"They said they were closing," said an employee who asked not to be identified. He said second- and third-shift workers were notified not to come to work on Thursday and that first shift employees who came in Friday morning were called to a meeting and told by Bob Parsons, president and CEO that the plant was closing.
The family owned company, formerly North Chicago Refiners & Smelters, is in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. The North Chicago plant has been in operation for about 100 years.
About 110 people worked in the plant last week, down from about 170 in the early 1990s.
Two workers said they did not receive paychecks due on Friday and that questions about health insurance coverage and accrued vacation and sick days went unanswered at the Friday morning meeting.
They said they were told to return to the plant for a meeting at 2 p.m. today.
"People were sent home without a paycheck," said an executive who asked not to be named. "I just couldn't believe it."
R. Lavin & Sons produces bronze and brass ingots from scrap metal. The company had a plant on South Kedzie in Chicago as well as in North Chicago until several years ago when operations were consolidated in North Chicago.
In the 1990s, the North Chicago smelter was hit with a series of complaints, fines and lawsuits by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. An estimated $6 million was spent in cleanup operations and on a wastewater system designed to comply with EPA regulations. The Suburban Chicago News Sun
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