[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 67 (Tuesday, May 14, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H5035-H5036]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               GOLDEN EAGLE AND CORPORATE VULTURE AWARDS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Ohio [Ms. Kaptur] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, last month as a cochair of the Jobs and Fair 
Trade Caucus, I proudly presented our group's first monthly Golden 
Eagle Award to Malden Mills in Methuen, MA.
  If you will recall, the Gold Eagle Award recognizes fine U.S. 
companies that exemplify the best that is in us as a nation, companies 
which treat their workers with dignity while making decent profits, 
companies which contribute to strengthening their communities, 
companies which charge a reasonable price for their products and remain 
and prosper in these United States. When all of these practices are 
undertaken by one company, that company deserves our praise as a Golden 
Eagle U.S. company.
  On the other hand, the Corporate Vulture designation, like the 
scavenger it represents, is given to a company in need of vast 
improvement, a company which exploits our marketplace yet downsizes its 
work force in America and outsources most of its production to foreign 
countries using sweatshop labor abroad. These firms then import their 
transhipped products back to the United States while keeping their 
prices high here at home and maintaining all of the benefits of being 
called an American company.

                              {time}  2130

  Corporate vultures deserve the consumers' disdain. Now, let me 
acknowledge this month's Golden Eagle company. The March 18 issue of 
Business Week detailed the unprecedented stock ownership of the company 
we all know as United Airlines, our Nation's leading airline company. 
Tonight, the Jobs and Fair Trade Caucus awards the employee owners of 
United Airlines our Golden Eagle Award and this new U.S. flag flown 
over the Capitol for your leadership, your rising productivity, and the 
example you set for all other companies in these United States.
  United Airlines and its employee owners fit our description of a 
golden Eagle company in every respect. In the 18 months since United 
employees bought 55 percent of their company for $5 billion, United 
Airlines has confounded all the skeptics by their success. The Nation's 
No. 1 airline is outperforming most of its rivals, gaining markets 
share from the other top two airlines. The company is posting fatter 
operating margins and higher stock gains, with the stock price more 
than doubling since the purchase of the company.
  The American workers of United and its chief executive officer Gerry 
Greenwald have made the company the success it is. By taking a huge 
risk in accepting pay cuts of 15 percent or more in the short term, 
United employees have shown that hard work over the long haul pays 
dividends. Operating revenue per worker jumped by 10 percent last year. 
Employee complaints, down by over half, have turned into new ideas 
about how to better work together with management. And unlike many 
large corporatios these days, which relentlessly downsize their work 
force, United is a job creator, hiring 7,000 new people since the 
buyout.

  In marked contrast to our Golden Eagle Award, this month's Corporate 
Vulture designation goes to Hershey Foods, a company no longer so sweet 
to America. Hershey Foods, America's largest producer of chocolate, 
continues to outsource its production to countries like Mexico and cut 
its U.S. work force. Last fall, Hershey Foods announced layoffs of 
approximately 500 workers and then announced the company was moving the 
production line of its giant kiss from Hershey, PA, to its plant in 
Guadalajara, Mexico, which employs approximately 260 workers. The U.S. 
workers laid off were earning $15.40 an hour, and as one old-timer 
stated, as a part of that enjoyed health insurance, dental, eye, along 
with a pension plan.
  Hershey's Mexican workers are paid 50 cents an hour with almost no 
benefits. The chief executive officer of Hershey Foods, Chairman 
Kenneth Wolfe, says he understands the pain he has caused the workers 
and their families in Hershey, PA. I frankly find that hard to believe. 
Chairman Wolfe earned an annual compensation of $1.2 million in 1994, 
not counting his stock options. Moreover, Hershey Foods is earning 
increased profits. The latest annual report shows that Hershey Foods 
enjoyed a net profit of $184 million, while total sales have increased 
to $3.6 billion. A company and a chief executive officer earning 
millions of dollars every year have no idea what it means to lose your 
job and worry about your family's future.
  Economists will claim that Hershey's move to Mexico is good for 
American consumers. After all, when you are only paying your Mexican 
workers a few cents an hour and earning millions of dollars, your 
product will be cheaper, right? Take a look at the shelf. Hershey 
prices on chocolate have gone up in bars. So this evening, this month, 
Hershey Foods definitely fits the bill as this month's Corporate 
Vulture, May 1996.

[[Page H5036]]


  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Texas [Ms. Jackson-Lee] is recognized for 5 minutes.

  [Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas addressed the House. Her remarks will 
appear hereafter in the Extensions of Remarks.]

                          ____________________