CHICAGO (WLS) — Hundreds of PepsiCo workers were laid off after the company decided Monday to close the plant located in the Back of the Yards neighborhood.

Some workers said they had been with the company for more than 45 years. The workers said they came to work as normal, were told the factory was closing and they had to go home.

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Many workers left with tears in their eyes, trying to figure out how they could provide for their families.

“No notice, none of that, blinded,” said Eric Gadson, a former PepsiCo truck driver.

Gadson had been a truck driver for PepsiCo for 21 years, until he was informed when he showed up for work Monday that PepsiCo was permanently closing its 51st Street facility in Chicago, effective immediately.

“I’m the sole breadwinner in my house,” Gadson said. “My wife has MS. My daughter is about to go to college next year. So I can’t put into words how I feel right now.”

Gadson said he is only nine years away from retirement, but is now forced to start from scratch elsewhere.

PepsiCo Beverages North America said in a statement: “The decision to no longer operate at 51st Street is a difficult one. It is a building over 60 years old which has physical limitations. Our top priority is supporting our employees through this transition, and our commitment to serving Chicagoland remains. Our plans meet applicable legal requirements and we will actively work with union leadership on details related to the closure.

A statement from Teamsters Local 727, which represents workers at the plant, said PepsiCo’s late notice is “in violation of the WARN Act, which requires employers with 75 or more full-time employees to provide a 60 days notice for current plant. closures or mass layoffs,” calling the decision “disgusting and shameful.”

“Being 58 is like starting all over again. It’s going to be hard,” Gadson said.

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Gadson said more than 200 people worked at the plant. He said PepsiCo had agreed to maintain wages and benefits through the end of December, but said this experience would take all of his faith to get through it.

“My message to my colleagues is this, you know,” Gadson said. “God closes one door and opens another, and maybe that would be better.”

PepsiCo held a second meeting with more employees on Monday at 2 p.m. to give them an update, but word had already spread about the second shift.

“I have a daughter who’s in school. I have a house. Come on, don’t make people like that. You can’t all make people like that; you’re big business. Let us know at less,” said former machine operator Johnathan Valentine.

The union said it proposed a meeting with PepsiCo on Wednesday.

“It’s a shock to everyone right now,” said Daryl Smith, a former PepsiCo employee and Teamsters union representative. “Everyone doesn’t know how they’re going to care for their children right now; it’s shocking for everyone.”

Former lineman Demetrus Lanier said he loved working at PepsiCo.

“I was there early every day. At 1 p.m. you see my truck come by, and that was five, six days a week. And I don’t start until 2 p.m.,” he said.

Juan Gonzalez was on the first shift and had worked at PepsiCo most of his life.

“You work 45 years and you finish in two minutes,” he said.

“I’ve never seen anything like this. A large corporation acting this way is deplorable,” said John Coli, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 727.