Dr Pepper Snapple: Family Unfriendly
June 24, 2010
Have you heard the bad news? It turns out that the facility that makes Mott’s delicious applesauce, juice and other products was bought a couple of years ago by a company that is now attacking its workers. Talk about family unfriendly! The Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPS) is thriving:
- Last year, DPS made $555 million in net profit.
- DPS has been profitable for the last five years.
- The CEO’s salary has doubled in recent years.
- Executives have received bonuses and increases.
When a company is doing well financially, workers should be rewarded to build long-term value. But that apparently isn’t enough for some corporate honchos. Instead they’ve decided to try to suck every last penny out of the workers of the Mott’s facility in Williamson, N.Y.
This year when contract negotiations started, DPS attacked its workers, demanding outrageous wage and benefit cuts. That is short-sighted. While DPS is raking in the money, it is foolishly taking advantage of the recession to treat its hard working employees like commodities. These are people with families, not apples to be squeezed for every drop. That’s just wrong.
Successful family-friendly brands are not created by companies that treat their workers badly. If DPS persists in its anti-worker actions, it will become clear to consumers and investors that it is not interested in negotiating a reasonable contract or preserving Mott’s as a family friendly brand. That’s not the recipe for long-term value.
The workers at Mott’s in Williamson want a fair and equitable contract. The 1.6 million members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), AFL-CIO, are proud to stand with them and their union, Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union/UFCW Local 220.
