'Poster Child for Corporate Greed: Dr. Pepper Snapple Group'

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.milwaukeelabor.org/in_the_news/article.cfm?n_id=0099

Responding to recent news stories and a plea from Joseph Hanson, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW), AFL-CIO President Richard L. Trumka on August 23 sent a letter to all state and local federations, as well as the news media. His letter plus references is excerpted by Milwaukee Labor Press :

Sometimes a story about corporate greed and anti-union attacks is so dramatic, that it wakes people up and moves them to action. I believe this may well be the case with the strike of 305 UFCW members at the Mott’s apple juice plant (owned by the conglomerate Dr Pepper Snapple Group) in upstate New York.

A recent New York Times article gives a sense of how this profitable giant has decided to demand wage and benefit cuts – not because it is losing money (it made a profit of $555 million last year) - but because it wants to make recession wages the local standard. The company told the union that the workers should think of themselves as a “commodity” like “soybeans or oil.”

This fight has implications well beyond these workers. This greedy company thinks it can take advantage of a small group in Williamson, New York, while the rest of the labor movement sits by and watches. If we allow this to happen in New York, it will spread to other profitable companies seeking to follow suit. The New York AFL-CIO and the Rochester ALF have been working with Local 220 from the beginning, and their efforts have made a difference over the past 90 days.

Visit the Take Action section of milwaukeelabor.org to download a poster describing the issue and the products involved. Please use Labor Day or any gathering of workers as an opportunity to share this important story within your community.

UFCW President Joe Hansen has asked for our help, and in the spirit of labor movement solidarity we stand ready to support these workers and their union. Though the UFCW is not currently affiliated with the AFL-CIO at the national level, hundreds of its local unions have Solidarity Charters with you at the state and local level. I urge you to reach out to your UFCW locals and offer your assistance in bringing this fight to the attention of the public in order to build a national call for the corporation to bargain a fair contract with RWDSU-UFCW Local 220.

FULL story at link.

[Curmudgeoness]

1. "workers should think of themselves as a “commodity”

like “soybeans or oil.” Oh, we do. We know just what the CEOs think of us. And when this commodity price goes back up (and they will, they always do), we had better remember this.

Great post. We do have to remember who the scoundrels are.

[Uncle Joe]

2. And to think I was a Pepper at one time, no more..

Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Omaha Steve.

[Liberal_in_LA]

3. kick

[dpbrown]

4. Didn't GHW Bush's Carlyle Group buy Dr. Pepper/Seven Up some time ago?

I guess this is just reaping the benefits.

[Omaha Steve]

5. Kick

[JCMach1]

6. Arg! Why do they have to spoil everything

:(

Meaning the evil corporations...

Suppose I will have to drink Mr. Pibb in protest.

[HughBeaumont]

7. I'm not a commodity, you buncha FUCKS.

Keep it up, and the CEOs will be considering themselves an "endangered speicies", like a "Pale-backed Pigeon, or a Yellow Tit".

[Buns_of_Fire]

8. Renaming Payroll/Personnel departments to "Human Resources" wasn't an accident. nt