At least 72 workers at a paper packaging production facility in Portland will be laid off in June as the facility closes.
Smurfit WestRock intends to close its plant at 9930 N. Burgard Way, the company told state officials in April. The June layoffs are the first phase, and more layoffs will come.
The plant was owned by RockTenn until 2015, when the company merged with MeadWestvaco and changed its name to WestRock. Then in 2024 Westrock merged with Smurfit Kappa, becoming Smurfit Westrock.
Some workers there are represented by Printing, Packaging & Production Workers Union of North America (PPPWU) District Council 2. PPPWU was previously the Graphic Communications Conference of the Teamsters Union, but left the Teamsters and returned to its origin as an independent union in 2023. District Council 2 has over 7,000 members in Oregon and seven other states.
Smurfit Westrock has more than 500 package production facilities and 62 paper mills around the world, including the production facility in St. Johns and a recycling plant in Lents.
District Council 2 and Smurfit Westrock did not respond to requests for more information about the layoffs.
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