98 years of making hot dogs, and cold cuts, and bacon on Madison's east side comes to an end sometime Thursday. That's when the last packages of meat will come off the production line.
Oscar Meyer was an important part of Madison's economy... and identify... for decades. At its peak in the 1970s, as four-thousand people worked there. Many people point to the day when H.J. Heinz bought parent-company Kraft Foods two years ago... as the beginning of the end.
Union spokesman for Oscar Mayer workers says about 70 workers will be finished Friday. Then, the final 30-to-40 plant employees will work through July on the final clean-up.
The plant will be completely closed by the end of next month.