CINCINNATI — The St. Bernard Soap Company is facing another round of layoffs, with the announcement of the plant’s imminent closure less than a month after it laid off around half of its employees in December. The vice president of the union representing the company’s employees, Sean Witt, revealed that employees were informed of the plant’s permanent shutdown in a meeting on Wednesday morning, impacting approximately 120 union members.

The company had previously sent out a WARN letter in October, announcing the layoffs of at least 153 employees, including 120 union-represented and 8 non-represented employees. The terminations were set to take place on December 10, with the company indicating that the layoffs would be permanent. However, the WARN letter did not mention any plans for closure at that time.

St. Bernard Soap Company has a long history of bar soap production, operating for over 125 years. Originally opened by Procter & Gamble in 1886, the plant transitioned to manufacturing various brands after its sale in 2003. Despite this shift, P&G products remained a significant part of the company’s offerings until recently. The loss of P&G as a client resulted in a substantial decline in business, with approximately 90% of the company’s revenue from four P&G brands: Oil of Olay, Safeguard, Ivory, and Old Spice.

In response to the situation, a spokesperson for P&G stated that the company is ‘consolidating contract manufacturing partners’ and will continue production at a P&G-owned plant in Boston for efficiency and scale.

The closure of the St. Bernard Soap Company marks the end of an era for a longstanding soap production facility in Cincinnati, impacting numerous employees and signaling a significant shift in the industry.