Omaha-based ConAgra Foods Inc. is slashing 300 hourly employees and 21 salaried positions at its Slim Jim plant in Garner, N.C., where three people were killed and dozens were injured in a June 9 explosion.
Since the blast, the plant has been producing at half capacity with a full 750-person staff.
“Ultimately, we’re doing this because we need to protect the Slim Jim business and make sure our customers are getting the products they want,” said company spokesman Dave Jackson. “We can’t continue to run half of a plant with a full staff.”
The company also announced that it will end its policy of paying employees who have missed work due to injuries sustained from the blast. Those individuals will now receive workman’s compensation benefits from the State of North Carolina.
Other employees will be paid for the amount they actually work, not the full 40 hours the company has been paying, Jackson said.
“This is a really difficult decision,” he said.
The layoffs, expected to be contained to the Garner plant, are scheduled to begin in mid-November and will be based on seniority and position.
“Our plan is that this will be the extent of it,” Jackson said about the possibility of additional layoffs.
Authorities traced the June explosion to a natural gas leak that was sparked during the installation of a natural gas-fired hot water system by a third-party contractor.
The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives determined that the explosion was an accident.
The blast knocked down walls and caused portions of the factory roof to crumble and prompted a North Carolina panel this week to require workers who are purging indoor gas lines to vent the pipes outdoors or evacuate those not working on the lines.
The plant was the only manufacturer of Slim Jim products for ConAgra before the accident and left the company with reduced levels of the meat snack.
The company shifted some production to other facilities, increased orders at third-party manufacturers and signed interim agreements with other manufacturers to meet demand.
ConAgra employs approximately 3,000 people in Omaha and operates facilities in more than 200 communities throughout the United States.
Contact the writer:
444-1414, ross.boettcher@owh.com
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