Local Union News
Representing manufacturing, production, maintenance and sanitation workers in the baking, confectionery, tobacco and grain milling industries.
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Workers at the Franklin Street Bakery in Minneapolis have struggled for years with poverty wages, unaffordable health insurance, lack of time off to care for family members, little opportunity for advancement and raises, favoritism, and unfairly applied work policies. When the bakers decided to exercise their legal right to form a union and improve their conditions, management launched an aggressive anti-union, anti-worker campaign against the workers. The owner of Franklin Street Bakery,  Wayne Kostroski,  is also the...

20 January, 2017

BCTGM Director of Organization John Price joined with officers and organizers from BCTGM Local Union 22 (Minneapolis) in a series of meetings with employees of Franklin Street Bakery who are in the midst of an organizing drive to join the BCTGM. The campaign, which began in 2016, has received tremendous support from the Minneapolis/St. Paul community including the Minnesota State AFL-CIO, local community groups, town council members, and even the NFL Players Association. The owners of Franklin...

19 January, 2017

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… Allan Candy Company Allan Traditional Candy Canes (Peppermint, Cherry and Mini Peppermint), Allan Holiday Collection Candy Canes (French Vanilla & Gingerbread, Butterscotch & Cappucino, Mini Canes), Allan Fruit Buddies Candy Canes, Allan Chewy Candy Canes. BCTGM Local 350T (Granby, Quebec)   Dare Foods Limited A variety of gums, jellies, hard candy and gift tubs,...

14 December, 2016

This morning about 250 trade unionists and supporters joined striking Local 6 members for a spirited rally across from the Just Born candy plant in Bethlehem, Pa. Participants of the solidarity event included the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 13000, Steelworkers (USW) Local 2559, CWA District 2-13, Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 375, Teamsters (IBT) Local 773,  as well as members of AFSCME and SEIU. Also present was the Northhampton County Democrats and the Democratic City Chair...

27 September, 2016

Horsham, Pa. – Four hundred BCTGM Local 6 members at Just Born Inc. in Bethlehem, Pa. unanimously voted to go on strike after rejecting the company’s last offer. Workers began taking their places on the picket line this afternoon. In contract negotiations that began in May, Just Born proposed eliminating the workers’ pension plan, offered substandard market wage increases while increasing the workers’ share of health insurance costs. While the Union proposed modifications to the health...

07 September, 2016

In the beginning, workers were not afraid. On the morning of January 11, sick of unsafe working conditions and unfair pay, dozens of workers at Portland Specialty Baking marched into the company president’s office and asked for voluntary union recognition. [caption id="attachment_5711" align="alignright" width="300"] Current and former workers at Portland Specialty Baking, together with attorneys and supporters, announced a class action wage theft lawsuit on Aug. 8.[/caption] It was early 2015 that BCTGM Local 114 (Portland, Ore), with...

03 August, 2016

It has been more than a year and a half since workers at three Chicago-area Lifeway Foods facilities overcame a vicious anti-union campaign and voted overwhelmingly to join the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM). Since that time, Lifeway executives, including CEO Julie Smolyansky, have refused to negotiate a first union contract with BCTGM Local 1 (Chicago) and continue to violate federal labor law. In November 2015, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)...

08 April, 2016

Workers at Lifeway Foods Inc. facilities in Chicago voted to join BCTGM Local 1 (Chicago) a year and a half ago but remain without a union contract as the company refuses to negotiate with the union. And despite a 2015 order by the the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the company will not bargain in good faith. Taking matters into their own hands, Local 1, with assistance from the International Union, has launched a  campaign to bring this...

14 March, 2016

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled that Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) is guilty of violating federal labor laws. The NLRB adopted the findings and conclusions of Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Melissa M. Olivero. In a thirty-three page Decision, Judge Olivero wrote, “ADM has committed numerous violations of Section 8(a)(1) of the Act by interrogating and threatening its employees. During their 2015 effort to become members of BCTGM Local 103G, workers at ADM's Bio-products facility in Decatur, Ill....

03 March, 2016

In July 2015, Nabisco announced it had chosen to invest an additional $130 million in its new $400 million plant in Salinas, Mexico, instead of investing that money in its iconic plant in Chicago. As a result, 600 workers in Chicago could lose their jobs and an entire South Side community could be devastated. Watch and share this video with everyone you know! Join the fight to save American Jobs! TAKE ACTION! Click here to sign our...

19 February, 2016

Following a months-long investigation, Region 18 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced that it had decided to issue a complaint charging Ingredion, Inc. with multiple violations of the National Labor Relations Act at its Cedar Rapids, Iowa facility. Those violations include illegally engaging in “surface bargaining”– meaning engaging in a sham process of going through the motions without an intention of reaching agreement – with members of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers...

06 January, 2016

Local 1 Richmond Baking Workers On Strike During the contract meeting held on Sunday, January 3, 2016 workers at Richmond Baking Company, members of  Local Union 1 Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union AFL-CIO-CLC, voted unanimously to reject the company’s final offer. They later voted unanimously to set a strike date and time for 2 p.m. Monday, January 4, 2016. Negotiations with Richmond Baking Company, located at 520 N. Sixth Street Richmond...

06 January, 2016

Annabelle Candy Company: Rocky Road, Abba Zaba, Look, Big Hunk and U-No. (Local 125/Oakland, Calif.)   Boyer Candies: Mallo Cups, Peanut Butter Cups, Smoothie Cups, Triple Twist Pretzels, Dark Chocolate Mallo Cups. (Local 19/Cleveland, Ohio)   Concord Confections (Tootsie Roll Industries): Double Bubble Bubble Gum. (Local 264/Toronto)   Ghirardelli Chocolate: Pumpkin Spice Caramel Squares, Solid Milk, Milk & Caramel, Solid 60% Cacao Dark and Dark & Sea Salt Caramel and all varieties of chocolates. (Local 125/Oakland, Calif.)   Hershey: Hershey Milk Chocolate Bars, Hershey Milk Chocolate with Almond Bars, Cookies N’ Creme...

14 October, 2015

Twin Cities, Minn. − After months of negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement, workers at the Pearson’s Candy Company facility in St. Paul, Minn. are urging company CEO Michael Keller to force company negotiators to bargain in good faith. BCTGM Local Union 22 and Pearson’s Candy have yet to reach agreement on a new contract to replace the one that expires on October 27. Local 22 represents more than 160 employees at the candy facility,...

09 October, 2015

In a sign of solidarity, Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders will join BCTGM Local 100G members and supporters in an informational picket outside the Penford Products factory in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Friday, September 4th. Union members at the plant have been fighting for a fair new contract with Ingredion, Inc. which purchased the facility this spring. Sanders is expected to join Local 100G members, labor supporters and community leaders outside the Penford plant at approximately...

03 September, 2015