Thomas Gounley

TGOUNLEY@NEWS-LEADER.COM

Minnesota-based Polar Tank Trailer announced Tuesday that it will close its manufacturing facility in Springfield.

The union that represents many of the workers at the plant has been on strike since early February.

In a news release, Polar said the move was "a result of challenging market conditions." The company said it "expects to begin the wind down of operations immediately, but production at the facility will continue on a limited basis through July."

“It is always a difficult decision to close a production facility, but soft market conditions necessitated that the company make this change," Polar President Randy Arlt said in a statement. "Polar will continue to service its customers through other available manufacturing capacity."

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Rick Temple, a Springfield attorney representing the company, said the move affects approximately 245 employees. That figure includes the more than 100 employees who have been on strike since Feb. 5. Polar's plant in Springfield is located at 4825 E. Kearney St.

Roger Bricker, spokesman for United Steelworkers Local 11-770, said striking union members learned of the decision at 1 p.m.

"We were told that this was due to a downturn in the market and has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with what is going on with the strike," Bricker said in the statement. "They also informed the union that this decision was made awhile back."

"This was a business decision made by Polar's new owners, the investment group AIP. No contract agreements would have changed this decision," the statement continued.

Tuesday's announcement was Polar's second in a month regarding a plant closure. The company announced in early March that it would be ceasing operations at a small facility in Holdingford, Minnesota.

Polar also operates one other facility in Minnesota. The company was acquired by investment group American Industrial Partners in 2015.

Polar and the union started negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement in September, according to the company, and the previous agreement expired on Oct. 17. Negotiations continued until Feb. 1.

When the strike began, Polar General Manager Mike McCall said in a statement that "we believe our best and final offer for a new agreement benefits both the employees and the company." McCall said the average plant wage is $19.13 an hour and the company's most recent offer included a 25 cent per hour, or 1.3 percent, pay increase, and "an incentive program that provides the potential to earn up to an additional $125 per month," or 4 percent.

Union president Rex Stapp told the News-Leader in March the strike wasn't prompted by the offer itself — union members spoke well of the wages — but rather how the company acted during the negotiation process.

The union notified the National Labor Review Board of what it considered violations of labor law. As of early March, members were essentially waiting on the review board's ruling.

Temple, the attorney representing Polar, declined to comment beyond the company's statement Tuesday when asked to elaborate on the challenging market conditions the company faces and whether the strike played a role in the closure. He said the announcement was "a totally separate issue" from the review board process, and said the review board still has jurisdiction to review allegations made by the union.

Holdingford takes a hit with Polar Tank closing