Armstrong facility in Beech Creek Township part of bankruptcy proceeding

BEECH CREEK TOWNSHIP, PA – Armstrong Flooring, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and reorganization in May, on Thursday asked a Delaware bankruptcy court to allow it to reject current union contracts and stop paying retiree health and life insurance benefits.

Per Lisa Scheid, Business Trends Reporter for Lancaster.online, contracts with the United Steelworkers and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers would cease when a sale is consummated, when Armstrong Flooring stops operating a plant, or its financing ends, whichever comes first.

Armstrong operates a Beech Creek Township facility with a workforce of about 35 and is not unionized. The Lancaster facility, with some 600 employees, is unionized. There are also plants in Illinois, Mississippi, Oklahoma and one plant each in China and Australia. The plants in China and Australia are reported as not part of the bankruptcy but are part of the sale.

The parent company recently warned all its workers that they may face permanent layoff as soon as June 17 if the company does not find a buyer. The company is seeking Delaware bankruptcy court approval to sell off assets and reorganize to address $318 million in debt, including $160 million in long term debt. Armstrong said it had assets worth $517 million.