Be nicer, Girl Scout tells cookie maker's CEO
Second-year Girl Scout Lily DeRosia said she felt sympathy for women who work at the Louisville factory that produces Girl Scout cookies after reading an article on employees' complaints of long shifts and mandatory overtime.
"They're being treated terrible," the 8-year-old told her mother.
Now her concerns have forced the national Girl Scouts of the USA to respond — and drawn praise from beleaguered Kellogg Snack workers.
The girl clipped The Courier-Journal's article — which was circulated by USA Today to Gannett Co. newspapers, including her hometown Democrat & Chronicle in Rochester, N.Y. — and made a presentation at her scout meeting the next day. She invited the other girls to sign a petition.
Twelve scouts and their troop leader signed her hand-written letter that says the scouts had heard about the complaints of the workers at the former Mother's Cookies plant on Ralph Avenue and "we want to sell cookies made by a company that cares about there [sic] workers."
She wrote: "You should change this" because it would make the world a better place.
Her mother, the Rev. Melissa DeRosia, a minister who studied at the Presbyterian Seminary in Louisville, put the letter on Facebook at Lily's request and mailed the petition and letter to CEO John Bryant at Kellogg's Battle Creek, Mich., headquarters.
A copy was sent to The Courier-Journal by a Louisville reader who spotted it on social media. Melissa DeRosia said her older daughter has a big heart and doesn't hold back when she senses injustice.
Asked about the scout's letter, Kellogg spokeswoman Kris Charles said in an email that Kellogg had not received any letters from Girl Scouts about the matter "but we do appreciate their concerns about our workforce."
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The company is "actively recruiting new employees to help with the overall workload at this plant," Charles added.
The company said before the Feb. 22 article that supervisors try to avoid mandatory overtime but if they don't have enough volunteers, workers are drafted for OT. A Teamster rep for the workers told of asking company officials to lighten the overtime load but didn't expect changes overnight.
Girl Scouts of the USA, which declined to comment before the first article, released a brief statement last week when contacted about Lily's letter, saying it was unaware of the letter but that the organization "expects all of its vendors to comply with applicable laws and regulations."
"Both bakers (in Louisville and Richmond, Va.) are union shops and certify that they will comply with laws and standards governing wages, hours and overtime. GSUSA has not been notified of an investigation by the Kentucky Labor Cabinet, nor have any employees filed a grievance on this issue," spokeswoman Kelly Parisi said.
A worker at the plant, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation said she saw a copy of the girl's letter and hopes it does some good, but "we're still working seven days (a week)."
Former Kellogg worker Kerise Ison, 59, who quit after 16 years last June, said her blood pressure soared after months of overwork. Her doctor urged her to find another job — and she finally did.
Ison was touched to learn that a Girl Scout felt moved to speak out to Kellogg executives. "That baby's got more sense than they do," she said.
Reporter Grace Schneider can be reached at 502-582-4082. Follow her on Twitter @gesinfk.