The Unilever ice cream plant in Hagerstown will close its doors for good on July 27, leaving 391 hourly and salaried employees without jobs, a company spokesman said Tuesday.
Jeff Graubard said news of the closure was no surprise. “They’ve known about this beforehand,” he said.
Unilever officials told employees in 2009 that the plant at 1100 Frederick St. would close around the end of 2011, but that date was delayed.
Then, in September 2011, the company announced plans to close the plant in August 2013.
Graubard said Unilever was negotiating with United Steelworkers Local 9386, which represents workers at the plant, on whether to issue severance packages.
“There’s no agreement just yet,” he said.
Larry Lorshbaugh, the president of United Steelworkers Local 9386, said Tuesday that he’d rather wait until after a meeting is held at the plant Wednesday before he comments.
Graubard said the manufacturing jobs will be transferred to other Unilever facilities in the United States.