Hershey's is planning to close their Canadian manufacturing plant and move the jobs to Mexico.
[url="http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2007/02/16/hershey.html"]http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2007/02/16/hershey.html[/url]
After years of loyally buying Hershey Canada products, they are moving the jobs to Mexico!!
We should contact Hersheys and tell them if they close their Canadian manufacturing facility and move the jobs to Mexico, we will boycott them and stop buying their products!
Hershey Head Office in Pennsylvania:
[url="http://www.hersheys.com/contactus/"]http://www.hersheys.com/contactus/[/url]
Hershey Canada consumer line:
1-800-468-1714
Personally, I will no longer buy any Hershey Canada product unless they reverse their decision. If they do not want to support the Canadian economy by moving all the jobs to Mexico, why should we support them!
I will support companies like Nestle, Cadbury, and M&M/Mars which all have manufacturing facilities in Canada, and who all produce many varieties of peanut-free chocolate bars.
Maybe if enough of us complain, they will re-visit this decision.
Are they changing thier excellent labeling policies?
Forgive me but perhaps it has something to do with the cost of doing business in Canada. Don't you guys have 1 year paid Mat leave and free healthcare? Businesses will go where it is most cost effective to be. Business means profit. More unions usually mean less profit.
hey and maybe the Mexican's need jobs too and are willing to do them for less pay and benefits? Maybe more Mexican's will be able to afford to stay in thier country and make a decent living? (not that I mind them coming here...it's just that they may want to be able to stay in thier own country and have a job)
I'll continue buying but thanks for the information. The article looked like the decision hasn't been made yet. Maybe the unions will actually help thier members and make a deal.
The Smiths Falls plant is a BIG part of the town's economy. Closure will certainly not be good. We go several times a year to stock up.
Quote:Originally posted by Sarahb:
[b]Forgive me but perhaps it has something to do with the cost of doing business in Canada.
hey and maybe the Mexican's need jobs too and are willing to do them for less pay and benefits? [/b]
Well, Cadbury, Nestle and M&M/Mars are able to manufacture chocolate bars in Canada and make a profit so I don't see why Hershey can't do it.
The cost of doing business in Canada? hmmm.. Many of the Milky Way bars and Three Muskateer bars that you buy in the USA are actually manufactured in Canada and shipped to the USA so I don't think there's much difference in the cost of doing business in Canada vs the USA. [b]America's trade deficit with Canada in 2005 was a record high $76.5 billion[/b] ( [url="http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2006/Trade-Deficit-Record10feb06.htm"]http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2006/Trade-Deficit-Record10feb06.htm[/url] ).
And I am sure Mexicans need jobs too, but if all the American companies moved their manufacturing facilities to Mexico and Americans were out of work, I think many Americans would be concerned too.
p.s. regarding the one year maternity leave, Hersheys does not have to pay for the
employee's salary for that year.. it is covered by employment insurance.. so I doubt this has anything to do with the decision (although the fact they will be able to pay much lower salaries in Mexico would be a major factor)
[This message has been edited by erik (edited February 24, 2007).]
I'm pretty sure more American jobs go to China than Mexico. (One of the several reasons we boycott anything "made in China" which is extremely challenging!) I'd prefer [b]those[/b] jobs go to Mexicans - I think more jobs in Mexico would decrease the ginormous number of illegal immigrants to the US.
Quote:Originally posted by Jana R:
[b]I'd prefer [b]those[/b] jobs go to Mexicans - I think more jobs in Mexico would decrease the ginormous number of illegal immigrants to the US.[/b]
Yes.. nothing wrong with some jobs going to Mexico.. but if we buy their products, they should keep at least some of the manufacturing jobs here. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]
We are talking simple business...as for them making a business decision to move for monetary reasons...well I see no problem. Especially since Chocolate CAME from Mexico [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/wink.gif[/img]
My issue is that the quality and guarantee of the choc. being peanut free will be more difficult. Nuts are very ingrained in their culture and food. And a Mexican woudl rather tell you what you want to hear, than tell you the truth (No, sir, there are no peanuts in your facility).
I am not generalizing. I lived, worked, and studied there for two years. They are an amazing culture, and they could surely use the jobs....I am just much more hesitant to trust the quality.
Quote:Originally posted by 3xy1PAinNH:
[b]We are talking simple business...as for them making a business decision to move for monetary reasons...well I see no problem.[/b]
Yes, I agree it is their decision to move to Mexico and they can do what they want. But since they are putting hundreds of employees out of work, I choose to support Nestle, Cadbury and M&M/Mars instead. If I can buy a chocolate bar made in Canada by M&M/Mars, Nestle, or Cadbury, or a chocolate bar made in Mexico by a company that is closing down all of their Canadian manufacturing, I will choose Canada.
If all the companies move to Mexico, China, India, etc, there will be no jobs left in Canada & the USA. I want to support companies that invest in Canada and the USA.
p.s. and that is a good point.. will the Mexican facilities produce peanut-free products? will there be any changes in what is safe and what is not safe?
[This message has been edited by erik (edited February 24, 2007).]
I think supporting one's local economy is a good thing. But when it comes to chocolate, it is all bad. . . except for Fair Trade chocolate, and I'd doubt that there is peanut, tree nut safe Free Trade chocolate out there. We probably don't want to know about the appalling conditions under which cocoa is harvested . . .
I once watched a CBC documentary on "Big Sugar." That was even more disturbing than I thought it would be . . . I imagine that working conditions in cocoa fields are equally appalling.
Nestle's is in my bad books as well. Their marketing practices (for substitutes for breast milk) in poor countries have come under sharp criticism from social justice groups.
I can't pretend to stand on a moral high ground, however, although I'm trying. While my buying choices are sometimes politically motivated, they aren't *always.* In fact, I don't really want to know about how the clothes in my favourite store are made.
In any case, if I boycotted Hershey's, it would literally make no difference. I'm allergic to chocolate!
Erik,
Are you asking only the Canadians to boycott or those of us in the US to do so as well? In Canada, you have other choices, and you mentioned some of them, including Mars/M&Ms. We do not have that company as a choice here.
I've boycotted Nestle for most of my adult life because of their pushing forumla on Third World mothers, when breast milk is far superior--and when there is evidence that the formula is being diluted to be stretched economically and the water supply for mixing the formula can't be counted on to be clean. Plenty of reasons to boycott Nestle, and I wouldn't let DS "sell" (as if a 4 year old really could) Nestle products for his day "peanut free" care years ago.
But Hershey? Well, they've started putting shea oil in Kissables.
And I am concerned about the safety of the chocolate. We don't do Mexico. But we do very little chocolate to begin with--and only Vermont Nut Free and Hershey's. And the Aeros because you said the ones from teh UK were safe. So Santa brought some to DS.
I couldn't boycott Hershey for this reason, but I could avoid buying from them if it concerned the safety of my son.
Quote:Originally posted by McCobbre:
[b]Erik,
Are you asking only the Canadians to boycott or those of us in the US to do so as well? [/b]
I'd just boycott [b]in Canada[/b] since it is the Canadian facility that is being closed. Hershey is not closing the American manufacturing facilities. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img] Plus as you say, it's one of the only chocolate manufacturers in the USA to make some safe chocolate.
That's a good point about Nestle too. I have also heard about the baby formula issue. I think I should support M&M/Mars and buy their peanut-free Mars bars & Bounty.. maybe that is the best choice for here in Canada, and Cadbury is good too (mini-eggs, etc)! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]
It would just be nice if they did keep doing some manufacturing here considering Canadian spend millions of dollars a year buying their products. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]
Pages