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Hershey’s Chocolate Moves to Mexico
Columns | Tue, 01/15/2008 - 11:11 am | Read 15600 | Commented 22 | Emailed 109
Fewer and fewer products are being manufactured in America. Now, add to the list Hershey Candy. The company is moving to Mexico. This press release from Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa sums it up:
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, Pa., would soon be without jobs? Or if they knew 575 workers in Oakdale, Calif. 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.
Since 2000, corporations have shipped more than 525,000 white-collar jobs overseas, according to the AFL-CIO department of professional employees. Some estimates say up to 14 million middle-class jobs could be exported out of America in the next 10 years.
Accountants, software engineers, even X-ray technicians are losing their jobs as corporations look for low-wage workers in countries such as India and China.
At the same time, 3 million manufacturing jobs have been lost since George W. Bush took office, many of them because corporations have shipped them to countries such as Mexico and China, which is creating a booming manufacturing industry on the backs of its poorly-paid workers.
AFL-CIO notes the jobs being created in the U. S. often are low-wage jobs that don’t offer health coverage or ensure retirement security. Nearly one-quarter of the nation’s workers labor in jobs that generally pay less than the $8.85 hourly wage which our government said it takes to keep a family of four out of poverty. Sixty percent of such workers are women, and many are people of color.
As of 2003, the U.S. imported 96 percent of all the clothing that is purchased and 75 percent of all the toys sold in the U.S. are manufactured in other countries, according to the United Auto Workers union.
All this started when President Bill Clinton signed NAFTA promising “a million jobs in the first five years of its impact,” which never happened. President George H. W. Bush negotiated NAFTA, so unfortunately both Republicans and Democrats who owe their souls to corporate money have supported it.
A complete list of all the corporations that have sent manufacturing to Mexico does not seem to be available on the Web but a short list includes Levis, Wrangler, Black and Decker, Maytag, Black, La-Z-Boy, Honeywell, Phillips, Eastman-Kodak, Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, Pillsbury, Carrier Air Conditioning, Lexmark, Whirlpool, Colgate, Zenith, Canon and Pratt & Whitney.
No matter who occupies the Oval Office next year, these jobs are gone from America.
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Comments (22)
We welcome your thoughts, stories and information related to this column.
Tue, 03/10/2009 - 8:45pm - Posted by: Anonymous
GOD BLESS AMERICA, LAND THAT I LOVE, STAND BESIDE HER AND GUIDE HER!!!! Lets all take a deep breath and let our New President guide us through this. This mess of eight years of oppression will not go away overnight, we have a long awaikening from the mess we have been in.
Wed, 02/25/2009 - 7:24pm - Posted by: Anonymous
Hershey's bar with agave worm ? Relax have some chocolate
Fri, 02/20/2009 - 9:20pm - Posted by: Anonymous
what can you be thinking. We are the people who have supported your company through the years. more lost american jobs. perhaps forego the ceo perks and help our people and our country. i will not buy your products till they are made by americans.
Mon, 02/16/2009 - 1:27am - Posted by: Anonymous
The only solution is a revolution..
Mon, 02/02/2009 - 4:51pm - Posted by: Anonymous
they are done in my books I wont buy anything from them ......EVER
Mon, 08/18/2008 - 11:15pm - Posted by: Anonymous
You haven't seen anything yet... wait till Obama gets in office... The Dem's will finally learn their lesson.
Wed, 07/09/2008 - 12:41pm - Posted by: Anonymous
I WILL BOYCOTT HERSHEY - I READ THE LABELS AND IF MADE BY HERSHEY - I'LL NOT BUY IT.
Tue, 05/27/2008 - 10:19pm - Posted by: Anonymous
the grass on the other side of the fence oft looks greener.....only time will tell if the Americans will boycott this disgusting move. remember folks "LOVE of money is the root of all evil" so how long will mexico have the company before it moves to china to save even more money and then the mexicans will also be out of a job. it has happened before and they wonder why also. so...guess if the heinz company owns hershey then it would make good sense to BOYCOTT BOTH COMPANIES and let them feel it in their pockets the same way consumers, employees feel the deceit. don't know why it took so long for this news to reach everyone. if hershey is so proud of their lack of business ethics they should want to publically announce and let everyone know why they are moving. who will be next? coca cola, nestle, perez and one other company own the water in mexico and those folks are buying water that belongs to them also. sound familiar? and we still buy things from china so who is to blame for supporting the traitors?????
Thu, 04/24/2008 - 11:33am - Posted by: Anonymous
What needs to happen is a boycot of all hersheys products untill they bring the jobs back to the states
Mon, 04/21/2008 - 9:29am - Posted by: Anonymous
Visit Hershey PA and see the street lights that look like Hershey kisses, the amusement park that was built next to the chocolate factory, and tour the amazing school that Milton Hershey and his wife, with no children of their own, founded for boys who had lost one or more of their parents, still thriving and growing with a generous endowment that the Hersheys gave them, and you know that Milton would be rolling over in his grave right now to see how the focus of his empire now is not on the people, but on the almighty dollar.
