Leadership
Representing manufacturing, production, maintenance and sanitation workers in the baking, confectionery, tobacco and grain milling industries.
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50 delegates from local unions representing workers in Quebec, Ontario, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba and Alberta gathered this week for the 8th BCTGM Canadian Council. During the two days, local union leaders listened to speeches, compared notes for representing workers in today’s Canadian workplaces and caught up with one another as friends and union siblings. Speeches included a rousing address by President Magalie Picard of the Federation de Travailleurs-Quebec Federation of Labour, and a presentation...

19 September, 2025

By: Anthony Shelton, BCTGM International President With the end of the year upon us, it is important to review how our Union responded to the challenges that arose before us. As we evaluate these challenges, it gives us an opportunity to plan effectively for the future. In 2023, the BCTGM once again provided solid proof that we never walk away from a tough fight when it comes to protecting the livelihoods of our members. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa,...

11 December, 2023

“U.S. Government Charges Kellogg with Serious Violations of Federal Law”  – BCTGM News Release, March 27, 2014 “Federal Government Seeks Immediate Court Action to End Illegal Memphis Lockout” – BCTGM News Release, April 5, 2014 What a difference a year can make! At this time last year, the labor movement was confronting one of its greatest challenges since the enactment of the National Labor Relations Act, the “Workers’ Bill of Rights”, nearly 80 years earlier.  The National Labor Relations Board...

15 May, 2014

President Durkee submitted a letter to the Food and Drug Administration yesterday in response to the agency’s advance notice of proposed rule-making related to the potential regulation of menthol in cigarettes.  The letter reads as follows: Dear Sir or Madam: The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) submits this document in response to the agency’s advance notice of proposed rulemaking related to the potential regulation of menthol in cigarettes. The BCTGM represents approximately 85,000...

25 October, 2013

We have built a new section onto our website just for you – the BCTGM Stewards Corner. The job of a steward is one of the most challenging, most rewarding and most important jobs in our union.  That’s because union stewards are on the front lines of our fight to develop a strong, active union in the workplace. Stewards have an enormous impact on our members’ faith and belief in the union. The steward is the one...

22 August, 2013

In January, BCTGM President David B. Durkee sat down for a 2-part interview with Joshua Sosland of Milling & Baking News to speak from the Union’s perspective on the ongoing situation at Hostess. In part one of this interview, Sosland focuses on Durkee’s background and the philosophy of the Union. “The philosophy always was and remains, ‘It’s all about the members.’ That was drilled through us every single day. “And retired BCTGM President Frank Hurt, to the very...

02 April, 2013

Silver Spring, MD, March 14, 2013 – National Labor College (NLC) is pleased to announce the election of Bakery, Confectionery Tobacco and Grain Millers International Union President David B. Durkee to its Board of Trustees. "David has been a union activist his entire life, fighting for workers and standing up to corporations. His strong leadership skills have helped guide the BCTGM through some incredibly difficult recent struggles," said AFL-CIO President and Chairperson of the NLC Board...

16 March, 2013

BCTGM International President Frank Hurt, who served as president of the International Union since October 1, 1992, retired effective January 1, 2013. To serve Hurt’s unexpired term through the next constitutional convention in 2014, the BCTGM General Executive Board (GEB) unanimously approved Hurt’s nomination of David B. Durkee as International President.  The GEB further approved the nomination of Steve Bertelli as International Secretary-Treasurer. International President Durkee David B. Durkee was first elected to fill the open position of...

04 January, 2013

"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