News & Commentary April 11, 2023

[Omaha Steve]

https://onlabor.org/april-11-2023/

By Lewit Gemeda

Lewit Gemeda is a student at Harvard Law School.

In today’s news and commentary, workers in Wisconsin protest Energizer’s plans to close its Fennimore plant, Apple increases its anti-union efforts at its retail locations, and major U.S. unions saw their membership grow amid a tight labor market.

Workers in Wisconsin and union leaders across the country called for a boycott of Energizer (the battery manufacturer), which announced plans to close plants in Wisconsin and move jobs to Singapore, the UK, and one non-union plant in North Carolina. Teamster union leaders called for a protest boycott and have been using the hashtag #BadBunny to raise awareness of the company’s actions. Workers at the Wisconsin plants were informed that Energizer planned to shut down the plants and cut 600 jobs through a short statement from the company in December. The decision to move jobs offshore comes despite Energizer’s strong financial performance over the last year. The company grossed $1.1 billion in 2022 and paid $93 million to shareholders through dividends. Moreover, as Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) points out, Energizer’s plans to close the plants came after the company requested federal funds for R&D on top of the $10 million in public subsidies the company has received in six states since 1999.

FULL story at link above.

[maccafan]

1. Energizer batteries

No more of their batteries for me!