I haven't purchased Hershey Products since they made the announcement, and I encourage everyone I see holding a Hershey product in their hand to follow my lead.
How ironic is it that the hundreds of thousands of tourists who take the Hershey's Chocolate World tour for years have finished the tour hearing a song whose lyrics end with "Hershey! The Great American Chocolate Bar!". I wonder how that song is going to sound when they have to change those lyrices to "The Great Mexican Chocolate Bar!"
I hope the profit losses they've been experiencing turn out to be a wake up call for the corporate machines.
Mon, 04/14/2008 - 1:46pm - Posted by: Anonymous
Does this surprize me? not on your life! This company like countless others that left our country for greener pastures, could care less about our people. And because of Nafta, you will see many more taking off too. What about the years that America prospered, with out having to sell us out?....that was until they got greedier. There is no Allegence to the American People anymore, there allegence is to their Money and how they can get richer off the sweat of low paying wages. Besides our govt, is helping them by encouraging businesses to leave for there own personal financial gains, to spread the wealth thru out the world " you know Security for Prosperity and Partership...one world order.....thats my take....and I have done my homework.....
Sun, 04/13/2008 - 9:39am - Posted by: Anonymous
The fact that Hershey feels the need to move some of its work to Mexico is very bad.
I feel bad for these people, as I know what it's like to get downsized. It took me 3 tears to get back on track.
I think we should punish companies who go out of the country just to cut payroll while they were making a good profit with current payroll levels.
Thu, 04/10/2008 - 9:05am - Posted by: Anonymous
IF 900 of the 3000 PA employees are losing their jobs, that's substantially more than 5%. Unless you are using that fuzzy math! It's closer to 30%!
Tue, 03/25/2008 - 4:53am - Posted by: Anonymous
I work for a large corpation who is moving the glass business to Monterrey, Mexico. We make Life Science products. I am trying to find out what laws are out there for unemployment ins. and free education. The company isn't saying a word about what help we can get
Thu, 02/21/2008 - 5:15pm - Posted by: Anonymous
This is soooo stupid. Over 1500 people are going to lose their job. How could they do that to those poor people. I feel so bad!!
Mon, 02/18/2008 - 5:59pm - Posted by: Anonymous
this is why your sales are down. chcolate lovers do not like the idea of making your products out of the U.S..old man hershey is probably turning over in his grave. the ceo and the board made a hugh mistake doing this. I will not buy hershey products because of this stupid move. STEW MILLER
Sat, 02/16/2008 - 5:03pm - Posted by: Anonymous
5% exported this year, 95% exported when the number crunchers see the new bottom line based on substandard wages. Mexico is just another arrogant OPEC country that has always encouraged it's population to leave the country so that the elites won't have to spread the wealth; PEMEX supposedly is owned by the people. Legal U.S workers had better snap out of it and realize that the rest of the world wants us dead one way or the other.
Wed, 02/13/2008 - 9:59pm - Posted by: Anonymous
I applaud companies who keep jobs in the US and stave off the temptation to move to other countries and take advantage of their people in order to make a bigger buck. It's sad that our economy is going downhill in part because of these decisions. At the same time, I feel the need to move began with the poor economy in the US in the first place. It's a downward spiral. The state of the economy is affecting me and my family directly in a number of negative ways and we are looking forward to voting for a democratic candidate to replace President Bush! --Susan D, Forgotonia, IL
Mon, 02/11/2008 - 10:06pm - Posted by: Anonymous
How would you like it if your job was in the only 5% that was going to Mexico!
Thu, 01/31/2008 - 9:07pm - Posted by: Anonymous
Well, all those who believe in taking care of the home folks first know what ot do.
Thu, 01/31/2008 - 8:39pm - Posted by: Anonymous
It's a minor issue, but Hershey Park is not run by the same company as the chocolate factory.
Thu, 01/31/2008 - 4:28pm - Posted by: Anonymous
Only about 5% of all product from Hershey's large brand line will come from Mexico. That means the vast majority of product will still be made in the United States.
Unlike other competitors (Masterfoods/Nestle), Hershey has a huge "tax" to pay on commodities since they use the US Dollar when running its business -- and as we all know, the dollar hasn't been holding its own.
Masterfoods is private... they would never bother to share information like this... I find their PR employees brilliant in creating a misconception about the Hershey brand. Masterfoods has always always led the way in price increases...
O, let's forget the fact that all employees of Hershey work for the common goal of providing an excellent education for about 1800 students every year. Gosh, what a horrible thing that the company would place 5% of its business in Mexico in order to meet the bottom line to stay in business.... What a tragedy!