Mott's Strike Garners National Attention

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

The ongoing strike by upstate New York Mott’s workers – first covered by Union City back in early July and supported from the very beginning by UFCW 400 – is now drawing much-deserved national attention, including a front-page New York Times article last week. Mott’s is owned by the Dr Pepper Snapple Group, which is demanding major wage cuts while posting record profits. “This fight has implications well beyond these workers,” noted AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka earlier this week. “This greedy company thinks it can take advantage of a small group in Williamson, New York, while the rest of the labor movement sits by and watches. If we allow this to happen in New York, it will spread to other profitable companies seeking to follow suit.” Supporters are being urged to boycott products from Mott’s, Snapple and Dr. Pepper; click here for a list. – photo: outside the Mott’s apple juice plant in Williamson, N.Y., Mike LeBerth, president of the union local, is picketing against demands for wage and benefit givebacks; photo by James Rajotte for The New York Times