Beverage distributor laying off 125 workers on both sides of Washington state

Penske Logistics is laying off 125 workers in Benton City and three other Washington locations beginning March 31.

A company spokesman confirmed the layoffs are tied to Republic National Distributing Company. The beverage distributor has elected to handle the trucking and warehousing work Penske currently provides, it said.

The layoffs also affect locations in Auburn, Arlington and Spokane.

Penske is working with Republic to ensure the affected workers will be able to apply to work for the company.

The layoffs were publicized through a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification or WARN act notice, filed with the Washington Employment Security Department.

Employees were given advance notice of the WARN filing, the company said.

Republic will have to bargain with the Penske workers who are represented by Teamsters Local 174, a union spokeswoman told the Tri-City Herald.