The shores of Lake Ontario are ideal for fruit. The soil, moist breeze, and moderate temperatures yield truckloads of grapes, pears, and apples. In fact New York is second to the State of Washington in apple production, and our local Wayne County is the biggest contributor. When a fruit farmers gaze over their orchards, concerns of pests, weather, frost, Chinese competition, and market prices wrinkle their brows. Local apple growers are sleepless on a bigger issue. The labor strike at the nearby Motts apple processing plant enters its third month, harvest is near, and Motts purchases 40% of the area crop.
Workers walked out on May 21st over pay and pension. The union turned down a three-year wage freeze and 10% reduction in company 401K contribution. As the strike began, Motts imposed an agreement that nicked pay by $1.50 per hour or about 7% on the $40,000 average annual pay of the 300 workers. The company is owned by the Dr. Pepper conglomerate that earned almost $900 million in 2009. Union members are bitter that a company so wealthy will not provide more compensation for its workers.
The apple orchards are on an unstoppable time table. Peak harvest normally occurs in September and October, but a warm spring and hot summer may move up picking to late August. Those McIntosh and Golden Delicious varieties will not wait. They must be rapidly picked and transported to the facility to make juice, apple sauce, and other treats. Otherwise the crop and farmer’s fortunes will rot in the orchards.
By outsourcing some of the production, and by utilizing management and temporary workers, the struck Motts plant keeps producing. “There’s a special place in hell reserved for scabs,” says the union president with an ironic name, Stuart Applebaum. His members braved the unusually humid summer on the picket lines. According to Michael H. LeRoy, a professor in the School of Labor and Employment at the University of Illinois, “As a general rule, the longer a strike goes on, the more typical it is for the company to get what it wants at the bargaining table.”
The apple grower walks through the trees, checking the fruit, and praying, “Please wait a little longer.” Motts and the orchards have a 150-year partnership. The agriculture group fears post-strike worker bitterness may eventually force Motts to relocate.
My grandson, Jaymeson, loves applesauce. In a local economy where far fewer rolls of film, cameras, and copiers are built, one prays three hundred workers and scores of orchards will find a common ground with the processor. I hope Jaymeson will enjoy the glorious orchard blossoms in the spring, the bobbing for red Empires in the fall, and the sweetness of God’s gift to this area for decades to come.
