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Charleroi glass plant closing postponed but still happening

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CHARLEROI, Pa. — Glassmaking in Charleroi has been a staple of the small river town for generations.

“That plant, the Pyrex plant, the Corelle plant, it goes by several names, has been here for 132 years. Something like that has been institutional to this municipality and this community,” said Charleroi Borough Manager Joe Manning.

Finding out earlier this year that Anchor Hocking planned to close it, “was a gut punch to this community.”

According to the initial Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification by Anchor Hocking, there were about 173 workers at the Corelle plant in Charleroi who were supposed to be laid off Dec. 9, with the plant closing in February.

Now the company is delaying those layoffs until the end of January, and closing the plant for good — with more than 300 total layoffs — in April.

Manning said Charleroi got a letter about the delay last week.

“We’re pretty excited to hear that,” he told Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek. “Going through the Christmas season knowing that the workers would keep their positions at least through part of the winter and hopefully a glimmer of hope things may get reversed.”

Manning said the reason for the delay is that there are a lot of orders the plant is still processing, and customer demand is high.

He hopes that shows the company the plant shouldn’t be closed.

However, he said the borough has been looking to get a new tenant in the plant if Anchor Hocking doesn’t reverse course and closes the plant for good in April.

“The administration here has been very proactive if they can’t reverse that decision, to find a way to repurpose that plant and not throw their hands up and say ‘well, it’s a shame another plant’s closed,’ and let it turn into a brownfield,” Manning said. “Nobody wants to see that happen.”

United Steelworkers, which represents the employees of the Corelle plant in Charleroi, released a statement through District 10 Director Bernie Hall.

“Although the delay will keep the remaining workers on the job through the holidays, it does not change the eventual impact that losing the glass plant will have on union members, their families and the rest of the community in Charleroi,” Hall said, “The USW is focused on ensuring that workers remain safe while they still have jobs and that they are treated fairly and with dignity when the plant eventually closes and layoffs begin.”

The first round of layoffs are now expected to start January 27.

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