IBEW LU 1553 Members at Sweetheart Cup Company threatened by corporate takeover

http://www.news-leader.com/today/1224-SoloCupset-251404.html

Solo Cup set to buy owner of Sweetheart
Sale's impact on workers at Springfield plant is unknown, union official says.

By Karen E. Culp
News-Leader Staff

It was unclear Tuesday whether Springfield's Sweetheart Cup is half full or half empty.

In either case, the plant will soon have a new owner.

Chicago-based Solo Cup has an agreement to buy SF Holdings Group, the owner of Springfield's Sweetheart Cup plant, Hoffmaster Tissue and The Fonda Brands.

Uncertain Tuesday was what the ownership change will mean for the Springfield facility, long a fixture on North Glenstone with its oversized reproduction of a paper cup serving as a centerpiece to the plant's entrance.

"We don't anticipate that it will affect them (the Springfield employees)," said Mike Brumley, president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1553, which represents employees at the plant. "But right now I have no idea what will happen."

Drew Ferguson, a spokesman for Solo Cup, said a team to integrate the two companies will form during the first months of 2004.

"There is going to be consolidation, but we're not sure who is going to be consolidated," Ferguson said.

In 2001, the Springfield plant announced it would reduce its work force from 600 to 400 by the spring of 2002. Brumley said the IBEW union represents about 350 employees at the plant. As recently as 1992, Sweetheart employed 1,300.

Officials in Springfield referred calls to SF Holdings' corporate officers, who did not return calls.

Both companies make disposable food containers plates or cups, for example from paper, plastic, and foam. The plates or cups are sold at retail stores or to restaurants and schools.

Solo Cup has 12 manufacturing plants and seven distribution centers. The Maryland-based group that owns Sweetheart operates 36 manufacturing and distribution centers, according to the company's 2003 annual report.

"This is an exciting opportunity for us," said Solo Cup Chief Operating Officer Ronald L. Whaley, in a statement. "It's an important event in the history of our two companies, as well as in the ever-changing disposable food service products industry."

"Our customers will be better served and our vendors and employees will enjoy growth opportunities," said Dennis Mehiel, chairman and CEO, SF Holdings Group Inc., in a statement.

The sale is expected to close in the first quarter of 2004.

Springfield's Sweetheart Cup plant opened in 1952 as Lily Tulip. At that time, and for many successive years, it was one of the city's largest employers.







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