Yogurt production to leave Antioch for Danone Fort Worth Texas

Brown Cow Yogurt owned 80% by Danone will shut down its Antioch operation and move production of  yogurt from its current location in Antioch, California to a facility in Texas within Groupe Danone. The IUF affiliated Teamsters led the negotiations for its members who were affected by the closure with the support of the IUF..

The IUF discussed with Danone Paris management about the workers at Anthioc who were affected by Danone’s decision to close the plant for operational and capacity reasons and face potentially difficult times ahead in view of a depressed local labour market. The IUF urged Danone to raise its social plan standards for the affected workers above those in any particular market when those local standards are as low as they can be in the United States.

Teamsters finalized the negotiations on behalf of its members and some of the highlights of the social plan are as follows:

-Guaranteed pay & benefits through closure.

-Severance pay.

-Bonus pay.

-Training and outsourcing support.

-Sick leave , compensatory time off (CTO) cashout.

-Transfer rights to any US locations with covered moving expenses.

-Additional Health coverage at no cost and beyond severance period.

-Maintenance jobs guaranteed through machinery decommissioning.

-All pay may be taken in lump sum or salary continuation for less of a tax implication.