Unfortunately for your readers, your reporter bought into Spangler Candy Co.’s purported excuse for moving its candy operation to Mexico, as reported in “Sugar costs give candy cane makers a bitter aftertaste; It’s all there in red and white: A Midwest plant shifts jobs to Mexico because a subsidy-free sweetener is available so much more cheaply” (News, Dec. 25).
Spangler, like some other companies, is too embarrassed to give the real reason for its move:
It is fleeing from American workers and fair wages.
It blames U.S. sugar policy, claiming our sugar prices are too high, as it moves to Mexico.
Here’s the comparison that matters:
An exhaustive study by Buzzanell & Associates shows that average candy company wages in Chicago are $14.04 an hour, compared with 56 cents an hour in Mexico.
Energy costs are higher here in the United States, as are taxes and costs for health insurance, land and environmental compliance.
Companies flee Chicago or Ohio not because of the price of American sugar.
Companies flee to take advantage of cheap labor and lower standards south of the border.
Please get your facts straight before blaming American farmers.
American farmers operate under a policy that provides American consumers with sugar at a price 22 percent below the average consumer price in other developed countries.
Additionally U.S. sugar policy operates at no cost to the taxpayers.
