On May 23, 2010, the owner of Mott’s, a subsidiary of the highly profitable Dr Pepper Snapple (DPS), forced 300 workers and members of RWDSU Local 220 on strike at the Mott’s plant in Williamson, NY. Though the company is seeing tremendous success and has turned a profit the past 5 years, Mott’s insists on wage and benefit cuts from workers, saying workers should think of themselves as a “commodity” like “soybeans or oil.”
Basic Facts: Mott’s/DPS is demanding: $1.50 per hour wage cut for all employees, pension elimination for future employees, pension freeze for current employees, 20 percent decrease in employer contributions to the 401K, increased employee contributions toward health care premiums and co-pays. Most workers at the Williamson plant make around $19/hr. Mott’s was acquired by DPS in May of 2008, after which workers report a shift in attitude from management.
Mott’s is looking to exploit the economic climate to maximize their profits at the expense of their workers.
- While the three highest paid executives at DPS, including CEO Larry Young, doubled their pay between 2007 and 2009, the company is now proposing to cut wages and benefits for the workers at the profitable Mott’s plant in Williamson, NY.
- The company is demanding to slash wages by as much as $1.50 an hour for each and every employee, and is trying to take away the workers’ pension plan.
There is no economic necessity for what the company is proposing to do.
- DPS is recognized in the industry as a leader and has seen extraordinary success over the past several years.
- DPS’s stock has rocketed 28% since the most recent earnings announcement in February of 2010. The stock price is outperforming the industry as a whole by 443% since that earnings release.*
What’s happening to the Mott’s workers in Williamson is a symptom of the systemic corporate greed undermining the American dream and destroying middle class jobs. In 1965 average CEO pay levels were 24 times as much as the average worker. In 2001, CEO’s earned 300 times more than workers, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
We are a country of workers, not CEOs. We cannot afford to allow the leadership of profitable companies to reward themselves while punishing the workers who keep the company successful and our economy going.
Read more about the struggle in the NY Times: In Mott’s Strike, More Than Pay at Stake.
How You Can Help:
1) Get the Word Out: Help educate others about what’s going on in Williamson and why it’s important. Make copies of the flyers on www.nobadapples.org and post in breakrooms and on community message boards or organize a leafleting action in front of your local grocery store.
2) Don’t Buy Mott’s Products: Are you a member of any church groups, school organizations or other community organizations? Request that your meetings and activities be Mott’s-free until the company comes to their senses. Remove Mott’s products from any vending machines or lunches at your local union office or worksite. Mott’s Products made at the Williamson plant: Mott’s Apple Sauce, Hawaiian Punch, Margaritaville, Mr. and Mrs. T Products, Welch’s Grape Juice 64oz, Rose’s Lime Juice, Snapple cans, Mott’s Fruitsations, Mott’s Garden Cocktail, ReaLemon / ReaLime, Holland House, Clamato.
3) Participate in Online Actions. Are you on Facebook or Twitter? Update your profile picture to the support graphic found on www.nobadapples.org, then be sure to leave a message on the Mott’s Facebook page in support of the workers at Mott’s. If you’re on Twitter, you can use the hashtag #JusticeAtMotts in any updates in support of workers. Be sure to include “@Motts” somewhere in your update so that Mott’s will see your message.
Not on Facebook or Twitter? You can still leave messages on the Mott’s blog, www.moretothecore.com. Stay up to date on current online actions at www.nobadapples.org.
