In Williamson New York, the workers are being asked to accept $1.50-an-hour wage cut, a pension freeze and other concessions. The company that is pushing these pay cuts is the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, member of the American Beverage Association - a union of corporations who join together to promote their own self interests. Along with Pepsi and Coca-Cola, these three corporations controls about 90% of the soft drink business in the USA.
Dr. Pepper Snapple Group made $550 Million dollars in 2009, up from $312 Million in 2008, so what justifies that the lowest paid people in the company take a pay cut? It is simply this: the wealthier owners and higher paid employees at Dr. Pepper Snapple Group want to continue the ongoing transfer of wealth in America from the middle class to the upper class.
There are 305 employees in Williamson who will be affected by this wage cut. This represents at least one million dollars in lost wages. Will the one million dollars be used to lower the price of Dr. Pepper? I don't think so. Dr. Pepper and the rest of the beverage union keep prices about the same between them They seem to be a rather coopertative union. So, where will the lion's share go? It will no doubt be handed out as bonuses and raises to the company headquarters.
Dr. Pepper Snapple Group is headquartered in Collin County Texas, a county that has a median family income of $92,000. The Motts plant in Williamson New York is in Wayne County where the median family income is $72,000. In short, the million dollars (and more) is being shipped from Wayne County to Collin County. We have all heard wealthy people tell us that they worked hard for their fortune. Are the workers in Collin working harder for the million dollars? No. So why is the money being transferred? The simple reason is greed.
Wayne County borders Monroe County. The area has been hard hit by manufacturing losses with Xerox, Eastman Kodak, Bausch & Lomb and others sending good paying jobs overseas to China and Mexico. Good jobs are hard to come by if you are a laborer. The management of Dr. Pepper Snapple are seizing on this opportunity to further exploit their employees and fatten their own wallets.
There is ample proof today and throughout history that when disparities of wealth widen, social ills increase. We saw it in the Soviet Union where party members feasted on caviar while the common man stood in line for bread. We see it today in third world countries where the wealthy few rob their fellow citizens of the nation's wealth. Such economic conditions bring with them increases in crime, poverty, poor physical and mental health, drug addiction, and an overall decrease in the health of the society.
From a conservative perspective, I denounce this tactic of the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group as I wish to return to and preserve the robust, healthy, and productive America that I grew up with in the 1960's and 1970's where labor had a voice in our collective future and the pursuit of happiness was a reality for all of us.
I urge you to think about this the next time you consider purchasing a soft drink.
http://www.drpeppersnapplegroup.com/brands/
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old new lefty
Kerry Lauerman
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Peter Breschard
DanielKronlid
Saturn Smith
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Comments
A unionized workforce is a democratic workforce, one where the workers have a say in what they do and what they earn. Otherwise, all the power remains on the corporate side and the outcomes are what you describe above.
Reagan knew exactly what kind of America he would create when he started by busting unions.
I have personally never been a union member, but Ive never worked in a unionized industry (insurance). But without unions, workers get bent over and told to thank their corporate masters for the crumbs that fall from the table.
If enough people boycotted, the people at the top would do something to save their collective asses. If, somehow, these people at the top put their principles ahead of their personal monetary position (an odd concept, that's for certain), and the company went bankrupt, the market would not be satisfied with the lower supply and another company would try to take its place.....and already know the outcome if it tried to undercut the power of labor.