Posted on 04/24/2007 8:21:11 AM PDT by Wolfie
Hershey to Close Reading, Pa., Plant
The Hershey Co., the nation's leading candy maker, said Monday that it will shut down a plant in Reading as part of a wider move to cut labor and materials costs.
The closing, which will affect about 260 unionized employees, is the company's second plant-closing announcement in a little over two months.
"Our network operates at less than half of capacity (over seven days) and we must make significant changes to remain competitive," Hershey (nyse: HSY - news - people ) spokesman Kirk Saville said.
Saville said the company would work out severance agreements with the workers and close the plant in 2008. Hershey is looking to shift more manufacturing to India, China, Mexico and contractors in the United States, and has already announced it will cut up to 900 of the 3,000 workers from three plants in its hometown.
Hershey originally purchased the Reading plant from the Dietrich Corp. in 1987 and brought aboard the Luden's cough drop brand and the Fifth Avenue chocolate bar.
The plant also makes York Peppermint Patties, Reese's crispy crunch bars and Jolly Ranchers. The plant is about 40 miles east of the company headquarters in the town named for the chocolate magnate, Milton S. Hershey.
Just thought that deserved repeating!
How does that work?
LOL!!!!!
You are correct. When off the clock, working for themselves, those worthless gobs of sputum will amaze you with their newfound productivity.
Yes genius. Mea culpa! I neglected to go back to conversations that didn’t include you and you got me. Score one for the traitors. Sorry it took me so long to get back. I was out dictating to my boss what he was going to pay me, and he fell over laughing so I had to hang around to make sure he recovered. Blackbird.
Do you use garlic powder? Do you take vitamin C? What people have been fereting out, since all the dogs started dying, is how much of our food stuffs are made in China and shipped to American distrubutors who place their names on the label. There needs to be better truth in labeling and allow people to decide if they want to chance the food.
No, my being an American is my excuse for sniping @ traitors. What’s your excuse for loving the chicoms? You don’t have to answer “Todd”, I know it’s the dollar. Blackbird.
MSG or dog by-products?
We should fix the regulation and government issues forcing these companies to seek movement elsewhere, not just accept they are leaving. More cities and states need to get involved in a proactive (as opposed to regulatory) manner.
That myth was put to rest by Hershey themselves in their recent Quarterly Report that I linked to above. They are profitable, in spite of those regulations, in spite of those Union "worthless gobs of sputum" and in spite of price increases that haven't even impacted their bottom line as of the date of THEIR report. So no, they are leaving in spite, period. They'll show US. Of course, as is always the case with these un_American American Corporations, THEY aren't going anywhere. THEY want to remain protected by these United States, instead of showing their true allegiance by packing their bags and enjoying the wonderful surroundings of their new love (in this case the Communist Chinese)in spite of all of our oppressive regulations. I prefer food safety. Too bad we have none being leveled on our imports from these wonderful Communist. I'm all for them moving to China. I just think they should ALL go. Blackbird.
Yeah yeah. it is all about the evil plutocrats. Don't you people ever get tired of reciting this marxist cant? The noble american laborer, sweating and earning an honest living by the sweat of his brow, toiling tirelessly only to see the fruits of his labor go to the fat cat corporate exploiters and then ruthlessly stripped of his means of providing for his family by "globalist" competition with the asiatic hordes who are beaten if they ask for more than 13 cents per day.
The truth is more like this: to find a good, stable, productive worker, you have to wade thru (usually) two to three drug addled alcohol soused morons who still move their lips trying to read the cartoon instructions telling operators to turn the machine off when flywheel housing temperatures reach 300 degrees. And is he is remorseful when he melts down the relays, causing the cessation of a 85 thousand dollar machine and work stoppage in the plant? Nah. He tells a co-worker "f*ck it. I was going to quit and go (become a tatoo artist, become a union organizer, be a dejay, go back to school(!), move to California) [choose one]. Before he goes, he is likely to "slip" and "hurt himself" and find some attorney who will sue for injuries, and will win, simply because it is not worth the legal fees to fight it. Or, you will hire some bright, optimistic, eager young girl in HR, who decides that the effluent discharge is "horrible" and goes to the local newspaper. Although your toxicity levels are such that bream and turtles spawn at the edge of the discharge pipe, the EPA decides that you have to have a "toxicity grid analysis" for your effluent. Of course, you have to cough up the moneys for this, and the cheapest group of engineers/toxicologists you can find "only" want $135,000 for it (WHAT A DEAL!). After a three month sampling (and two articles in the paper, essentially labeling your plant as criminal polluters), the EPA finds no evidence that you are discharging over 25% of the max limits. Nevertheless, they now want to "watch" your effluent, so they want you, at your expense, to pay for quarterly "monitoring."
The production statistics for a similar plant in Korea show that the workers there are 35% more productive, despite your having technology which supposedly adds 20-40% to productivity (which, by the way, the unions FOUGHT LIKE HELL to keep out of the plant because it would "displace workers").
When the first registered letter arrives telling you that the EEOC wants to "investigate" the racial complaint that occurred because a drunk black employee was told to leave the jobsite and coldcocked his supervisor and was fired, you just think "crap, more lawyer fees."
Then, though, when you are sued for outsourcing a widget in your production line to India, and called "unamerican" for not losing money to a production process which has netted you a LOSS of $237,000 dollars over the last 6 years, you just say "screw all of you. If THIS is what it means to be a patriotic American, you can shove it."
Then the noble, hardworking, selfless workers show up and point to your $630,000 a year salary and say "WE KNEW IT! ANOTHER GREEDY SELF SERVING PLUTOCRAT! NO WONDER HE MOVED THE PLANT TO CHINA."
imbeciles. The above is a true story of a man who is the father of a good friend of mine who closed his textile factory, moved operations to China, and now brokers fabrics to the USA.
Man what a rant. Is there anything about America or Americans that you don’t hate? If I had your outlook, I’d probably just sit here and blow my brains out, or perhaps pack my bags and head to China. It’d be a hard choice for sure. Blackbird.
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I live about 40 miles from Reading. I doubt if Milton Hershey would have approved of this change...
The Life of Milton Hershey:
http://www.hersheypa.com/town_of_hershey/history/
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Just because the company is profitable, doesn’t mean that these units are profitable. In fact, I suspect that people aren’t so interested in high-sugar snacks so much anymore.
yeah, you are right. My friends dad and hundreds like him are just leaving because they are heartless, greedy bastards. It has nothing to do with our labor pool, practices, or work environment.
Since I don't love the chicoms, I have no need for an excuse.
Fine, then close the plant, a good Corporate move. Shareholders will be pleased, I'm sure.
In fact, I suspect that people aren’t so interested in high-sugar snacks so much anymore.
That doesn't jive with their latest Quarterly report does it? Add to that the FACT that they are not closing this plant, they are moving this plant. BIG difference. Blackbird.
If you dislike everyone in America, you can always follow Hershey to China.
So now they off shore the production of their product and the product cannot be differentiated from any other low priced junk. Good marketing move.
This reminds me of buying a PC. You can’t call for support because you get some guy named Mike in India who can’t speak very good English and doesn’t know computers very well. I’m speaking of my new Dell of course! Dell still wants people to think that they build a better PC of course.
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