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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ish who wrote (257761)	5/22/2002 7:22:31 PM
From: Mr. Whist	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

Re: "... unions starting to like his policies": Specifics, please.

To: Ish who wrote (257761)	5/22/2002 7:26:58 PM
From: Mr. Whist	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Big Business obscenity of the day. Hershey Chocolate Workers Strike While CEO Rakes in $22 Million Hershey, Pa., home to candy maker Hershey Foods, is often called "the sweetest place on earth." But for the more than 2,800 members of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Local 464 on strike since April 26, it has been anything but sweet as they walk the picket line, while the Hershey CEO raked in more than $22 million in 2001. The union members voted to go on strike after rejecting Hershey Foods' contract offer that demanded the workers double their health insurance co-payments. They had been working under a contract extension since Nov. 4, when their previous pact expired. But in almost six months of negotiations, Hershey executives refused to drop their demand for the co-payment increase. The increased co-payment could mean a cut in the total compensation package for the chocolate workers when accounting for inflation. "Hershey wants to shift the burden of its health care costs onto the backs of our members, whose productivity is the big reason for Hershey's success," says BCTGM Vice President Robert Oakley. The company raised workers' health care costs at Hershey's nonunion plants first before trying to foist the plan onto Local 464 members, according to the union. While the company is making the demand, Hershey CEO Richard Lenny raked in more than $22 million last year in what union activists say is a stark example of runaway CEO pay and the double standard between compensation for CEOs and workers. An average union worker at Hershey makes $18 per hour—about $37,440 a year. CEO Lenny's compensation could support 598 of these average Hershey workers. The entire cost of what chocolate workers are asking for could be paid for with just a fraction of Lenny's excessive compensation. Hershey had sales of more than $4.5 billion in 2001, and in the first quarter of 2002, its income jumped 10 percent. It also has more than $220 million in cash reserves, according to company financial statements. Source: Hershey Foods Proxy Statement aflcio.com