Del Monte announced it will shut down its canning plant in Modesto.

According to CBS News, this comes following the company’s decision to file for bankruptcy in July of last year and the plant’s closure will lead to the loss of 1,500 jobs consisting of 600 full-time employees and around 800 to 900 seasonal employees.

CBS News further stated that an employee at the plant told KCRA 3 News of Modesto, Ca that she had worked at the plant for 41 years and will most likely now be forced into retirement.

Odus Hall, who is a business coordinator with Local 948 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters weighed in on the issue saying that the rising costs of both tin and labor have not helped the already struggling canning industry.

“The overwhelming majority of this tinplate comes from overseas, and there’s nowhere else to get it. So all that tariff did was increase the cost of canned foods, making it that much more difficult for them to compete in the market against imported peaches that come in already canned.”

The Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors has already put plans into motion to offer workplace development programs to the laid-off workers with hopes of introducing those affected into new fields of work.

Vito Chiesa, who is a former peach grower said the plant’s closure will have an impact that stretches far beyond the farms and plant itself.

“You think of the farmers, the people that are working on the farm, the equipment salesman, the fertilizer on through the processing plants, silicon containers, and the truckers that are involved in moving all this stuff around. So it is a big loss and trickle-down effect.”

It has further been reported that of the three companies that purchased assets from Del Monte Foods none have yet come forward with any plans of reopening the plant.