BY DANIEL VICTOR
Of The Patriot-News
News of job cuts at the West Hershey and 19 E. Chocolate Ave. plants in Derry Twp. were greeted with tears and anger. But at the Reese’s plant yesterday, some workers said their slice of The Hershey Co. reorganization tasted much better.
“It’s almost Hersheypark happy in there,” said Mike Henry, 54, a laborer with 34 years at the plant.
Reese’s workers were told yesterday that 200 to 250 jobs will be cut from the 900-worker plant. Workers said they expect details to be similar to the plans offered at the two unionized plants in Derry Twp.
How’s that good news?
Dozens of workers waved away interview requests, but almost all of the half-dozen or so who chose to speak were optimistic the cuts will be achieved voluntarily.
“Of course we don’t like to see the plant size reduced,” said Joe Peters, a 36-year veteran of the plant. “But if you’re close to retirement, this is definitely a better package than nothing.”
Peters, 57, said he can’t be sure until he sees the details of the offer, but he thought workers over 55 likely would take the deal.
Bill Brown, 55, wasn’t thinking about retirement. But he said he’d take a deal like the one offered to Hershey’s unionized workers last week. The union members approved that buyout plan overwhelmingly.
The plan for the Reese’s plant will not require a vote by workers because they are not unionized.
Lou Henry, 53, has worked at the Reese’s plant for 20 years and said she’ll wait to see the numbers before deciding whether to retire. She agreed that the mood yesterday was positive.
“For the most part, I think the people are very happy with what they’re getting,” she said.
Richard Stichler, 52, said the deal is good enough for him. He has 35 years at the plant, having started at 17. Single, with a daughter who graduated from college, he can work until the end of 2009 and collect the extra four years he believes the company is offering.
“I think I should be pretty well set,” he said.
The mood inside the plant yesterday was “pretty subdued,” Stichler said. He said a lot of people believed the youngest workers will be safe from layoffs.
“It’s just going to make it nicer and better for the younger people,” he said. “They have more of a sense of security.”
Brian Deimler, 22, didn’t know what to think as he was about to start his day. He’s been at the plant for a year and has hopes to stay longer, he said. It might be tough for a 52-year-old to leave, he said, and he wasn’t able to gauge his likelihood of staying.
“Can’t really do anything about it,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.
Steve Neider, who has worked in maintenance for less than a year, said he wasn’t too worried. Even if his job is cut, he said, “there are other jobs out there.”
Derry Twp. Supervisor Mike Pries said in an e-mail statement that “elected officials and work force agencies will assist the displaced employees who will be affected if not enough early retirements are taken.”
“The end result of the restructuring is that once these jobs are gone, they are gone forever,” he wrote.
LeRoy Zimmerman, chairman of The Hershey Trust, said the trust hopes all workers will be included in early retirement plans.
“I anticipated that they would hopefully be happy, because an early retirement package being offered to hourly employees is somewhat out of the ordinary,” he said.
“And I would hope they recognize that, notwithstanding the hardship that these things cause to families.”
The job cuts are part of a massive company restructuring that will result in about 3,000 job losses, although about 1,500 jobs eventually will be added at various plants, including a new one being built by Hershey in Mexico.