Kraft To Cadbury Workers: Leave Pension Plan Or Take Pay Freeze

[chimx]

consumerist -- Mac-n-cheese king Kraft Foods, which acquired British chocolate maker Cadbury earlier this year, isn't wasting any time when it comes to flexing some American-style corporate muscle. According to the Financial Times, Kraft has warned 3,600 Cadbury employees that they'll face a three-year pay freeze if they don't agree to "voluntarily" opt out of the company's pension plan.

Separately, Kraft announced that CEO Irene Rosenfeld was getting a 40% pay hike this year, due in part to her "exceptional" management of the Cadbury deal. Rosenfeld's 2009 take will be about $26 million.

The new owners are forbidden from changing benefits in an "unfair or materially detrimental" way. We haven't quite figured out how threatening to freeze the pay of workers who don't leave the pension isn't "unfair or materially detrimental," but what do we know? We still think chocolate is made by happy Oompa Loompas in factories filled with chocolate rivers and glass elevators.

http://consumerist.com/2010/04/kraft-to-cadbury-give-up-pension-or-agree-to-pay-freeze.html

[¿Que?]

At the risk of sounding sexist, Fuck that *****!

[RebelDog]

This comes under the TUPE regulations (Transfer of Undertakings and Protection of Employment). But of course it allows that negotiations over contracts and wages can begin straight away after a takeover so like most laws supposed to protect workers, its a pile of shite. The chief executive that sold Cadbury's to Kraft (Todd Stitzer) has pocketed a £40m golden handshake and his £17m pension pot is, funnily enough, not being plundered. Now the costs are being passed on to the workforce. I woudn't be surprised if they are trying to instigate a strike. Everyone knows they want to move production and they already lied through their teeth over the future of the Somerdale plant. It would actually be helpful if there was 'rivers of chocolate' running through the Cadbury's factories, then the workers could drown these lying, theiving criminals in the chocolate they have made millions from but never lifted a finger to produce.

[anticap]

I'd decline. So what if they freeze my pay? It's arbitrary anyway (since it's not 100% of the value produced, it must be arrived at by some criteria, which can't be performance-based, since whatever the performance of the workers is, it results in 100% of company revenue).

[Chambered Word]

That will be the last time I buy Cadbury. And I hope Rosenfeld has a fucking stroke.

Do we have a blacklist of particularly unfair companies somewhere?

[Endomorphian]

And I hope Rosenfeld has a fucking stroke.



:rolleyes:

Bad publicity will hopefully come its way.

[AK]

Do we have a blacklist of particularly unfair companies somewhere?
http://www.afsd.com.au/subindex.html :lol:
(http://www.afsd.com.au/subindex.html)

[Chambered Word]

^Oh you.

[Foldered]

Do we have a blacklist of particularly unfair companies somewhere?
If there isn't one, this is actually a really great idea.

[zimmerwald1915]

Do we have a blacklist of particularly unfair companies somewhere?
The Name and Shame Thread (http://www.revleft.com/vb/name-and-shame-t104478/index.html) is probably close to what you're looking for.