GLENSHAW GLASS ORDERED CLOSED
Published: Saturday, November 20, 2004
By Jim McKay and Joe Fahy
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A court-appointed trustee operating the troubled Glenshaw Glass Co. in Shaler has ordered the 109-year-old bottle maker to cease production on Monday.
Margaret Good, who was named receiver of the struggling glass maker earlier this month, said union officials at the plant, which employs about 220 workers, were notified yesterday.
A notice also was posted in the plant last night, she said. Workers will be sent letters informing them personally of the closure, she said.
Good, president of The Meridian Group, said the plant was being shut down in an orderly fashion in the hope that another buyer could be found. Manufacturing operations will cease, she said, and by Thanksgiving, only about 45 people, such as forklift operators and billing personnel, will be left.
She said talks were continuing with prospective buyers, though no firm offers had been made.
Lou Brudnock, president of Local 134 of the Glass, Molders, Pottery, Plastics and Allied Workers International Union, said one group of prospective buyers called him last night and said they still were interested in the factory despite the closure.
“I’m hopeful,” he said.
The plant was damaged by flooding in September that knocked out its furnaces. While crews were repairing the equipment, a third furnace went down. There was not enough money to fund repairs required to return the plant to profitability, Meridian officials said.
At least 100 people had been laid off following the flooding, Good said.
She said she made the decision to close because “the losses we’re incurring are too great to stay in operation.” Total debt is more than twice the amount of the company’s assets, she said.
The company is the second glass plant in Western Pennsylvania to close this month. Anchor Glass Container Corp.’s bottle factory in South Connellsville, Fayette County, also closed, idling 340 workers.
A week ago, Good had said that chances of survival for Glenshaw Glass had dimmed following a decision by its union workers to reject temporary wage and benefit concessions.
She said at the time that the company did not have adequate cash to pay vendors and employees' salaries, wages and benefits.
The receivership had been ordered by Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Robert Horgos, who ousted former company owner John Ghaznavi and halted pending creditor actions.
The glass container industry is struggling with worldwide overcapacity and the sharply higher price of natural gas, the fuel most commonly used to fire the furnaces needed to melt the glass.
Brudnock said the company has requested the federal agency that insures private pensions, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., to take over the underfunded plan that covers the plant's union members. The agency is considering the request.
He said a state task force would hold an informational meeting for employees to discuss their unemployment benefits, pensions and other issues on Dec. 2. The time and location of the meeting have not been set.
jmckay@post-gazette.com
jfahy@post-gazette.com
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