Over the past few weeks, several companies have filed WARN notifications with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. On January 16, 2019, ShopKo Stores Operating Co. LLC submitted a WARN notice. The letter explains that the company will soon be closing two facilities. The facilities at 2201 Zeier Road and 7401 Mineral Point Road in Madison will both close on April 12, 2019. All employees are expected to be separated from their employment on or around April 12, 2019.
The entire facility will close and that will result in 63 employees being laid off. The closure and layoffs are expected to be permanent. There is no job bumping system and employees are not represented by a labor union. Therefore, impacted workers will not have access to bumping rights. The WARN notice can be found in its entirety here. On January 14, 2019, Unison Enriching Communities submitted a WARN notification with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.
The letter explains that the company will be carrying out layoffs at multiple locations. Layoffs will occur at the follow locations, but not all employees will be laid off.
- 600 West Virginia Street Suite 400 Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- 1818 west Juneau Avenue Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Layoffs will result in all employees being laid off at the following locations.
- 2977 North 50th Street Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- 4355 West Bradley Road Brown Deer, Wisconsin
- 611 South Lake Drive Cudahy, Wisconsin
- 4500 West Custer Avenue Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- 4420 West Vliet Street Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- 3045 North Martin Luther King Drive Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- 2601 West Howard Avenue Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- 1633 North Arlington Place Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- 2555 South Bay Street Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- 3334 West Highland Boulevard Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- 5555 West Good Hope Road Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- 1525 North 24th Street Milwaukee, Wisconsin
The letter explains that the layoffs are the result of unforeseen business circumstances. Sudden and unexpected loss of contracts are specified as the primary source. The employee layoffs began on December 21, 2018 and will continue until January 31, 2019. The layoffs are expected to be permanent. Bumping rights do not exist. The full WARN notice can be accessed here.
Lacrosse Hardwood Flooring submitted a WARN notice on January 17, 2019. The letter explains that the last half of 2018 resulted in significant downturn in the demand for the solid, unfinished flooring products produced by the company at its Westby, Wisconsin facility. That facility is located at 105 Webster Street. As a result, the production has outpaced demand. LHF remains hopeful that it will be able to avoid downsizing its workforce in the future. The company is actively trying to avoid a layoff.
However, if the company is unable to prevent a layoff, it will occur on or after March 18, 2019. The plant’s closure would result in 65 workers being laid off. The full WARN notice has been posted here. Finally, Pepin Operator LLC, which is doing business as Pepin Health and Rehab, submitted its own WARN notice on January 22, 2019. The letter explains that the company will be permanently closing its entire facility in Pepin, Wisconsin.
The facility is located at 1110 2nd Street. As a result, it is anticipated that 54 positions will be permanently eliminated. The first separations are expected to occur on March 23, 2019 and continue until the facility is completely closed on April 22, 2019. Some of the impacted workers are represented by the AFSCME Local 3152. Represented employees will have access to bumping rights. The full WARN notice is posted here.