Judel Glass Company, Inc. in Salem has announced plans to shut down two of its three manufacturing furnaces. President David Rifenburgh says about 45 workers will be laid off.
The company's president says natural gas prices have doubled since July, and in order to save Judel, they must make the cuts.
40 to 45 workers will be laid off at the Salem, West Virginia location. Workers say two of it's three manufacturing tanks will be shut down.
Workers found out last Thursday. They say, the news came as a shock.
" I saw people in the parking lot," said Francis Cork, a glass worker at the plant. "They told me, yeah, next Thursday is our last day. But I never knew."
Rifenburgh says the company will try to reopen the plant, and hire those workers back in the spring: if natural gas prices go back down.
He says the company isn't even sure WHICH employees it will let go. But those questions will all be answered on Thursday.
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