Letter to the WSJ about the H.J. Heinz Corp. and a response

[question everything]

First, the letter from March 2:

67 Varieties, of Factories

... According to the latest 10-Q for H.J. Heinz, the company owns 32 factories in Europe, 18 in Asia/Pacific, and seven elsewhere. In addition, it leases four factories in Europe, four in Asia/Pacific and two elsewhere. Are we to believe workers in these countries are paid wages and benefits similar to those earned by employees in Heinz's 27 North American factories? Just how many of those "North American" factories are situated in Mexico and/or the Caribbean? And how are those workers paid? If John Kerry is elected, will Heinz close all of its foreign manufacturing plants and bring all those jobs back to America? Corporate profits would sag and the man most famous for the line, "Do you know who I am?" would have a greatly diminished lifestyle.

Catherine E. Monahan
New York

And today, a reply:

H.J. Heinz: No Connection to Senator and His Wife

Catherine Monahan makes two incorrect assumptions in her March 2 Letter to the Editor. First, contrary to her belief, there is no business connection or influence between the H.J. Heinz Co. and Sen. Kerry and Mrs. Heinz Kerry. Heinz is no longer a family-owned company but a publicly owned corporation with a diversified body of shareholders. In the mid-1990s, the Heinz Family Trusts and Endowments (which have no association with the Heinz Company Foundation) sold a substantial portion of Heinz shares, thus reducing their holdings to less than is required to be reported under the Securities laws.

Second, with 60% of its sales outside the U.S., Heinz's overseas factories provide food products for our consumers in overseas markets and are not directed toward the U.S. market. In fact, our large ketchup factory in Ohio and other tomato-processing facilities in California export around the world, in addition to serving American consumers. With manufacturing facilities close to our markets in all inhabited continents, we are proud to serve millions of consumers with "Good Food, Everyday."

Ted Smyth
Senior Vice President
Chief Administrative Officer
H.J. Heinz Co.
Pittsburgh

[whistle]

1. I like that response...

...Perhaps similar letters could be sent out to the CEO's of the top 1,000 corporations doing business in the U.S. I think we would all be interested in what each of those companies would have to say about their allegiance to the United States of America, the workers here and what they believe to be their contribution is for the privilege of operating a business in the U.S. :dunce: