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Representing manufacturing, production, maintenance and sanitation workers in the baking, confectionery, tobacco and grain milling industries.
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In Bloomington, Ill., BCTGM Local 342 members have proudly produced some of America's favorite chocolate candies for 63 years. Union members at the plant negotiated their first collective bargaining agreement in 1957 when they produced Beich's Candy. In 1984, Nestlé acquired the facility and Local 342 members began producing the company's iconic Nestlé Crunch bar, Nestlé Toll House Morsels and other brands owned by Nestlé. Now, Local 342 members will be making chocolate for the...

01 December, 2020

Pro-democracy and equality marchers flooded the streets of Minneapolis in the days following the Presidential election. Local 22 President Wally Borgan, Vice Pres. Matt Ryder and Financial Secretary-Treasurer James Rutten attended a rally and march in downtown Minneapolis. "While some were still celebrating the Biden/Harris victory at the event, the theme of the march was it doesn’t matter who was elected, we need to hold them accountable for needed changes in racial equality, and to...

19 November, 2020

As we prepare to write the next chapter in America’s history, let us never forget our veterans, and the more than 1 million active union members, who have protected and served our country. The BCTGM honors all those who wore the uniform of the United States, and we thank you for your service. “I found a way through the military to gain that dignity and became a soldier, a leader. But when I came home,...

11 November, 2020

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ victory in the 2020 Presidential election is a win for America’s labor movement. The overwhelming majority of American voters chose Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. American workers turned out in record numbers despite everything they tried to put in our way. Everywhere in every way, working people are heroically and resiliently fighting back against this pandemic, its economic fall out, chronic income inequality and systemic racism. President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect...

07 November, 2020

(Washington, D.C., Nov. 5, 2020)—Today, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka hosted a press call breaking down the labor movement’s role in this year’s election and discussing the path ahead for working people.  “The resilience of unions is the story of 2020. It’s been on display all year. It’s guided by our belief that a better day is still within our reach. And today, I am more confident than ever that a better day is near,” said Trumka....

05 November, 2020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rCYft7zToc&feature=youtu.be Tomorrow is Election Day. Watch this message from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka which lays out why we must elect Joe Biden as our next president. WHY? • Joe Biden supports the PRO Act, which will create a fairer process for forming a union. • Joe Biden supports the HEROES Act to protect our paychecks, pensions and public services during this pandemic. • Joe Biden understands America cannot go back to business as usual, back to an economy fueled by...

02 November, 2020

We can make the difference on Nov. 3. As union members, we come together and rise to the challenge when our communities need us. And right now, nothing is more important to the future of the labor movement and working families and our communities than voting. We're just a few short days away from collectively deciding the future of our country. As we rise to meet the challenges COVID-19 presents to our nation—and especially to working...

30 October, 2020

To Daniel Ramos, a machine operator at the Danone North America plant in Bridgeton, N.J., a vote to become a member of the BCTGM was a decision he made based on worker dignity. “I will vote for the union because we deserve dignity and respect. We need to make sure our voices are heard. We have the power of our voice. I feel positive – we will win this union election because it is what is...

22 October, 2020

No one had to worry about social distancing, shaking hands or meeting face-to-face for the recent meeting of IUF union affiliates with members employed by Philip Morris International (PMI) . Instead of meeting as planned in Poland, BCTGM representatives together with other IUF affiliate unions representing workers in tobacco growing, manufacturing, sales and marketing in Europe and the Americas joined together for a zoom video conference. BCTGM International Secretary-Treasurer David Woods, Assistant to the International President...

21 October, 2020

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) today began a video series exposing the human cost of President Trump’s broken promises that U.S. workers “won’t lose one plant” and declarations that “[plants] are all coming back.” The first video highlights workers at Transportation Communications Union (TCU/IAM) Local 6016 in Roanoke, Va. FreightCar America announced in July 2019 that it would be closing and laying off 198 TCU/IAM members. The work moved to Mexico and Alabama.  In September 2020, FreightCar America announced...

13 October, 2020

We are quickly approaching the most consequential election of our lifetime. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to devastate communities across the country, there has been a sharp decrease in the number of people who are able to work the polls on Election Day. This threatens the number of polling places that can remain open and could easily create long lines. When there aren’t enough poll workers, voting locations close and lines stretch for hours. Help your...

09 October, 2020

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, affecting more than 7.4 million Americans, with more than 210,000 deaths in the United States, the AFL-CIO has released its annual Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect report, which contains data showing how the current administration’s failure to act in the past has been a main contributor to the gravity of the current public health crisis. During a video press conference to release the report, AFL-CIO...

09 October, 2020

Since the pandemic began, OSHA, whose mission is “to ensure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women,” reports that it has received over 10,000 complaints from workers concerned about a lack of protections against the coronavirus. But until early September, six months into the crisis, the agency had issued citations to just two employers, requiring them to adopt safer practices, according to available OSHA records.Read the full article here. ...

07 October, 2020

Last week, updated COVID-19 relief legislation was introduced by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The new measure is a promising, good-faith effort to push negotiations on long-overdue COVID-19 relief forward. It is geared toward helping the people who need it most: front-line workers, the unemployed, the uninsured, retirees and all those who rely on critical public services like schools, fire and emergency medical services, sanitation, and child care. Tell the Senate: Pass the HEROES ACT! This legislation...

02 October, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic is disproportionately affecting women, particularly women with children and women of color. While both women and men are suffering the economic fallout of the virus, it is women — already more likely to be living in poverty than men, already more likely to be earning a smaller paycheck, already with less savings, already more likely to be in precarious jobs — who are being disproportionately squeezed. "These setbacks -- characterized by some economists as the nation’s first female recession -- stand in sharp contrast to the dramatic progress women...

01 October, 2020