Bradford Soap Co. closes for good

Company executives said the move became inevitable after talks with production workers on a new contract failed. They also said prices have been squeezed by low-cost retailers such as Wal-Mart, which has forced manufacturers to seek cheaper labor that can produce lower cost goods.

The company will merge its operations with plants in Dayton, Ohio and Columbus, Indiana, executives said. About 100 administrative employees are expected to remain at the company's headquarters here for now, company president and chief executive officer Steve LeGraw told The Providence Journal.

Bradford was founded in 1876 by two men from Bradford, England, and is the world's largest manufacturer of specialty soaps. Many families earned multiple incomes from the plant, and union officials have said that workers have been there more than 15 years on average. Its plant along the Pawtuxet River helped define West Warwick's reputation for textile manufacturing.

Last month, the company tried to renegotiate its contract with its production workers. A branch of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters rejected offers that would have cut wages and benefits for about 70 of the lowest-skilled positions, but would have kept the plant in town.

LeGraw said Bradford pays its workers about $13 per hour, plus benefits -- a salary he said is higher than the average rate in the United States for the type of work performed.

"It's bad for Rhode Island, it's bad for New England, and it's a lesson to be learned," he said.

Workers were sad and bitter about the news.

"It makes me feel used, for all the years I've worked at Bradford," a female worker said.