Hershey to Close Reading, Pa., Plant

Forbes ^ | April 23, 2007

[AmishDude]

What union? Everybody in China is a part of the union, ultimately. They don’t have the union dues scam going there, separate from taxes. They are at least honest.

[N3WBI3]

Wow, you jump to conclusions really well..

1) I am not in a union, nor have I ever been

2) I have seen first hand the laziness and entitlement culture that unions can produce.

All this being said the only form of life I see as much lower than union gravy swilling do nothings is greedy anti American free-traitors. They wanna move to china *fine* but they have no right to operate a factory there and trade without tariff to the US.

I think its safe to say you make your living exporting jobs and don't care if the average American is a serf working at walmart. Put down the NAFTA news letter and stop quoting Bill Clinton with his love of china free trade.

[Malacoda]

S’OK — round about Halloween, when a bunch of kids get sick from eating China-made, melamine-tainted chocolate, Hershey’s will be taking it up their highway in lawsuits.

[weaponeer]

Personally, I think the effect of overseas manufacturing would be mitigated by the fact that transportation is so expensive.

I'm not so sure of that. The cost per ton-mile of shipping from China in containers is supposed to be very cheap.

I don't have the numbers, but it would be interesting to figure out the cost of transportation for a Hershey bar from China, given the cost per ton-mile and the weight of the bar. I'll bet it's not much.

[1rudeboy]

Maybe you can share your experiences in the high echelons of corporate management with the rest of us?

[the OlLine Rebel]

They’re union commies. They drive up costs far too much thinking they’re worth more than they are - including getting infinite breaks, leave, etc.

That’s what you get when you insist your work is worth more than it ever is. You lose it.

[1rudeboy]

See e.g., the auto industry.

[AmishDude]

Refrigerated containers?

[AmishDude]

Or the steel industry.

[dragnet2]

Oh come on now. Low wages in China have very little to do with corporate decisions.

Yes, we all believe this....Of course.

[mysterio]

I hope we outsource upper management jobs first.

Can you believe those greedy workers want $12.50? The nerve! They should take their 85 cents an hour so Hershey doesn't have to move.

[Afronaut]

These stories make me sick. No more Herseys in my house ever.

Not that they would care.

[1rudeboy]

You do understand that we already subsidize sugar and slap quotas on the sugar coming-in, don’t you? Why are people focused like laser beams on the labor portion of the cost equation? What about raw materials?

[4yearlurker]

Sorry.I stand corrected. I have been a union member(UCFW) and I’ve worked with union carpenters on job sites. It took union carpenters three times as long to do BAD work with about 15 smoke breaks a day. Why would any builder want them? As far as caring about an average American being a serf at walmart,no I really don’t care. One creates their own limitations in this world. I have two daughters and they are not working at Walmart. I don’t shop at Wally World but I do give my business to the local merchants if possible.

[wny]

No one pays more than they have to for anything. Goods, labor, services. If the coffe cost $1.25, that’s what you’ll pay. You won’t offer $2.00. Same with Hershey. Why should they pay more for labor than they have to? It’s a business, in it to make money. If the unions have priced themselves out of a job, then they priced themselves out of a job (see: UAW, Detroit). That’s why it’s outsourced. My point is, no one complaining about outsourcing voluntarily pays more for anything, yet they expect a company to do so.

[mysterio]

No one has been able to explain to me why Hershey can't just raise the price of the candy 10 cents.

And taxpayers will get to pick up the tab on those displaced workers.

[1rudeboy]

Can you believe those greedy workers want $12.50? The nerve! They should take their 85 cents an hour so Hershey doesn't have to move.

Can you believe those greedy managers don't want to pay triple for raw materials! They should pay that price because the government says so!

[1rudeboy]

I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that Hershey won’t “just” raise the price of their candy by ten cents because it is in the business of selling candy.

[mysterio]

It took union carpenters three times as long to do BAD work with about 15 smoke breaks a day.

Anecdotal evidence, my favorite! Well, I hired a union electrician to rewire my house, and he did it very quickly and for a resonable price. Therefore, all unions work quickly and cheaply.

[1rudeboy]

Hey, there you are! I posted the following "just" the other day. Most protectionists avoided it . . . too much data, I guess.

Why Free Trade Works for America.