By Anne Tischer, Equality Rochester
It was hot, Africa hot, when we stopped to see the Mott’s workers who are on strike in Williamson. Some workers clustered under a sheltering tarp but most walked the perimeter in full sun. They know the importance of this strike for themselves, their community and all local workers.
Texas-based Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPS) which now owns the Mott’s plant had a banner year, making a record $555 million in profits but they are slashing worker benefits and pay at Motts.
A $3200.00 pay cut is bad enough, but workers say the loss in benefits and health coverage is worse. Factor in that the DPS CEO made $6.5 million and Mott’s looks like the poster child for corporate greed. Plus, if DPS gets away with breaking this union, it could initiate a domino effect of wage reductions in all workplaces in western New York, as has happened elsewhere.
Pride at Work AFL-CIO (PAW), like most local unions, is actively supporting the Motts RWDSU Local 220 workers by collecting food and spreading the word to boycott Motts Products. PAW is an LGBT constituency group of AFL-CIO dedicated to workplace visibility, advocacy and equity.
If LGBT equal rights are earned by changing hearts and minds one at a time, the PAW trips out to Williamson have hit the mother lode. We have been wholeheartedly welcomed by every striker we met when we visited. We lured out a few gay folks and met an extraordinary transgender woman named Rachel Priestly who reflects the epitome of union solidarity.
Rachel worked at Motts 22 years and was president of the union for six years. She left Mott’s after she transitioned to escape the hostile environment she encountered from management and co-workers. Despite her mistreatment, Rachel walks the picket line at Motts.
“I believe in labor”, she says, ”These folks are still my brothers and sisters. We may not always get along but in times of need we pull together.
“I couldn’t be prouder of them for standing up for their rights… They are my family and I miss them.”
It has been a long time since someone disarmed me with their altruism, but Rachel did.
Follow that encounter with a request from the Mott’s union communication officer Mike Bailey, asking if some Mott’s workers could march with Pride at Work in the Pride Parade to promote their cause. “We are talking straight guys from Rush Limbaugh country. It was an unexpected request but of course they can march with Pride at Work — they are our brothers and sisters. To paraphrase Rachel, we believe in labor…we may not always get along but in times of need we pull together…”
Contact Pride at Work at Besswhat@gmail.com.
