A federal district court granted a motion by the Attorney General of Pennsylvania to temporarily block the closure of Anchor Hocking Holdings’ Pyrex plant in Charleroi, Pa., pending a formal hearing.
“My office intervened in plans to close what is the only large-scale manufacturing operation in that area, and we are very pleased that the federal district court agreed with our position,” state Attorney General Michelle Henry said Monday.
The court-approved motion for the temporary restraining order pauses a shutdown of the glassware manufacturing plant that was planned for Sept. 5 by owner Anchor Hocking and its private equity partner, Centre Lane Partners.
Anchor Hocking and its partner said they planned to shutter the Charleroi plant and move equipment to Anchor Hockings facilities in Lancaster, Ohio, impacting some 300 employees.
With the court’s decision, the companies are now prohibited from removing equipment and other materials from the plant before the next scheduled hearing, according to the Oct. 31 order issued by the court.
In agreeing with the Office of Attorney General, the court said that at this stage in the case, “immediate and irreparable injury will result” from such actions.
“The closure of this longtime manufacturing hub will have permanent impact on the Charleroi community and surrounding neighborhoods, which depend on the plant for employment that is vital to the local economy and prosperity of families living there,” said Henry.
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (R-PA) — who last month urged officials to block the plant closure pending a full investigation — also applauded the court’s decision.
“Charleroi has a generational legacy of glass manufacturing, and the plant’s closure would be a slap in the face to the workers, their community, and the people of Pennsylvania,” Casey said Nov. 4. “This is a temporary measure, but it is an important first step and I’m thankful to the Attorney General’s office for taking this action.”
The senator released a report Oct. 18, entitled Charleroi, PA: An Example of How Private Equity is Shattering the Glass Industry and Leaving Workers Behind, which exposed how the dealings of the private equity firm had culminated in the decision to close the plant.
“Despite the importance of the plant in the Charleroi community, Wall Street and C-suite executives do not share the same loyalty as their workers,” Casey’s report says. “To them, the plant is nothing more than a line on a spreadsheet — an asset that can be stripped and manipulated at the expense of its workers.
“Unfortunately, the story in Charleroi is not unique. In recent years, Wall Street has increasingly gutted companies and communities in a seemingly never-ending quest to make a quick buck off the backs of hard-working Americans, and in the process, devastate communities across America,” the report says. “Time and time again, the same culprit is to blame — the private equity industry.”
Over the last two decades, Casey reported that the private equity business has grown exponentially, and efforts by these firms to purchase companies and flip them for a profit have fundamentally reshaped American business and investing. In fact, public equity-backed companies now outnumber publicly traded firms, the report says.
In the report, Casey also called on the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice to block the plant closure pending the outcome of a full investigation into the private equity firm. Casey also reached out to officials in Pennsylvania to advocate for state action that could prevent the plant closure.
“It’s clear that enforcement agencies must continue to investigate the shady business dealings and private equity machinations that have culminated in this attempted closure,” said Casey in a statement released Monday. “I will continue working every day to protect union jobs and hold Wall Street executives accountable for the havoc they are wreaking in our commonwealth.”
A hearing on the motion for preliminary injunction is scheduled for Nov. 12. The state Office of Attorney General’s Antitrust Section is litigating the matter.