Warner-Lambert to Close Plant; 300 Will Be Laid Off

Warner-Lambert Co., an international drug and consumer products firm, will close its Anaheim manufacturing plant by the end of year, resulting in layoffs of 300 workers, the company said Tuesday.

Marshall Molloy, a spokesman for the Morris Plains, N.J., firm, said employees were notified Tuesday of the layoffs and impending closure. The first round of layoffs, affecting 50 employees, will begin during “coming weeks,” he said. The Anaheim plant, part of the company’s American Chicle Group, produces a variety of chewing gum, mints and mouthwashes bearing brand names that include Listerine, Clorets and Trident.

Warner-Lambert officials said the shutdown was part of the company’s consolidation of the Chicle Group in response to “continuing strong competition in confectionary markets.” In the consolidation, the Anaheim plant, which accounts for about 10% of the group’s production, becomes “excess capacity.” Work now done in Anaheim will be shifted during the year to the group’s plant in Rockford, Ill.

Molloy said the layoffs--involving production, professional and temporary workers--will be limited to the Anaheim plant. An adjacent corporate distribution center employing 100 workers will not be affected, he said.

Molloy said the company has established a placement center at the Anaheim plant to help employees find new jobs.

During 1984, Warner-Lambert, which has 16,370 employees nationwide, posted a profit of $224 million, up from $200 million in 1983. The company’s 1984 revenues were $3.2 billion, up slightly from $3.1 billion the year before.