Lawmakers seek probe of decision to shut down plant
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman is asking the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Justice Department to investigate Anchor Hocking’s decision to close Corelle Brands in Charleroi.
Morale at the Corelle Brands plant in Charleroi has dropped, and many workers who expect to lose their job by the end of the year have already decided to pursue other opportunities.
Daniele Byrne, vice president of Corelle Brands Charleroi Division of United Steelworkers Local 53G said negotiations have been ongoing for weeks on behalf of the union workers at the plant and it’s been a slow moving process.
The current owner, Anchor Hocking CEO Mark Eichhorn, informed more than 300 employees at the facility Sept. 4 that it would close by the end of this year.
It was a devastating blow to the employees who work there and to hundreds of others who built their lives and legacies at the plant that has become deeply woven into the fabric of the Mon Valley and the glass-making legacy in Charleroi for more than a century.
While about half the jobs are intended to be relocated to the company’s Lancaster, Ohio, facility, hundreds of workers were left with questions as to what led to the decision to close.
For many, their futures are still uncertain.
Elected officials who represent Mon Valley constituents have been vocal in their opposition, standing in solidarity with the Charleroi community and Corelle Brand workers.
Sen. Bob Casey’s office helped convene a task force of county commissioners, borough officials and local economic development leaders and alerted the White House Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization to the situation, leading to a plant visit by federal officials on Sept. 11.
On Sept. 19, Casey, a Democrat seeking reelection, sent a letter to Anchor Hocking’s CEO demanding an explanation for the closure and urging the company to reconsider its actions.
On Sept. 20, Casey’s Republican U.S. Senate opponent Dave McCormick stopped in Charleroi on his “Price of Poor Leadership Tour.”
Casey wasn’t at that rally but that same day, as a member of the Senate Finance Committee, sent a letter to Senate Finance Committee Chair Senator Ron Wyden to request a confidential briefing from the FTC on questions concerning Anchor Hocking’s assumption of control over the Pyrex manufacturing operation in Charleroi.
Most recently, U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Braddock, penned a letter to Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan and the Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, Jonathan Kanter, urging the agencies to investigate the chain of events that led to Anchor Hocking’s decision to close its Charleroi glass manufacturing plant.
Fetterman demanded the agencies hold Anchor Hocking and its private equity partners accountable if any wrongdoing occurred.
Byrne and other rank-and-file at the plant have been asking those same questions.
Byrne said Eichhorn told them the facility would close because they did not want to keep two factories open, but Byrne and other union representatives think there is more to the story.
Built on the foundation of thousands of workers, although the name has changed over the years, Pyrex has deep roots in Charleroi, dating back to 1899.
Anchor Hocking took over the Charleroi plant in March.
Casey in his letter, dated Sept. 20, he requested a briefing on the failed acquisition of Instant Brands’ Houseware division, which included the Charleroi plant, by Centre Lane Partners during Instant Brands’ chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in 2023.
“After this failed acquisition, I have been informed that Anchor Hocking, a Centre Lane company, assumed control over the Charleroi Pyrex plant in March. This raises questions, especially given the subsequent actions taken by Anchor Hocking,” Casey wrote. “Earlier this month, Anchor Hocking informed the over 300 employees at the Charleroi plant that it would be closing the factory’s doors after 132 years of operations. Glass manufacturing in Charleroi has a proud legacy, and this plant has served as the backbone of this community for generations. Shutting down this factory will not only cost over 300 hardworking Pennsylvanians their jobs, but for a community of over 4,000 residents—it will be devastating to morale and to all the families who call Charleroi home.”
Byrne is in her 35th year at the plant and like her coworkers and so many others who came before her, she has a lot to lose.
She had a web Zoom meeting with members of the union committee and Casey’s office Friday to keep the conversation open, but there wasn’t much to say as talks were halted and continued to Monday after an employee passed away from a medical event Friday.
In the midst of talks on Monday, she heard from Fetterman’s staff for the first time, a few days after his letter to the FTC was made public.
Fetterman’s letter was dated Sept. 26 and addressed what happened leading to the announcement of the closure.
“Anchor Hocking’s decision to fire these workers comes at the end of a long chain of transactions that shuffled this productive factory between various private equity raiders,” it said. “I urge you to scrutinize, investigate, and review the bankruptcy proceedings and apparent ownership transactions that preceded this decision to determine if any laws were broken by Anchor Hocking or its private equity partners and, if so, to hold these wrongdoers fully accountable.”
Fetterman said corporations coming into western Pennsylvania communes are too common.
“For 14 years, I was mayor of a town that saw 90% of its people leave after the steel industry abandoned the very workers who built our country,” Fetterman’s letter said. “Now, we’re seeing private equity firms do the same thing in Charleroi: buy up a productive factory, strip it for parts, fire the workers, and let corporate executives collect fat bonuses. It’s despicable.”
He went on to talk about the events that led up to the announcement.
“As I understand it, private equity vultures have been circling the factory in Charleroi for some time. In a series of events that remains unclear, Anchor Hocking—which is owned by a private equity firm called Centre Lane Partners—took control of the facility in Charleroi in March 2024. Just six months later, Anchor Hocking announced its decision to close the factory at the end of the year. This brazen display of corporate greed is a slap in the face to the thousands of Pennsylvanians who have contributed to the factory and the nation’s glass manufacturing industry for more than 130 years,” Fetterman’s letter said.
“This plant has been the lifeblood of Charleroi for more than a century. Odds are that if someone in Charleroi doesn’t work in that plant themselves, they know someone who does. Anchor Hocking and the private equity firms responsible for this decision aren’t just putting more than 300 Pennsylvanians out of a job, they’re also taking a swing at Charleroi’s identity.
“I want to be absolutely certain that the federal government has pursued all possible avenues for recourse, so I urge you to investigate the events and transactions that preceded this announcement, including Instant Brands’s bankruptcy proceedings in 2023 and the apparent acquisition of Instant Brands’s housewares division by Anchor Hocking and Center Lane in March 2024.”
Byrne said she is exhausted, but not ready to give up.
“There isn’t much we can say, and we’re trying as best we can,” Byrne said.
Negotiations have been ongoing for weeks, and Byrne said she hopes there is an end in sight.
“We are going to keep meeting, keep talking and see what’s going to happen,” she said.
In the meantime, it seems like everyday there are more people leaving for different opportunities or turning in a two weeks notice.
“Even some management is bailing,” she said.
She said since the closure was announced about 20 employees have left at all levels.
There are a number of others prepared to take other employment if interviews and physicals go well, and if they are hired, she is worried about how operations would be impacted.
“We are losing people left and right, and I can’t blame them, I don’t blame them,” Byrne said. “But if we keep losing people like this, we won’t even be able to run until the end of the year.”
Negotiations are expected to resume on Friday.
“I want to get this resolved,” she said. “I have been elected to the position I am in, and I am ready to go down with this ship. I have too many years to give up, and a lot of other people do too.”