Ingredion laying off nine, citing reduced demand

CEDAR RAPIDS - Ingredion will lay off nine employees at its southwest Cedar Rapids plant on Nov. 15 due to a sharp reduction in the manufacture of starch products.

Claire Regan, a spokeswoman for the Winchester, Ill., company, said the plant at 1001 First St. SW will continue to employ 216 to produce food and industrial specialty starches.

'After careful consideration, we are reducing the production of starches used to make paper by about 50 percent,” Regan said Wednesday. 'This is no reflection on any of the employees. It's a result of declining demand for these types of products.”

Ingredion has been engaged in a contract dispute with Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Union Local 100G, which represents 158 workers at the plant. Ninety-five percent of the union members voted in August 2015 to reject the company's last contract offer but have continued to work at the plant.

BCTGM Local 100G filed a complaint in late 2015 with the National Labor Relations Board claiming multiple violations of the National Labor Relations Act. The NLRB in January 2016 found 'sufficient evidence” to issue a complaint against the company.

Ingredion, which acquired the Cedar Rapids plant when it bought Penford Products in March 2015 for $340 million, will report its third-quarter earnings and sales on Nov. 2.