Hershey workers at Virginia plant vote against unionizing
By Praveen Paramasivam
(Reuters) – Employees at Hershey Co’s second largest U.S. manufacturing plant voted in opposition to unionizing, at the same time as unionization efforts have gained momentum amongst low-paid staff at giant U.S. firms.
The Hershey plant, situated on the foot of the Blue Ridge mountains in Stuarts Draft, Virginia, has round 1,400 workers and primarily makes merchandise with peanuts, together with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and different sweet bars like Almond Pleasure.
Hershey within the lead as much as the vote, whose counting and preliminary consequence have been live-streamed by the Nationwide Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Thursday, created an internet site to state it didn’t need a union on the 40-year-old plant.
The web site highlighted Hershey’s perceived dangers related to unionization, together with compromising its potential to recruit staff. It additionally pointed to the vegetation being open when a couple of rivals had furloughed workers throughout the pandemic.
Two Hershey staff interviewed by Reuters, one among whom was not too long ago fired after 14 years on the Virginia plant, stated it was troublesome to get day without work work and so they generally needed to work seven days straight.
One of many staff, who requested anonymity attributable to potential retaliation, stated forming a union was not about cash and advantages however being handled with respect and dignity.
Hershey, whose two out of seven U.S. vegetation are unionized, additionally stated most individuals who left the plant stated they did so attributable to an absence of time-off relatively than pay. It added its attendance coverage “wanted some work” and a group was taking a look at simplifying guidelines associated to time-off and absences.
Hershey and the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Employees and Grain Millers’ Worldwide Union (BCTGM) didn’t instantly reply to requests for touch upon the consequence.
Just a few Starbucks espresso retailers, nonetheless, have unionized up to now few weeks, whereas staff at King Soopers and Kellogg’s cereal plant have gone on strikes in current months to safe higher contracts.
(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Bengaluru; Modifying by Vinay Dwivedi and Shailesh Kuber)
