Jan. 1--CEDAR RAPIDS -- Even as the Teamsters union prepares to talk to Sealed Air Cryovac about severance benefits for its members, a union leader said he remains hopeful the New Jersey company will reverse the plant closing announced Tuesday.

"We still hold out hope maybe somebody who doesn't live or work around here will step back and say, "maybe this isn't the smartest thing in the world to do," said Gary Dunham, who leads Teamsters Local 238 of Cedar Rapids as its secretary-treasurer.

Dunham said the prospect that the plant could be slated for extinction didn't come up in monthly meetings between union representatives and members in the plant.

"We were surprised," Dunham said.

The plant, owned by Sealed Air Corp., manufactures packaging for the food industry.

"We do know this is their most productive plant," Dunham said. "It can compete with any plant they have, except maybe Mexico." Dunham said 215 Teamsters stand to lose their jobs if the plant closes, including about a dozen married couples in which both work at Sealed Air Cryovac.

"We literally have generations of family members who have worked in the plant," Dunham said.

Sealed Air Corp. said in an official statement that the closing was part of a companywide plan to create manufacturing centers of excellence. It said production would be shifted to plants in Mexico, Arkansas, and South Carolina.

Wages or union problems are unlikely causes for the closing decision, Dunham said. He said the union hasn't had a strike in decades, and hourly wages range from about $15 to $22.

The company told the union it plans to close the plant in six to 10 months. Negotiations on a severance package for union workers will begin Tuesday, Dunham said.

"This has been very difficult," Dunham said. "We're going to continue doing what we do well -- making a quality product and supplying it to customers." Teamsters Local 238 in Cedar Rapids has about 7,000 members in 80 Iowa counties.

-- Contact the writer: (319) 398-8317 or david.dewitte@gazcomm.com

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