Mott's Workers Ask Dr. Pepper Snapple Why $550 Million in Profits Isn't Enough

[Omaha Steve]

http://rwdsu.info/en/archives/5/motts-workers-ask-dr-pepper-snapple-why-550-million-profits-isnt-enough-52010.html



Mott's worker Ira "Bud" Bristol asks Dr. Pepper Snapple CEO Larry Young (seated at right) why the company is trying to decimate wages and benefits at Mott's despite huge profits.

With just three days until Dr. Pepper Snapple (NYSE: DPS) intends to implement new contract terms that would impose wage and benefit cuts on more than 300 full time manufacturing workers at the Mott’s plant in upstate New York, several Mott’s workers/shareholders addressed the DPS Board of Directors at their annual meeting in Frisco, Texas. In addition to questioning the need for cuts in the face of the company’s record profit and growth, the workers issued a warning about the effects of a prolonged labor fight on Mott’s reputation and the larger Dr. Pepper Snapple image.

Click here for more on this story: http://rwdsu.info/stop-dr-pepper-snapple-taking-money-out-workers-pickets.html

“Forcing these cuts on us when DPS made $555 million in profit last year is unacceptable,” said Timothy Budd, who has worked at the plant for 24 years. “Why do you want to cut the wages and benefits of the very people whose hard work and dedication contribute to the company’s success and help make Mott’s such a successful brand?”

RWDSU Local 220, which represents the workers, has been trying to secure a fair contract for months. Despite the company’s profitability, DPS is demanding a $1.50 per hour wage cut for all workers, a pension freeze for current employees and a pension elimination for future employees, decreased employer contributions to the 401K and increased employee contributions toward health care premiums and co-pays. Plant workers overwhelmingly rejected this offer and voted in favor of authorizing their negotiating committee to call an unfair labor practice strike. The union has continued to demand that the company bargain in good faith in order to quickly reach a fair contract.

The Williamson plant is the only plant that produces Mott’s applesauce, including high margin single serve packs, with 70 percent of the workforce in skilled labor categories. A labor dispute could damage the value of Mott’s family-friendly brand by associating it with corporate greed and union busting. Additionally, the product may suffer quality issues, as the skilled workforce is not easily replaceable. The Mott’s brand is responsible for more than $500 million worth of DPS’s retail sales each year.

FULL story at link.

[Desertrose]

1. Very damn good quesion, isn't it? n/t

[gmoney]

2. "Because you're all disposable..."

"Go ahead and give us an excuse to ship your jobs to Mexico or Haiti where they'll be thrilled to earn $20 a day," said CFO Jerald Pepper, MD. "In summary, fuck you and everybody who looks like you."

[Cowpunk]

5. ...And you can never have enough profits

It's the shareholders who create wealth, not the people who actually make stuff. They must be rewarded for their contribution to society.

[Starry Messenger]

3. Because unions get in the way of innovation.

At least, that's what I've read here for the last month or so.

[DJ13]

4. The real reason

Because its been talked about in the financial press for a couple of months that the company is up for sale, and if the jackals in the executive suites can further increase profits (on the backs of their workers) then the company will be worth more when its sold, thus further padding the golden parachutes of those execs when they leave.

[TransitJohn]

6. Yep.

Ah, capitalism. Slash and burn companies down to the ground, then walk away with an unearned grotesque amount of the cash you sucked away from workers and shareholders, so you can have a positive 'turnaround' on your resume until you move on to bigger and better companies to destroy.






I FEEL LIKE I'M TAKING CRAZY PILLS!!!!

[GreenPartyVoter]

8. Me too! :^(

[jp11]

7. Well at least they are being honest, I guess that is a good thing, right?

[RainDog]

9. why? because they're greedy motherfucking assholes who try to take all the credit

they will never admit that they, alone, deserve to be compensated fairly.