Del Monte Foods will close its Modesto fruit cannery, a loss of about 600 year-round jobs and 1,200 more during the harvest.
A union leader said Friday that workers were informed of the closure during meetings Thursday at the Yosemite Boulevard plant.
Del Monte had filed for bankruptcy July 1, prompting an auction of its properties around the nation. No one offered to keep the Modesto cannery running. The shutdown also closes off a market for growers of peaches, apricots and pears…