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Representing manufacturing, production, maintenance and sanitation workers in the baking, confectionery, tobacco and grain milling industries.
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The BCTGM International Union awards five scholarship prizes to members, or children of members, each year worth $5,000. The program is a tribute to the legacy of President Durkee and the high value he placed on learning and education. The 2021 Winners include: Summer Clair, daughter of Local 403 (Kingston, Ontario) member Gerard Clair, who works for George Weston Limited in Kingston. Summer will attend Algonquin College. Kyla Pham, daughter of Local 374G (Lancaster, Pa.) member Chieu Pham,...

28 June, 2021

โ€œI come from a union family and unionism is in my blood. I am not just a union member โ€“ but I live a union life, through and through. It is who I am.โ€ -Bill Andre, Local 116 (Auburn, N.Y.) Business Agent/Financial Secretary. Andre was born and raised in Auburn, located in Cayuga County on the north end of Owasco Lake, one of the Finger Lakes, in Central New York.  He takes great pride in noting...

21 May, 2021

โ€œEducation is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the worldโ€ โ€“ Nelson Mandela Local 125 (San Leandro, Calif.) members Tony Deng and Janet Deng began working at the Ghirardelli Chocolate factory in San Leandro in 1994. Tony is a machine operator and has worked at the plant for 26 years. Janet, also a machine operator, retired in 2020 after 25 years.Their good union jobs, together with their hard work and dedication, have...

06 May, 2021

โ€œI love my job. There is always something that makes my work interesting and challenging. In a way, my job is just an elevated shop steward position. Just like my years as a shop steward, I am helping out union members all day, every day,โ€ concludes Gomez. Sixteen years ago, Rudy Gomez took a job at the Safeway wholesale bread plant and warehouse in Richmond, Calif. and began a union career that would lead him to...

06 May, 2021

Who is going to fire the bosses? Who is going to discipline those that harass all of us? I told everyone, โ€˜until we get a union, this is never going to be a good or fair place to work.โ€ The workers at Blues City Brewing Company overcame a ruthless, anti-union campaign and voted on December 10, 2020 to join BCTGM Local 149 (Memphis, Tenn.). However, Jasmine White was fired before she could vote UNION YES. As a...

29 April, 2021

โ€œIf the pension legislation had not passed, it would have affected all of us Local 114 Bakers Union retirees, and I do not deserve to live on less.  It would be a disgrace after all the years I worked hard for my pension. I gave up wages so I would have my pension.โ€ โ€” Local 114 retiree Daniel Berg worked at the Safeway Clackamas bread plant for 36 years before retiring in 2006. โ€œIโ€™ve appreciated collecting my...

29 April, 2021

President Joe Biden on Tuesday continued his support of pro-union actions by calling for the House to pass the Protect the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act) to make it easier for workers to unionize. Biden strongly encouraged the House of Representatives to "pass the PRO Act," a bill that he said would strengthen unions and "dramatically enhance the power of workers to organize and collectively bargain for better wages, benefits, and working conditions." ...

29 April, 2021

Employers commonly use a variety of tactics, legal and illegal, to make it difficult for workers to form unions. The PRO Act, the most significant overhaul of labor law since the New Deal, would help level the playing field. Thea Lee, president of the Economic Policy Institute, explains how. Check out this EPI fact sheet on Why Workers Need the Protecting the Right to Organize Act. https://youtu.be/8RXYbC-yjkw ...

27 April, 2021

Simply stated, the American Rescue Plan helps keep the promise of a secure retirement for millions of working Americans who have earned, and deserve, nothing less. Here are some important points on the American Rescue Plan which protects the B&C Plan and more than 10 million hardworking Americans who participate in multiemployer plans: โ— Elections have consequences. In the American Rescue Plan (ARP), President Biden and our pro-worker allies in Congress delivered $86 billion in...

27 April, 2021

The following is a special column by BCTGM International President Anthony Shelton published in the March/April issue of the BCTGM NEWS. It has been an historic three months in America. The election of Joe Biden and Democratic control of Congress have created a tremendous boost for working families and organized labor. The most significant development of 2021 is the enactment of the American Rescue Plan Act, signed into law by President Biden on March 11. Included in...

26 April, 2021

The White House said on April 9 that President Biden had picked Doug Parker, chief of Californiaโ€™s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) since 2019, to be assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health. (OSHA). During the Obama administration, Parker was deputy assistant secretary for policy in the Dept. of Laborโ€™s Mine Safety and Health Administration. Earlier, he was a senior policy advisor and special assistant at the Department of Labor (DOL). An...

13 April, 2021

Today is a national day of action for the PRO Act and we asking every BCTGM member to help flood the Senate phone lines with support for the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. Click to call senators Weโ€™re almost there. If we can get this passed, working peopleโ€™s rights will be protected for generations to come. The PRO Act has already passed the U.S. House with bipartisan support. The PRO Act would: Empower workers to exercise the...

08 April, 2021

On March 26, Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) hosted a virtual celebration with Ohio workers and retirees to discuss the importance of securing the multiemployer pension measure in the American Rescue Plan. BCTGM Local 57 member Kate Hughes, a worker at Bimbo Bakeries in Zanesville, Ohio was invited to participate in the event called, โ€œThe Virtual Dignity of Work Celebration: Keeping Our Pension Promises.โ€ Senator Brown called on each worker to discuss why the pension measure was important. โ€œIโ€™m...

01 April, 2021

Working people are facing a crisis beyond anything weโ€™ve weathered since the Great Depression. Overcoming this challenge is going to require unprecedented federal investment in working people and in our communities. That means passing an infrastructure package to tackle the climate injustice, racial injustice and economic injustice facing working families while creating a new generation of good-paying union jobs. President Biden understands we need to go big, and this announcement brings us one step closer to...

31 March, 2021

For four years, the Department of Labor has been devoted to serving a handful of elite interests, instead of working people. Not anymore. The Senate has confirmed Marty Walsh as labor secretary. As a former union member, he understands the power of collective action, and his confirmation strengthens our fight to improve the lives of working people across the country. Weโ€™re going to protect workers from COVID-19. Weโ€™re going to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour. Weโ€™re going...

22 March, 2021