Local 220 workers are striking the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, which owns the Mott's factory that employs them. Though Dr. Pepper Snapple earned $555 million last year, management demanded wage cuts of $1.50 an hour, elimination of pensions for new employees, a 20 percent cut in their 401(k) plans and increased health insurance costs.
Michael Winship writes about the workers' plight in the Huffington Post. Ever since the family-owned Mott's was taken over by Dr. Pepper Snapple, he writes,
...the family spirit at the factory that once included an effective worker-management safety committee, Christmas parties, Easter hams and company picnics has been destroyed. Corporate greed, they say, has marched in with a vengeance.
The company's response to the strike: workers are overpaid and living beyond their means. CEO Larry Young, of course, saw his salary rise 113 percent over the last three years to $6.5 million
Read it and weep.
