The National Labor Relations Board will work to negotiate a settlement with Intek Plastics Inc. over the firing of an employee, but the federal agency said Intek's scheduled plant closing does not violate labor laws.
Extruder Intek, based in Hastings, Minn., had announced in December its intent to close one extrusion plant in Eau Claire, Wis. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 953 filed an unfair labor practices complaint when it said Intek was closing the plant because employees wanted to unionize.
``We didn't find the plant closing was illegal and they withdrew that as a charge,'' said Ron Sharp, director of NLRB's Minneapolis region, in a March 10 telephone interview.
NLRB's negotiation will seek to award the employee back pay, reinstate her employment and Intek will have to issue a notice to employees. If a settlement is not reached, NLRB will take the matter to court, Sharp said.
Intek officials did not return calls. President John Penn said in a December interview that the plant was being closed to reduce overhead, and was scheduled to close by March 31.
