Local Union News
Representing manufacturing, production, maintenance and sanitation workers in the baking, confectionery, tobacco and grain milling industries.
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Kalamazoo, MI. – On June 28, 2012, three months after the majority of Bakers employed at Panera Bread Cafés in the I-94 Corridor Division voted Union yes, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a federal complaint against the company.  After Panera Bakers voted yes to be represented by the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) International Union Local 70, both the company and the union filed unfair labor practice charges against one...

16 July, 2012

People are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of nutrition and how healthy pet foods can affect overall well-being of their pets.  So why not make sure pets are consuming union-made animal foods and treats? BCTGM members proudly produce pet products including Milk Bone and a wide variety of Nestlé Purina products. Milk Bone BCTGM Local 36G members in Buffalo, N.Y. produce all brands of Milk Bone products at the company’s only factory in Buffalo.  BCTGM made...

28 June, 2012

Kalamazoo, MI. – If you drive by a Panera Bread Café on any given morning, you will be treated with the decadent smell of freshly baking bread and sweet goods, thanks to the artful skills of Panera Bread bakers. These bakers work from 10:00 p.m. each night to 6:00 a.m. each morning making sure fresh bread, rolls, cakes and other baked goods are carefully molded and baked in time for the early morning Café opening....

23 March, 2012

From the Roquette corn milling facility in Keokuk, Iowa, to American Crystal Sugar in the Red River Valley of Minnesota and North Dakota and Cooper Tires in Findlay, Ohio, employers are turning to lockouts as a tactic to force union workers to accept major concessions when contract negotiations deadlock. For the BCTGM, the lockout of 1,300 workers at American Crystal Sugar is the most glaring example of the lengths to which employers will go to bust...

20 March, 2012

BCTGM Local 492 (Philadelphia) members take tremendous pride in Tasty Baking Company’s rich heritage and bright future. Tasty Baking products have been well known throughout the company’s nearly 100 year history for consistent taste, quality, and freshness. And in 2010, the BCTGM Union Label brought added quality to every product made at the company’s Philadelphia bakery.     In 1914, a Pittsburgh baker, Philip J. Baur, and a Boston egg salesman, Herbert T. Morris, went into business in...

12 March, 2012

The Best Selling Cookie of the 20th Century In 1898, several baking companies merged to form the National Biscuit Company (NaBisCo), and opened a large industrial bakery in New York City on Ninth Avenue between 15th and 16th Streets at the Chelsea Market Building. By 1902, the company had its first nationwide success in Barnum’s Animal crackers, which were sold in boxes painted as animal cages. In 1912, Nabisco had an idea for a new cookie –...

06 March, 2012

Twin Cities Business magazine examines the lockout of 1,300 BCTGM members at American Crystal Sugar and the fate of the Farm Bill. "Despite escalating costs for all concerned, American Crystal Sugar is operating without 1,300 unionized factory workers locked out six months ago.  Upping the ante, the union threatens to pull support for the Farm Bill, which in turn could hurt the entire sugar industry." Click here to read/print the entire article....

05 March, 2012

Supporters Deliver Petition Signed by Tens of Thousands to Crystal Sugar Headquarters Fargo, ND—Hundreds of union members, their families, and supporters rallied in Moorhead, MN, today to protest the lockout of some 1,300 workers by American Crystal Sugar Company (ACS). After the rally, a delegation of labor and community leaders delivered a petition signed by more than 33,000 people to the company’s headquarters. The petition calls on CEO David Berg to end the lockout and resume...

22 February, 2012

Locked out BCTGM members from American Crystal Sugar are taking their message on the road, joining locked out USW workers from Ohio-based Cooper Tire and Rubber in “From Fargo to Findlay: A Journey for Justice.”  The six-day, six-state solidarity tour will focus attention on the two examples of the recent wave of greed-motivated corporate attacks on workers and their unions. Together, four BCTGM members from Crystal Sugar and four USW workers from Cooper Tire will travel over...

21 February, 2012

On January 18, the first hearing concerning the bankruptcy of Hostess Brands was held in New York, N.Y. before a federal bankruptcy judge. The purpose of the court proceedings was to name members to the Creditors Committee. Bob Bergin, Executive Director of the Bakery and Confectionery Union and Industry International Health & Pension Funds, was placed on the Committee. The Creditors Committee also includes representatives for the Teamsters and other union pension funds, as well as...

19 January, 2012

On Wednesday, January 11, Hostess Brands filed for bankruptcy protection for the second time since 2004.  The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) represents more than 5,000 workers at Hostess Brands. The BCTGM International Union’s legal and financial team, under the direction of International President Frank Hurt, has been working with Hostess for months to identify an amenable resolution that would address the company’s financial difficulties.  Throughout this process, the company has...

12 January, 2012

Local 203T (Richmond, Va.) adopted 59 families in the Richmond tri-cities area for the holiday season. Through generous donations to the local’s holiday toy drive, Local 203T members helped put smiles on the faces of 185 children and fill their homes with holiday cheer....

08 December, 2011

UPDATE: On Dec. 5, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton follows up on his promise during the American Crystal Sugar stakeholders meeting, to help facilitate contract negotiations and to remain present until a successful conclusion is reached. Click here to read the full letter. On Dec. 4 in Moorhead, Minn., Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton met with an American Crystal Sugar Company executive and listened to locked out workers stories during a Saturday visit to Moorhead. More than 300 people...

05 December, 2011

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…. Annabelle Candy Company Holiday seasonal specialties and bag candy including union-made candies like Rocky Road, Abba Zaba, Look, Big Hunk and U-No. BCTGM Local 125 (San Leandro, Calif.) Brown & Haley Holiday gift boxes, baskets, tins and packages filled with the company’s renowned Almond Roca, Cashew Roca, Mocha Roca, Sugar Free Almond Roca...

02 December, 2011

The already strained relationship between management of American Crystal Sugar Company (ACSC) and its 1,300 locked out workers was dealt another serious blow when recordings of anti-worker statements by ACSC President and CEO Dave Berg were made public this week. In a meeting of company shareholders on November 7 in Grafton, N.D., Berg likened the workers to a 21-pound cancerous tumor. According to an audio recording of the meeting, Berg told the story of a sick...

01 December, 2011