2012
Representing manufacturing, production, maintenance and sanitation workers in the baking, confectionery, tobacco and grain milling industries.
bctgm, bakers union, tobacco union, candy union, food workers, food workers union, grain millers, grain millers union, mondelez, nabisco, snack union,
-1
archive,date,bridge-core-2.5.9,qode-page-transition-enabled,ajax_fade,page_not_loaded,,qode-title-hidden,qode-theme-ver-24.4,qode-theme-bridge,disabled_footer_bottom,qode_header_in_grid,wpb-js-composer js-comp-ver-6.4.2,vc_responsive,elementor-default,elementor-kit-9096

From visiting critically ill children in Philadelphia, to coordinating toy and clothing gift donations in Minnesota and Ohio, BCTGM members have embody the true spirit of giving during the holiday season. [caption id="attachment_2898" align="alignleft" width="266" caption="BCTGM Local 492 members delivered holiday gifts and cheer to the sick children at Saint Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia."][/caption] BCTGM Local 492 members who are employed at the Kraft plant in Philadelphia have been bringing smiles to the faces of sick children at Saint Christopher's Hospital...

17 December, 2012

"Honorable and effective service to the membership is the highest objective which any labor organization can seek. The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union will ever be faithful and devoted to this aspiration and trust."  -Declaration of Principles, BCTGM Constitution As I prepared this, my last column as International Union President, I decided to look back at my first column twenty years ago.  At the time, I wrote, “The one thing I want...

14 December, 2012

Photo: Joe Richard LANSING, Mich. -- More than 17,000 workers from all walks of life rallied yesterday outside the Michigan State Capitol building as anti-worker legislators heeded Gov. Rick Snyder’s call to divide Michigan by ramming through a so-called “right-to-work” bill which promises to kill jobs, lower wages, crush workers’ rights and unravel the middle class.  BCTGM members from throughout Michigan, including Locals 326 (Detroit), 3G (Battle Creek), 259G (Carrollton), 260G (Caro), 261G (Sebewaing), 262G (Croswell) and...

12 December, 2012

 The following was published in the November/December 2012 Issue of the BCTGM News.  Once upon a time there was a company. It had happy workers and was profitable for years – an American icon, some would say. But that fairytale ended long ago. One fact is clear: when BCTGM members employed by Hostess Brands across the country began to strike or honor picket lines on November 9, their fight was about more than disgruntled workers upset with the...

12 December, 2012

Today, BCTGM members are joining thousands of people in Lansing, Mich., to march on the state Capitol to fight back against Gov. Rick Snyder’s (R) and Republican legislators’ steamrolling “right to work” for less legislation without public debate or hearings.   Below is live-streaming video from the UAW's Ustream page.  You can also visit the UAW Facebook page for live-streaming updates. Stream videos at Ustream Updates will be posted throughout the day on the AFL-CIO Now blog and you also...

11 December, 2012

Fargo, ND – Locked-out members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) met with community leaders at the Holiday Inn in South Fargo, where American Crystal Sugar Company was holding its Joint Annual Meeting today, to discuss harm the over 16-month lockout of union workers is causing the company and community. “The lockout is hurting, not only factory workers, our families and communities, but Crystal Sugar itself and many people for...

06 December, 2012

Delight your friends and loved ones with holiday treats made by hard-working BCTGM members! Listed here is a sampling of the BCTGM-contracted companies that produce seasonal specialties… Annabelle Candy Holiday seasonal specialties and bag candy including union-made candies like Rocky Road, Abba Zaba, Look, Big Hunk and U-No. BCTGM Local 125 (San Leandro, Calif.)     Brown & Haley Holiday gift boxes, baskets, tins and packages filled with the company’s renowned Almond Roca, Cashew Roca, Mocha Roca, Sugar Free Almond Roca and...

05 December, 2012

November 21, 2012 – The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a Summary Judgment against Bread of Life d/b/a Panera Bread in South Western Michigan.  The Judgment states the company violated Sections 8(a)(5) and (1) of the National Labor Relations Act (ACT) by refusing to recognize and bargain with the BCTGM Local 70 (Grand Rapids, Mich.).  On February 24, 2012, after a full and complete hearing on a petition filed by the BCTGM Local 70...

04 December, 2012

Jackie Tortura, AFL-CIO For the fourth time, locked-out American Crystal Sugar workers rejected an identical contract offer from the management company. The workers are members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM). American Crystal Sugar workers have gone 16 months without a contract.  Susan Sylvester, a Crookston, Minn., resident who has worked at the company for 37 years, told the Huffington Post: Our families, they’ve really suffered great hardship, especially the ones with little kids...

03 December, 2012

A federal bankruptcy judge has approved bonuses for executives of Hostess, the maker of Twinkies, who stay on as the company is broken up and sold off. On Thursday, as part of a plan to liquidate the company and lay off 18,000 workers, a federal judge in White Plains, N.Y., approved paying 19 Hostess executives bonuses totaling $1.8 million. Hostess has said it has interest from at least 110 firms who want to buy pieces of...

30 November, 2012

"There is this narrative that the union talked us into voting for it, and we are portrayed as a bunch of emotional children that can't make decisions. We knew what we were doing when we took concessions in 2005." Read the full TRUTHOUT interview with BCTGM Hostess worker Mike Hummel by Yana Kunichoff....

29 November, 2012

The following story was sent to us by a retired BCTGM Local 24 member. It is a true account of a dedicated bakery worker who grew up in and with Interstate Bakeries Corp. (IBC), in its various forms. Like his father before him, he spent his career working hard and supporting his family with good wages and the protection of a union contract. And like his father, he watched as the company was mismanaged and...

21 November, 2012

Today, 11/19/12, at 9:37 a.m. the BCTGM submitted the below document to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert D. Drain in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Southern District of New York, Hostess Brands Chapter 11 Case No. 12-22052 : JOINDER OF THE BAKERY, CONFECTIONERY, TOBACCO WORKERS AND GRAIN MILLERS INTERNATIONAL UNION IN OBJECTIONS TO DEBTORS’ EMERGENCY WINDDOWN MOTION AND MOTION PURUSUANT TO SECTION 1113(e) OF THE BANKRUPTCY CODE   Click here to dowload the 16-page PDF...

19 November, 2012

Written by Richard Trumka for the Daily Kos This is the new American story, but someone finally stood up and said, “Stop!” Pundits should be applauding the Bakery Workers of Hostess Brands for standing up to Wall Street interests and standing for decent working standards and the middle class. The truth is that the Bain-style vulture capitalists invested in Hostess to profit not by making quality products, but by bleeding the company of every dollar before discarding it. They’re...

18 November, 2012