Kraft in Hot Seat Over Plant Closure
NEW YORK (
) --
Kraft Foods
(KFT)
is poised to face intense questioning by British lawmakers next week as angry union workers fume over the closure of a Cadbury plant that
apparently said would stay open when their buyout talks were still ongoing.
Those who will be present for questioning on Tuesday will include Marc Firestone, Kraft's executive vice-president; Richard Doyle, HR director for Cadbury Britain and Ireland; and Trevor Bond, Cadbury's president for Britain and Ireland, according to
Reuters.
Unite trade union leader Jack Dromey will also speak.
Kraft says that keeping Cadbury's Somerdale plant in western England open would be very costly, even though Kraft promised to keep it open last September. But according
Reuters
, a Kraft spokesman says that next week's grilling will not hurt the company's deal, saying that "we've operated as a combined company since Feb. 2 and our financials will be consolidated from that date," according to
Reuters.
The plant is expected to close in 2011, resulting in the reduction of about 400 jobs.
Kraft Food stock is essentially flat Friday, up 0.1% to $29.50 Friday morning.
-- Reported by Andrea Tse in New York
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