Pilgrim's Pride Corporation announced plans to close its chicken-processing plant in Dallas, Texas, within 60 days as part of its continuing effort to reduce costs and operate more efficiently. The Dallas plant is scheduled to close by September 30, 2011.
Production from the Dallas plant will be consolidated into several other Pilgrim's facilities in the region, including the processing and prepared-foods plants in Mt. Pleasant, Texas, thus improving their capacity utilization. Other live production operations in Northeast Texas will continue to function. Pilgrim's contract growers who supply birds to the Dallas plant will begin supplying the other company plants following the consolidation. There will be no disruption in supply of product to Pilgrim's customers.
Approximately 1,000 hourly and salaried employees who work at the Dallas facility will be affected by the plant closing. Pilgrim's Pride expects to be able to offer positions at other facilities to interested employees. The company will provide transition programs to employees who are not retained in order to assist them in securing new employment, filing for unemployment and obtaining other applicable benefits.
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