If you haven’t heard the news about Mott’s Applesauce, apparently the company has a worm in it somewhere. Mott’s – it’s been around for years, has acquired and been acquired several times, and now is part of the Dr Pepper Snapple Group. Think of Dr Pepper, Schweppes, Grandma’s Molasses, Hawaiian Punch, Yoo-Hoo, Mott’s juices, and…well, you see how big it is. Last year the parent company made $555 MILLION in profits and its stock went up 180%. That’s in a time of recession!
Time to share the wealth and offer bonuses and raises to the hard-working dedicated employees that made it possible, right? Of course, not. This is Corporate America we’re talking about. Mott’s told its employees that they plan to cut wages $2.50 an hour and take away their pension play. The justification was that the employees are paid above the local average, and the company thinks that’s wrong. I guess they think the employees are getting uppity since they worked so hard for the company and just want to be safe and secure in their homes and futures. I guess Mott’s wants to see that their town in upstate New York be a third-world community.
The workers are on strike, and their kids are missing their birthday cakes, movies, and new clothes. These are hard times for a union that is fighting to maintain. Corporate America has done so much in the last 20 years or so to destroy unions and make certain that no one gets more than the minimum to survive – stay alive and come to work.
I found some of the info at http://www.americansright.com and I urge you to follow up on this story. It’s Mott’s employees – it could be our local employees. I’ve seen it happen in our area – “you’re paid above the local average, it’s time to lower your wages.” And, we’ll see it again if we don’t support our brothers and sisters, neighbors and friends when they have to fight for living wages and a future for their kids.
I wrote to Larry D Young, President and CEO of Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. and told him he owed it to the loyal employees who made the company so profitable to extend the loyalty to them and make the Mott’s facility the envy of every other company in town, make it the place to work for every local worker.
We could be next. Do you have a worm in your applesauce?