14 Jun Solidarity is a Two-Way Picket Line
BCTGM members have first-hand experience with the power of solidarity. The long days, nights and seasons outside your workplace fighting for a fair contract are made tolerable with the support of a larger community. Visits from other union workers who have stood shoulder to shoulder with striking BCTGM members helped bring strength and labor unity to all of our strikes.
Four hundred UAW Local 12 members have been on strike against Clarios in Holland, Ohio since May 8. The vehicle battery manufacturing plant is located just outside of Toledo, Ohio, home of BCTGM Local 58G.
Local 58G Recording Secretary Bridget Notzka wanted to bring BCTGM-made goods and solidarity to the striking UAW members. Notzka, pictured on the left on the UAW Local 12 picket line, worked at Hometown Foods in Toledo for 20 years before becoming Recording Secretary. “We wanted to support the UAW members in any way we could,” notes Notzka.
BCTGM International Representative Lisa Gregory helped Notzka load Local 58G-made Martha White muffin mixes, Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Treats, General Mills cereals and many other BCTGM-made goods into her truck to transport to the picket line.
“Strikes depend on Union solidarity,” reflects Gregory. “We know first-hand that strong solidarity – from your Union Brothers and Sisters as well as from your community – helps win strikes! The BCTGM knows this because we’ve lived through our own long and difficult strikes by standing strong,” adds Gregory, who was a vital player in both the Kellogg’s and Nabisco strikes in 2021.