said the move was designed to increase efficiency and competitiveness.
Colgate Total toothpaste will be manufactured at a new facility, but the company said it has not yet picked a site for the new plant.
Last December, Colgate announced that it would close about one-third of its worldwide plants and cut up to 4,500 jobs as part of a four-year restructuring plan that executives hoped would save the company as much as $300 million each year.
Workers were sent home early on Monday and were instructed to return Tuesday morning for a meeting with company officials.