Aamer Madhani

USA TODAY

CHICAGO — Snack giant Nabisco on Wednesday began the process of laying off hundreds of workers at its Chicago factory as it expands operations in Mexico, despite facing criticism for the move from White House hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Nabisco is expected to cut 277 workers this week — the first wave in a total of 600 layoffs — as the company that makes Oreos, Chips Ahoy and Nilla Wafers shifts work to a Mexico plant where it has invested $130 million in a new cookie and cracker production line.

Nabisco issued a 60-day notice to affected employees in mid-January about the layoffs and "that group of employees are now leaving the business," said Laurie Guzzinati, a spokeswoman for Nabisco's parent company, Mondelez International.

Republican Trump and Democrat Clinton both have criticized Nabisco for the move. Both have promised to pursue legislation if elected to force companies like Nabisco to pay back tax benefits they've received if they send jobs offshore. One of the forerunner companies of Mondelez, RJR Nabisco, was promised $90 million in incentives from the city of Chicago and state in the early 1990s to remain in Chicago.

Ahead of last week's Illinois primary, Clinton met with workers impacted by the layoffs and spoke briefly with Mondelez CEO Irene Rosenfeld in hopes of persuading her to reconsider the move. Executives for Mondelez, which generated more than $30 billion in revenue last year, say the company will save $46 million annually with the cuts and shift in production to its more efficient factory line in Mexico.

"My understanding is that Irene Rosenfeld reinforced (to Clinton) our commitment to the Chicago bakery and the U.S. market overall, where we’ve got a strong manufacturing presence and approximately 20,000 employees," Guzzinati said.

On the stump, Clinton has repeatedly called out Nabisco for the move and promised to "claw back the benefits” companies receive from federal, state and local governments if they send jobs out of the U.S. Trump, who was once a pitchman for the Oreo cookie, has vowed to boycott the product and inaccurately suggested that Nabisco is closing the Chicago plant down. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders earlier this month dispatched a campaign adviser to Chicago to meet with Nabisco workers and union officials.

After the layoffs are completed, the company will still have about 600 workers, about half of the current employee head count, at its bakery on Chicago's Southwest Side.

The company says it considered building the new factory lines in Chicago but opted not to because of the $46 million cost gap between operating in Chicago and Salinas, Mexico. The Chicago bakery will continue to be one of the company’s largest facilities in terms of number of employees, even after the layoffs, but will no longer make the famous cream-filled Oreo cookies once the new factory lines are up and running in Mexico.

Oreo and other Nabisco snacks made at the newly installed factory lines at the Mexico plant will be sold in the North America market, but the famous cookie will also continue to be made at U.S. facilities in New Jersey, Oregon and Virginia.

As the third shift ended Wednesday morning, Nabisco workers and a handful of union officials gathered outside the plant with handmade signs criticizing Rosenfeld and called on consumers to check Nabisco labels and only purchase the company's American-made cookies and crackers.

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LaDonna Degolyer, a fork lift operator at the Chicago plant who was informed she will be laid off after completing her shift Thursday, said she is scrambling to find new work. She went through a similar situation more than a decade ago when Kraft decided to shutter its Chicago Kool-Aid factory.

"This is about putting more money into the CEO's pocket," said Degolyer, who choked back tears as she spoke. "It is straight up greed."

"This won't change until our government does something," she added. "It's a shame that they allow these companies to leave the United States. Our government should make it worth their while to stay here."

Oreo maker pays crumbs in taxes

The Deerfield, Ill., headquartered Mondelez generates about 80% of its revenue outside the U.S. Shifts in production have helped the company keep its tax rate — the company paid an effective tax rate of 7.5% last year — relatively low.

"The only reason they house their company in the United States is because they (the) CEOs can have security here and enjoy a civil society," said Ron Baker, the strategic campaign coordinator for the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers union (BCTGM). "You would never see them move themselves or their headquarters to places they are moving their production facilities."

Follow USA TODAY Chicago correspondent Aamer Madhani on Twitter: @AamerISmad