Consolidated Freightways workers upset about closing
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Posted 11:49AM on Tuesday, September 3, 2002
SEATTLE - A union spokesman calls layoffs at Consolidated Freightways ``a slap in the face'' for hundreds who showed up for work on Labor Day only to find the offices locked. <br>
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The company decided to shut down U.S. operations, leaving 15,500 without jobs -- including 500 people in Georgia at the operation in Ellenwood in Clayton County. <br>
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A spokesman for Teamsters Local 776 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania -- Carlos Ramos -- says the layoffs are like ``telling your wife you're getting divorced on Valentine's Day.'' <br>
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The company said it will stop U.S. operations immediately. Operations of the company's C.F. AirFreight and Canadian Freightways Limited subsidiaries were not affected. <br>
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In a recorded telephone message, Chief Executive John Brincko told workers at the trucking company not to show up Tuesday. <br>
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The 73-year-old company says it plans to file for Chapter Eleven bankruptcy protection.