CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19) - Chiquita Brands is telling the state of Ohio that 200 people who work at their headquarters in Ohio won't make the trip when the company moves to Charlotte.
That number is composed of people whose jobs the company decided to eliminate, and of those that have decided they don't want to move.
It's unclear how many of the 200 jobs are those that won't exist after the company moves to Charlotte, making it difficult to predict exactly how many folks will be hired in Charlotte.
The company says that number could rise if some people change their mind and decided to stay in Cincinnati. The employees will be gradually laid off.
That number represents slightly more than half of the 375 jobs Chiquita is supposed to be providing at its new headquarters in Charlotte.
Many months ago, Chiquita said it was considering moving, and late last year they said they had chosen to move to Charlotte, largely because of better airline service to foreign countries, and also because of incentives by North Carolina and greater access to Spanish-speaking job candidates.
The filing to the state is required by a federal law that requires advance notice of large layoffs.
Text from the letter is below.
NOTICE OF CLOSING
(Ohio Local Government and Ohio Department of Job and Family Services)
2/6/2012
Pursuant to Section 2102(a)(2) of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, Chiquita Brands International Inc. hereby provides notice of its intention to close its headquarters facility located at 250 East Fifth Street, Cincinnati. Ohio 45202-5910.
The planned closure of the headquarters facility is expected to be permanent in nature and will be completed during 2012. We expect that the job eliminations resulting from the closure will begin on April 6, 2012, and the anticipated schedule for making separations is monthly.
Bumping rights do not exist at the facility, as the facility will be closing.
Accordingly, we are providing notice to all employees who will incur an employment loss as a result of either not accepting an offer to transfer to Charlotte, North Carolina or having their job eliminated in the relocation. None of the affected employees are represented by a union. A list of job titles and number of affected employees in each job classification will be maintained on site per 20 CFR 639.7(f). The number of affected employees as of the above date is 200, but that number may change given that employees may subsequently decide not to relocate after advising that they would.
We are also providing notification of the decision to the employees individually and the Mayor of Cincinnati.
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