Kraft’s bid for Cadbury Needs to Ease Worries on Jobs and Pensions

August 29th, 2009 LONDON - Members of Unite, the UK's largest union, working for Fujitsu have voted overwhelmingly for industrial action as part of a UK-wide consultative ballot against a proposal to close the company's main final salary pension scheme and the imposition of a pay freeze. 87 per cent of members voted in favour of strike action and 96 per cent in favour of industrial action short of a strike.

August 16th, 2009 LONDON - LONDON, August 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Unite, the UK's largest union, is warning IBM to brace itself for a backlash from thousands of employees against the company's plans to close the final salary pension schemes to future accrual and to alter the terms of its early retirement scheme. Whilst Unite is in the midst of an industrial action consultative ballot at Fujitsu, the fight back at IBM has been gathering pace as hundreds of angry workers have been joining the union.

August 5th, 2009 LONDON - Date: Thursday, 6th August 2009 Time: 9.30am - 11.30am Location: The Brewery, Chiswell Street, London, EC1Y 4SD Workers from Barclays are today (Thursday) protesting outside the Barclays shareholder meeting as part of their dispute regarding pensions. Unite members will carry placards stating: "Hands off our pensions" to highlight their anger at proposals by Barclays to close their final salary pension scheme.

July 28th, 2009 LONDON - In video interviews released today, Cadbury, the global confectionary company, said its performance in the second quarter had improved "quite markedly" across all its categories - chocolate, gum and candy - confirming its belief that the de-stocking problems of the first quarter were now largely in the past. Commenting on the first half results in a video interview with cantos.com, Todd Stitzer, CEO, said: "Given the external circumstances, we were really pleased with the revenue growth we did deliver.

July 28th, 2009 SYDNEY - Cadbury today announced it has chosen O4 Corporation, the world's leading provider of mobile sales force automation solutions to deliver an advanced retail execution solution. O4's solution has been rolled-out in record time to some 200 Cadbury territory managers throughout Australia, enabling them to better manage sales, order taking and new product launches, and provide office-based management with access to real-time data from the field.

July 16th, 2009 LONDON - Commenting on the report out today (Friday) from the influential Select Committee on Business and Enterprise, which calls for government to stop dragging its heels on support for the car industry, Tony Woodley, Unite joint general secretary, said: "This report hits the nail on the head. More than seven months on from the establishment of the Automotive Assistance Programme, we are yet to see a penny paid out to car and components companies.

April 28th, 2009 LONDON - Following the news today that Midlands-based van manufacturer LDV will go into administration on May 6th with the loss of around 900 jobs directly and thousands more in the wider supply chain, Tony Woodley, joint general secretary of Unite said: "Two months ago I warned that without rapid intervention to support LDV while it sought a new buyer, the company would collapse. "Unless the government acts to provide a small but vital aid package of just GBP4 million, barely a year's bonus for a bailed-out banker, then LDV will go into administration on May 6th - and take with it thousands of jobs in our manufacturing heartland.

April 7th, 2009 LONDON - Unite, Britain's biggest union, has today issued a stark warning that it will not tolerate employers who attempt to use a credit crunch as an excuse to attack workers' pensions. The warning follows Aon's announcement that it intends to cut its contributions to workers' pensions by up to half.

April 6th, 2009 LONDON - Rob MacGregor, Unite national officer, said: "The news that 4,500 RBS staff in the UK are to lose their jobs is truly devastating. Unite is appalled that thousands of people, who form the backbone of the RBS operations, are to be made redundant.

March 24th, 2009 LONDON - Unite has accused HSBC of "creative accountancy" with jobs as HSBC concedes that the true number of job cuts is in fact 2,900 as the union has rightly claimed, and not 1,200 as HSBC had originally claimed. Derek Simpson, Unite Joint General Secretary, said: "As if it was not bad enough for staff of HSBC to hear from the media that their jobs are at risk, we now have a situation where the company is failing to come clean with the true extent of these cuts.

September 30th, 2009 Kraft given Nov 9 deadline to bid on CadburyLONDON — Britain's Panel on Takeovers and Mergers says Kraft Foods Inc. has until November 9 to either make a firm bid for candy maker Cadbury PLC or walk away.

September 8th, 2009 Food stocks mixed on news of Kraft bid for CadburySAN FRANCISCO — Shares of food makers were mixed in Tuesday trading after Kraft announced a bid to buy British candy and drink maker Cadbury PLC for $16.7 billion in stock and cash. Cadbury rejected the offer, opening the possibility that other suitors will enter the fray.

September 22nd, 2009 Cadbury involves U.K. takeover panel in Kraft bidNEW YORK — Candy maker Cadbury PLC has taken Kraft Foods Inc.'s unsolicited bid to British regulators, asking them to make the American food maker produce a formal takeover bid or abandon the proposal, according to a published report.

September 30th, 2009 Report: Kraft could make hostile bid for CadburyKraft Foods Inc. is poised to launch a hostile bid for British candy maker Cadbury PLC, The Observer said Sunday, citing unnamed sources.

September 12th, 2009 Cadbury chairman: Kraft bid undervalues companyDALLAS — The chairman of candy maker Cadbury PLC said Saturday that Kraft Foods Inc. undervalued his company in a takeover offer this week, and he dismissed the suitor as a "low growth conglomerate." Roger Carr laid out his opposition to Kraft's $16.7 billion bid in an open letter to Kraft CEO Irene Rosenfeld.

July 29th, 2009 Cadbury 1H profit nearly triplesLONDON — Candy and gum maker Cadbury PLC tripled its net profit in the first half of the year compared to the same period a year ago, with results boosted by a strong gain from its discontinued beverage business. The company, which makes Cadbury chocolates, Trident and Dentyne gum, and Halls and Bassett's candies, said Wednesday that net profit was 313 million pounds ($513 million), compared to 113 million pounds a year earlier.

September 17th, 2009 Report: Hershey hires advisers, mulls Cadbury bidNEW YORK — The trust that controls Hershey Co. has hired a notable banker and a small banking firm to advise on a possible bid for rival candy maker Cadbury PLC to compete with an offer from Kraft Foods Co., according to a published report.

September 8th, 2009 Cold, hard cash may be key to Cadbury's heartPORTLAND, Ore. — British candy maker Cadbury PLC is awaiting a sweeter offer than Kraft Foods Inc.'s $16.7 billion stock-and-cash proposal.

September 9th, 2009 Kraft to focus on improving growth in EuropeNORTHFIELD, Ill. — Kraft Foods Inc.

September 7th, 2009 Cadbury rejects Kraft's $16.7 billion bidLONDON — Kraft Foods Inc. on Monday proposed a 10.2 billion pound ($16.7 billion) takeover of Cadbury PLC, but the offer was immediately rejected by the British maker of chocolate, gum and candy.