Beechnut has announced they will move their plant from Canajoharie to the Florida New York Business Park, after they received large subsidies to recover from flood damage following last year’s storms. They are claiming that the threat of another flood is forcing them to move, but it looks a lot more like they’re following the money.

What labor wants:

• We want our corporations held accountable to the taxpayers for the huge financial incentives they receive;
• We want to see the collective bargaining agreement with the plant workers honored, and
• We want to see prevailing wages paid and a Project Labor Agreement negotiated for the construction jobs involved with the construction of the new facility.

Please take a moment to call and then send a letter to Govenor Spitzer and Senator Hugh Farley, letting them know that you support accountability in Montgomery County.

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

Beechnut has announced they will move their plant from Canajoharie to the Florida New York Business Park, after they received large subsidies to recover from flood damage following last year's storms. They are claiming that the threat of another flood is forcing them to move, but it looks a lot more like they're following the money.

I am writing to ask you to intervene on this project. I want to see the collective bargaining agreement with the plant workers honored, and I want to see prevailing wages paid and a Project Labor Agreement negotiated for the construction jobs involved with the construction of the new facility.

State and local officials are offering the Hero Group approximately $106.5 million in incentives to keep Beechnut in Montgomery County. The incentives include about $15.5 million from Empire State Development Corp., another $10 million from other state agencies and $80.9 million in tax breaks through the local Empire Zone program, the county Industrial Development Agency payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement and low-interest loans, according to a breakdown provided by Montgomery County Economic Development Director Ken Rose.

We need real economic stimulus that puts money back into communities and creates family sustaining jobs and as a taxpayer, I want to see local workers benefit.

Beechnut has told the local building trades unions that they intend to build this project "OPEN SHOP"; code words for "out of state contractors and "out of state workers.

Working people are the backbone of any economy, but this is even truer of Montgomery County. According to the 2000 Census, the per capita income for the county was $17,005. About 9.00% of families and 12.00% of the population were below the poverty line. This underlines the desperate need for family sustaining jobs in Montgomery County.

I urge you to support workers rights. Beechnut should do the right thing and sign a PLA and pay prevailing wage!

All the corporate grants will not benefit the community until a requirement is developed to promote corporate responsibility to the workers and our community which produces all these millions of dollars worth of incentives.

This is a sterling example why there must be immediate IDA Reform that holds recipients of taxpayer money accountable to local taxpayers. I look forward to hearing your reply.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
January 30, 2008