Invista lays off 250; company says it’s “restructuring”

About 250 Invista workers are being laid off in a plan to idle part of the fibers plant on the South River of Waynesboro, workers said.

“It’s a huge letdown,“ Invista worker Christopher Bean, 31, of Churchville, said this morning. “I’ve been here for more than a year now.“

An Invista spokeswoman said the company is meeting with employees regarding its “restructuring initiative.“ She declined to comment further.

In addition to the Invista employees, another 125 contract workers from The Mundy Companies are receiving pink slips. Combined with earlier Mundy layoffs, the total number of workers losing their jobs at the Invista plant will be 575. The company began the year with a total of 1.100 workers.

Workers were told at the beginning of their 12-hour shift starting at 6 a.m. that a meeting was taking place, Bean said. During that meeting, which is still taking place, workers learned of the layoffs, Bean said.

Mundy last week announced the layoffs of 132 of its workers at Invista by year’s end. In September, 70 Mundy workers at the plant were laid off.

Both Invista and its Kansas-based parent company, Koch Industries, have been struggling recently leading to layoffs at an Invista plant in Delaware and plans to shutter a facility in Canada.

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