The Road to Sara Lee Bakery Group

The current Sara Lee Bakery Group (SLBG) was formed after the Sara Lee Corporation acquired The Earthgrains Company in 2002, and merged that business with its own baking division. The result is one of the largest baking companies in the U.S.

Earthgrains was originally a unit of Campbell-Taggart that was spun off of Anheuser-Busch in 1995. It acquired Cooper-Smith in the Southeast (1998), and Metz Baking in the upper midwest (1999).

In 1993, the BCT formed an historic partnership with Earthgrains known as the National Quality Advisory Committee Agreement. The agreement was specifically designed to improve the company's economic viability and the job security of our members. The partnership was an initial success: financial stability was restored, the company expanded, and Earthgrains became a more viable food company.

However, in the process Earthgrains management came to expect too much from its employees and the union. Under these demands, the Advisory Committee Agreement failed. Unfortunately, this attitude did not change when Sara Lee took over the Earthgrains operations in 2002. Most of the senior management remained in place, as did its anti-union labor relations policy.

The company has evolved into a flagrant labor law violator and one of the most anti-union/anti-worker companies the BCTGM has ever dealt with. Efforts by BCTGM International President Frank Hurt to meet with Sara Lee CEO C. Steven McMillan to discuss the issues and build a positive relationship, have been rejected.