Kimberly-Clark Union OKs Concessions in Bid to Save Wisconsin Plant

FOX CROSSING, Wisc.—Union workers at Kimberly-Clark Corp.’s Cold Spring facility ratified a contract July 23 intended to stave off the plant’s closing, but the company says it still needs state tax breaks to commit to keeping it open. The agreement contains “concessions that would allow the facility to remain open,” United Steelworkers Local 2-482 president Dave Breckheimer told the Appleton Post-Crescent. “But nothing happens unless the state comes through with the incentive package.” He wouldn’t name specific concessions, but said they were not as severe as the company’s previous demands to cut labor costs by more than $20,000 per worker. Kimberly-Clark announced in January that would close Cold Spring, which makes Depends and other hygiene products, and the nearby Neenah Nonwovens facility, eliminating about 610 jobs. It said July 24 that “it is now in a position to commit to using the incentives” if the state legislature approves them and it can reach an agreement with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. State Sen. Roger Roth (R-Appleton) said he would try to get the legislature to hold a special session to approve a bill that would give Kimberly-Clark an estimated $100 million to $115 million in tax credits. Read more