Earlier this month HanesBrands announced that it was eliminating another 159 jobs in Winston-Salem. The key phrase here is “another.” That’s because, over the past 14 years, the once great community-oriented company has been about the business of decimating our community.
In 2006, HanesBrands employed nearly 5,000 people in Forsyth County. That was the year the company split from Sara Lee, and CEO Rich Noll promised, “HanesBrands will always be a major employer in Forsyth County and have a strong community presence here.” But a not-so-funny thing happened right after Noll made that promise. Between 2007 and 2009, Noll closed 30 plants in the United States and began moving his workforce offshore. In 2007, for example, HanesBrands employed 350 people in China. By 2009, that number had risen to over 6,000.
Meanwhile, the Great Recession of 2008 gave Noll a perfect smokescreen for continuing his campaign to send local jobs overseas. In May of 2009, Noll announced that he was closing the Stratford Road and Weeks plants in Winston-Salem, and laying off 440 workers. By year’s end, he had also eliminated subsidized medical benefits for retirees, leaving thousands of people without adequate medical coverage. Said Noll, the closures were caused by, “reduced consumer spending during a bleak economy.” Local business leaders and elected officials who always blindly supported Noll swallowed his explanation hook line and sinker. I guess they forgot that his 30 plant closings had occurred long before the economy was “bleak,” and that he had moved over 15,000 U.S. jobs out of the country while our economy was strong. Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce president Gayle Anderson defended Noll, telling the Winston-Salem Journal’s Richard Craver that HanesBrands continues to support the local economy with, “leadership and volunteerism.”
Leadership and volunteerism? First of all, corporate greed is not leadership; stripping retirees of their subsidized medical benefits is not leadership. Second, what exactly is the economic value of having thousands of unemployed volunteers in the community? And by the way, in the course of cutting jobs, HanesBrands abused the spirit of the Federal Trade Adjustment and Assistance Act, by filing claims on behalf of the employees they screwed and expecting taxpayers to foot the bill for up to 156 weeks of training.
This month’s local layoffs come on the heels of the 560 jobs that HanesBrands already eliminated in Forsyth County last year. It’s no surprise then that nearly 90% of the company’s total workforce is now located outside of the United States and in countries with poor standards of living. That means HanesBrands can pay slave wages for the manufacture of underwear that they then ship back to America and attempt to sell to their former employees, providing those folks can afford to buy the underwear that they used to make. Now that’s what I call leadership and commitment to community.
February 20, 2024 @ 6:02 pm
HanesBrands Sticks It to Us Again
Earlier this month HanesBrands announced that it was eliminating another 159 jobs in Winston-Salem. The key phrase here is “another.” That’s because, over the past 14 years, the once great community-oriented company has been about the business of decimating our community.
In 2006, HanesBrands employed nearly 5,000 people in Forsyth County. That was the year the company split from Sara Lee, and CEO Rich Noll promised, “HanesBrands will always be a major employer in Forsyth County and have a strong community presence here.” But a not-so-funny thing happened right after Noll made that promise. Between 2007 and 2009, Noll closed 30 plants in the United States and began moving his workforce offshore. In 2007, for example, HanesBrands employed 350 people in China. By 2009, that number had risen to over 6,000.
Meanwhile, the Great Recession of 2008 gave Noll a perfect smokescreen for continuing his campaign to send local jobs overseas. In May of 2009, Noll announced that he was closing the Stratford Road and Weeks plants in Winston-Salem, and laying off 440 workers. By year’s end, he had also eliminated subsidized medical benefits for retirees, leaving thousands of people without adequate medical coverage. Said Noll, the closures were caused by, “reduced consumer spending during a bleak economy.” Local business leaders and elected officials who always blindly supported Noll swallowed his explanation hook line and sinker. I guess they forgot that his 30 plant closings had occurred long before the economy was “bleak,” and that he had moved over 15,000 U.S. jobs out of the country while our economy was strong. Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce president Gayle Anderson defended Noll, telling the Winston-Salem Journal’s Richard Craver that HanesBrands continues to support the local economy with, “leadership and volunteerism.”
Leadership and volunteerism? First of all, corporate greed is not leadership; stripping retirees of their subsidized medical benefits is not leadership. Second, what exactly is the economic value of having thousands of unemployed volunteers in the community? And by the way, in the course of cutting jobs, HanesBrands abused the spirit of the Federal Trade Adjustment and Assistance Act, by filing claims on behalf of the employees they screwed and expecting taxpayers to foot the bill for up to 156 weeks of training.
This month’s local layoffs come on the heels of the 560 jobs that HanesBrands already eliminated in Forsyth County last year. It’s no surprise then that nearly 90% of the company’s total workforce is now located outside of the United States and in countries with poor standards of living. That means HanesBrands can pay slave wages for the manufacture of underwear that they then ship back to America and attempt to sell to their former employees, providing those folks can afford to buy the underwear that they used to make. Now that’s what I call leadership and commitment to community.