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BCTGM Press Release: December 3, 2008
Fired employees Bill Lawhorn and Russ Teegardin will be met by co-workers when they return to work today at Consolidated Biscuit plant between 1:30-2:00p.m.
CBC Ordered to Rehire Workers, Comply with Order or Face Contempt Charges!
December 3, 2008 - After more than six years, justice will finally prevail at Consolidated Biscuit Company (CBC) in McComb, Ohio when workers who were fired for their effort to join the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) return to work today.
On November 14, 2008 the United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered CBC to comply with the National Labor Relations Board's (NLRB) Decision in its entirety. This includes the reinstatement of fired union supporters Bill Lawhorn and Russ Teegardin. The Court further ordered full back-pay for both Lawhorn and Teegardin with all lost wages to be paid, plus compounded interest.The NLRB has informed CBC that its decision will now be enforced. If the company does not comply with the order, CBC will face Contempt Charges, which could cost the company thousands of dollars in fines and possible jail time.
The Board's decision mandates that the 2002 election results be set aside due to misconduct and orders a new election for CBC workers to be scheduled by the Regional Director.
BCTGM International President Frank Hurt reflected on this recent CBC victory and the need for labor law reform. "This is the very reason why the Employee Free Choice Act must become law. It is an absolute disgrace what these workers went through because they wanted to become members of a union. It is outrageous that they were forced to wait so long for justice to be served in modern America."
Background
In 2002, when workers at the Consolidated Biscuit Company (CBC) plant in McComb, Ohio decided they wanted a say in their working conditions, wages and benefits that affect their lives and families, they called the BCTGM.Despite the company's massive anti-union campaign, the majority of more than 800 workers decided to exercise their right to form a union and signed recognition cards.
In an attempt to stop workers from exercising their legal right to sign union recognition cards, CBC management committed numerous violations of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Questioning employees about their union activities, spying on union events, threatening to move or close the plant if the union is voted in and threatening to reduce or eliminate wages and/or benefits are among the 40 complaints filed against the company after more than six months of investigation by the NLRB.
Unfortunately for workers, the current system for forming unions and bargaining is broken. Every day, companies like CBC deny workers the freedom to decide for themselves whether to form unions to bargain for a better life. They routinely intimidate, harass, coerce and fire workers who try to form unions and bargain for economic well-being.
The Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 800, S. 1041), supported by a bipartisan coalition in Congress, would level the playing field for workers and employers and help rebuild America's middle class. It would restore workers' freedom to choose a union by:
- Establishing stronger penalties for violation of employee rights when workers seek to form a union and during first-contract negotiations.
- Providing mediation and arbitration for first-contract disputes.
- Allowing employees to form unions by signing cards authorizing union representation.
The BCTGM International Union represents workers in the baking, candy, sugar, grain and tobacco industries in the United States and Canada. For more information on the BCTGM visit www.bctgm.org.
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