Last Day Of Work At Fort Smith Whirlpool Plant

FORT SMITH, Ark. (AP) - Friday's the last day of work for nearly all the remaining employees at Whirlpool Corp.'s Fort Smith plant. A spokeswoman for Whirlpool says 826 hourly workers and eight salaried employees will leave the company's employment Friday.

Whirlpool has reduced the number of workers at its Fort Smith plant for years before deciding to stop production altogether.

The production of side-by-side refrigerators has transferred to Mexico, while built-in refrigerators are now being produced at a plant in Amana, Iowa.

The Southwest Times Record reports that a handful of workers will remain until late July to complete the closure of the Fort Smith facility. Whirlpool says a drop in demand for side-by-side refrigerators caused the closure.

The factory had 4,600 workers as recently as 2006.

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