Thread: Hershey's flight to Mexico

Hershey’s Flight to Mexico a Raw Deal for 3,000 Workers in U.S. and Canada





Official Statement of Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa

Contact:
Galen Munroe
(202) 624-6904
June 13, 2007

(Washington, D.C.) – In another blow to working families in the United States and Canada, the Hershey Company has announced that it will be closing multiple plants, cutting its workforce by 11.5 percent and moving jobs to a new plant in Monterey, Mexico.

This decision is yet another byproduct of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which, from its inception, has done more to erode the U.S. economy than perhaps any single piece of legislation in U.S. history.

Millions of jobs have left our nation for countries like Mexico and China where workers don’t have the rights and protections our workers enjoy in the U.S. Wages are low and employer power is high—a perfect storm in which big business prioritizes profit over worker safety and well-being.

The Hershey Company has always been synonymous with American tradition. A true homegrown success story, Hershey Park and the company facilities have been visited by millions of families that travel to enjoy the theme park and tour the factories.

I wonder what those families would think now if they knew that 900 of the 3,000 workers in the three plants in Hershey, Pennsylvania would soon be without jobs? Or if they knew 575 workers in Oakdale, California will be looking for new employment in January 2008? Will they still feel the same pride in this American company?

This is a company that was built on the backs of hardworking Americans—blue-collar, middle-class men and women who dedicated their lives to Hershey and are now being betrayed for the sake of a few extra dollars at the bottom of a balance sheet.

Over the last 13 years, NAFTA has destroyed the competitive edge American workers had benefited from for decades. Skilled and hardworking Americans find themselves losing out to cheap labor over the border and across the ocean.

http://www.teamster.org/07news/nr_070613_1.asp

This is sickening!
No more Hershey's for me!
Oakdale is a small farming community.
They are going to be devestated by this act.

Nafta is the most Anti-American TREATY ever constructed.
Our enemies could not have done a better job of destroying our economy.

BOYCOTT!!!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by ProudAmericanFamily

This is sickening!
No more Hershey's for me!
Oakdale is a small farming community.
They are going to be devestated by this act.

Nafta is the most Anti-American TREATY ever constructed.
Our enemies could not have done a better job of destroying our economy.

I am livid, they have gotten so big boycotting would not even hurt them, Do you realize how many products use hershey choc, we could break the candy bar part maybe but I doubt it. I wish all Americans would boycott all products producted in Mexico all the way to ford!! We are the ones that purchase the most goods in the world, we are such fools, we have the power and can't get enough people to use it!!!

food of any sort from Mexico will not end up on my table

I no longer buy anything except food and gas...and I make sure it's not food that's marked as coming from Latin America (except coffee). I even check where clothing is made. Most of what I buy is USED like on ebay.

SOSADFORUS WROTE:

am livid, they have gotten so big boycotting would not even hurt them, Do you realize how many products use hershey choc, we could break the candy bar part maybe but I doubt it. I wish all Americans would boycott all products producted in Mexico all the way to ford!! We are the ones that purchase the most goods in the world, we are such fools, we have the power and can't get enough people to use it!!!

SHOPPERS NEED ACCESS TO INFORMATION ABOUT THE PRODUCTS BEFORE THEY ARE IN THE STORE. AND TO RESEARCH EACH AND EVERY PRODUCT IS VERY CUMBERSOME.

YOU ARE RIGHT, WE NEED TO BOYCOTT ALL PRODUCTS FROM MEXICO. BUT WE NEED TO KNOW WHICH ONES THEY ARE BEFORE WE GET TO THE STORE. SO THERE HAS TO BE A SOURCE OF THIS INFORMATION SO THE AMERICAN SHOPPER CAN CARRY A "BLACKLIST".

WE CAN VOTE WITH OUR DOLLAR. BUT LIKE VOTING IN GENERAL, A VOTER HAS GOT TO BE INFORMED.

Originally Posted by redpony353

SOSADFORUS WROTE:

am livid, they have gotten so big boycotting would not even hurt them, Do you realize how many products use hershey choc, we could break the candy bar part maybe but I doubt it. I wish all Americans would boycott all products producted in Mexico all the way to ford!! We are the ones that purchase the most goods in the world, we are such fools, we have the power and can't get enough people to use it!!!

SHOPPERS NEED ACCESS TO INFORMATION ABOUT THE PRODUCTS BEFORE THEY ARE IN THE STORE. AND TO RESEARCH EACH AND EVERY PRODUCT IS VERY CUMBERSOME.

YOU ARE RIGHT, WE NEED TO BOYCOTT ALL PRODUCTS FROM MEXICO. BUT WE NEED TO KNOW WHICH ONES THEY ARE BEFORE WE GET TO THE STORE. SO THERE HAS TO BE A SOURCE OF THIS INFORMATION SO THE AMERICAN SHOPPER CAN CARRY A "BLACKLIST".

WE CAN VOTE WITH OUR DOLLAR. BUT LIKE VOTING IN GENERAL, A VOTER HAS GOT TO BE INFORMED.

Agreed!
I have been making a real effort to buy only American made but I don't even know what this means! A lot of products are made or the ingredients come from China or Mexico and it is just packaged in America so we don't really KNOW where it originated.
We need to seek new legislation for truth in labeling!!!
We need to make sure that we can vote with our dollar with accurate information!
And just for the record HERSHEY, I would pay double to buy American Chocolate! Instead of buying from coporate sellouts like YOU!

You are so right Proud truth in labeling is what we need, you know I'm sure they did it this way so we did not know where anything came from, just like cars parts made in one country and assembled in America, what a crock. but Ford is out for sure, they moved a plant to Mexico and they contribute to LaRaza!!

HERSHEY!!!! Guess your real name is

T R A I T O R ! ! ! ! ! ! !