Illinois : Companies warn of nearly 1,200 layoffs

Nine companies announced they may shed nearly 1,200 jobs in coming months.

The total comes in the state's January Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, or Warn report. Some of the moves had been disclosed previously, including those by Sun-Times Media LLC and Best Buy Co.

The biggest possible job losses in the report are at Lyon Workspace Products LLC in southwest suburban Montgomery. The Aurora-based industrial workspace manufacturer, which makes products including steel lockers and storage racks, may lay off as many as 456 workers after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month, saying it wants to sell itself while continuing to operate. A company representative did not immediately return a call for comment.

Elsewhere, Sun-Times Media, publisher of the Chicago Sun-Times and other suburban papers, warned that 274 jobs in north suburban Glenview, south suburban Tinley Park and west suburban Aurora may be eliminated as the company consolidates suburban operations in its River North headquarters.

The number of jobs cut depends on how many suburban workers agree by Feb. 25 to move to the headquarters, Ted Rilea, the company's vice president of labor relations and human resources, told Crain's.
Other layoffs:

• Walgreen Co., the Deerfield-based drugstore chain, will shed 65 warehouse employees in west suburban Berkeley.
• Kmart, part of Hoffman Estates-based Sears Holdings Corp., will lay off 98 workers when it closes a store in Naperville in late March or early April. More than a year ago, Sears Holdings announced it would close up to 120 underperforming Sears and Kmart locations.
• Georgia-Pacific Corrugated LLC said it would shed 108 jobs from its Chicago manufacturing site. The company is a division of Atlanta-based Georgia-Pacific, one of the world's largest manufacturers of tissue, packaging and paper.
• Cincinnati-based grocery store chain Kroger Co. will shed 65 jobs as it closes a store in downstate DuQuoin.
• Cardinal Health, the Dublin, Ohio-based health care services giant, will lose 63 jobs as it closes a medical equipment wholesale facility in Lake County's McGaw Park. Cardinal said last week that it would cut some 650 jobs in the north suburban Waukegan areaand put most of the MGaw Park property up for sale.
• Richfield, Minn.-based Best Buy will eliminate 58 jobs as it closes its store near Westfield Old Orchard shopping center in north suburban Skokie.

Chicago : Sun-Times warns of layoffs

Sun-Times Media LLC, publisher of the Chicago Sun-Times and other suburban papers, has warned employees that some workers could lose their jobs as the company consolidates suburban operations in its River North headquarters.

The company told employees of the possible cuts last week in a state-required letter called a WARN notice, named after the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires disclosure whenever a company expects it may cut 50 or more workers.

Sun-Times is still deciding how many jobs may be eliminated because that depends on the number of suburban workers who agree by Feb. 25 to relocate to the headquarters, said Ted Rilea, the company's vice president of labor relations and human resources. If not enough workers make the move, the company may have to hire workers downtown, but if all of them want to move, it will have to cut employees, he said in an interview.

The company expects to complete the move by March 25, according to a note published by the Newspaper Guild, a union that represents some Sun-Times workers and is negotiating a contract with the company for about 150 employees.

The union expressed its concerns to management about the impact of the move on workers, specifically the increased costs for transportation, said Dave Roeder, a union representative and Chicago Sun-Times business reporter.

Sun-Times Media told employees last month that it planned to close its suburban offices and move news editing and production workers, including 47 editorial assistants and copy editors, to the downtown headquarters while reporters mainly would remain in the suburbs.