Hershey's Flight to Mexico a Raw Deal for 3,000 Workers in U.S. and Canada

15/06/07 The following is a statement of Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa: 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, Pennsylvania would soon be without jobs? Or if they knew 575 workers in Oakdale, California 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.