Local Union News
Representing manufacturing, production, maintenance and sanitation workers in the baking, confectionery, tobacco and grain milling industries.
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Twin Cities, Minn. โˆ’ After months of negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement, workers at the Pearsonโ€™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 Pearsonโ€™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

Labor Day is the unofficial end of the summer holiday season. While the day honors the hardworking men and women who make this nation go and grow, the weekend also gives us a chance for one more big backyard barbecue blowout. Here are some BCTGM-made goods to get your barbecue off to a great start. The products listed here are just some of the BCTGM-made products and is not inclusive of every BCTGM local or union-made product....

02 September, 2015

Shown below is the full text of a letter International President David Durkee sent to Presidentย Obama concerning the July 29 announcement byย Mondelฤ“z International that it intends to moveย hundreds of union production jobs from the historicย BCTGM-represented Chicago Nabisco Bakery to the companyโ€™sย low-wage facility in Mexico. This contemptible move by thisย greedy multi-national company epitomizes all that is wrong withย corporate America and U.S. trade policy. (Click on either image below to download a PDF.)   *This letter was also published in...

01 September, 2015

On Monday, August 24, NPR Chicago broadcast a special story detailing the recent announcement by Mondelฤ“zย International thatย it isย shipping 600 union jobs โ€” half the plantโ€™s workforce โ€” to Mexico. The program includes interviews with BCTGM Local 300 members at the Chicago Bakery. The report also includes information on how the city worked withย Mondelฤ“zย  the last time the companyย threatened to move production outside of the U.S. by providingย $300 million in tax breaks to completeย infrastructure work at...

28 August, 2015

After two days of meetings, contract negotiations between Ingredion Inc. and representatives of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) Local 100G have been suspended until early September. The collective bargaining agreement covering approximately 160 union members at the plant expired on August 1. Workers at the plant continue to work under the terms of the expired pact while Union negotiators attempt to reach a fair new contract with Westchester, Ill.-based Ingredion, which purchased the...

24 August, 2015

On Friday, August 14, more than 100 union members, family members and community supporters of BCTGM Local 100G members gathered for an informational picket and rally outside the Ingredion plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The collective bargaining agreement covering approximately 160 union members at the plant expired on August 1. During contract negotiations, Ingredion negotiators proposed more than 120 concessionary changes to the collective bargaining agreement. The BCTGM has filed Unfair Labor Practice charges with the...

17 August, 2015

Cedar Rapids, Iowa โ€“ Members of ย BCTGM Local 100G continue their fight for a fair new contract with Ingredion, Inc., the Westchester, Ill.-based company that purchased the Penford Products facility this spring. The collective bargaining agreement covering approximately 160 union members at the plant expired on August 1. The BCTGM has filed Unfair Labor Practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 18 Office in Des Moines regarding the companyโ€™s unethical behavior before and...

04 August, 2015

Kensington, MD โ€“ More than BCTGM 1,300 members at four Kellogg cereal plants voted to ratify a new five-year Master Contract to replace the one set to expire on October 3, 2015. The locations of the plants included under the new Agreement are Lancaster, Pa. (374G), Battle Creek, Mich. (Local 3G), Omaha, Neb. (50G), and Memphis, Tenn. (252G). The five-year deal includes a five-year moratorium on plant closings, solid wage and pension increases and maintenance of...

03 August, 2015

Cedar Rapids, Iowa โ€”ย When Ingredion Inc., headquartered in West Chester, Ill., purchased the Cedar Rapids, Iowa Penford Products plant this spring, company officials said that for the immediate future, there would not be drastic changes. However, contentious negotiations that began June 1, 2015 continue between company officials and representatives of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Union (BCTGM) Local 100G (Cedar Rapids) for a successor Agreement covering workers at the plant. The present collective bargaining...

30 July, 2015

The BCTGM International was informed today by Mondelฤ“z that the company had chosen to spend $130 million in new investment at its Salinas, Mexico plant, rather than at the historic Chicago facility, represented by BCTGM Local 300. As part of this investment, Mondelฤ“z will install four new lines at its Mexico plant, replacing nine production lines at its historic Chicago facility, where approximately 1,000 workers are represented by BCTGM Local 300. The Chicago plant, which dates to...

29 July, 2015

Pictured here after the final votes were counted is (from left, front row) Intl. Rep. David Woods, Randy Williams, George Key, Tony Sanders, L. 42 Bus. Agt. Zach Townsend and L. 149 Pres./GEB member Letitia Malone, (from left, back row) Vanessa Corbitt, Allan Wright, Joseph Dickens and Phyllis Dickens. It was the unwavering strength and courage of 80 workers at a peanut shelling plant in Alabama that prevailed in their fight for dignity and respect through...

29 June, 2015

Chicago, Ill. โ€“ BCTGM representatives met today with local and international representatives of Mondelฤ“z International, Inc. to discuss investment plans related to the companyโ€™s Chicago bakery located at 7300 South Kedzie Avenue. Mondelฤ“z essentially told the BCTGM that the workers had to come up with $46 million in annual savings at the Chicago facility for the company, or it would take the $130 million planned investment to its Salinas, Mexico bakery. And, even with the $46...

15 May, 2015

Republican leaders in Congress and the Obama Administration have declared that trade is a potential area of compromise this year and working people should be concerned. ย New trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) are being negotiated in the same failed North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) model. The negotiations are focused on padding corporate profits not increasing workersโ€™ paychecks. Before any trade deal comes to a vote, the administration will ask Congress to pass...

26 February, 2015

โ€œSenator Elizabeth Warren recently gave a speech where she made her case for electing women Democrats to Congress saying, โ€˜If you donโ€™t have a seat at the table, youโ€™re probably on the menu.โ€™ And this is something Iโ€™ve started telling workers in organizing campaigns.โ€ โ€” John Price, BCTGM Internationalย Director of Organization [caption id="attachment_4789" align="alignright" width="288" caption="Workers at the Penford Foods plant in Seattle became fed up with the companyโ€™s elimination of benefits and contacted the BCTGM. They...

23 January, 2015