News Blog
Representing manufacturing, production, maintenance and sanitation workers in the baking, confectionery, tobacco and grain milling industries.
bctgm, bakers union, tobacco union, candy union, food workers, food workers union, grain millers, grain millers union, mondelez, nabisco, snack union,
19449
blog,paged,paged-14,bridge-core-2.5.9,qode-page-transition-enabled,ajax_fade,page_not_loaded,,qode-title-hidden,qode-theme-ver-24.4,qode-theme-bridge,disabled_footer_bottom,qode_header_in_grid,wpb-js-composer js-comp-ver-7.9,vc_responsive,elementor-default,elementor-kit-9096

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 administrationโ€™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 โ€œto ensure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women,โ€ reports that it has receivedย over 10,000 complaintsย 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 justย twoย 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 โ€” 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 โ€” who are being disproportionately squeezed. "These setbacks -- characterized by some economists as the nationโ€™s first female recession -- stand in sharp contrast to the dramatic progress women...

01 October, 2020

Brothers and Sisters: One of the biggest elections of our lifetime is coming up in November. The votes that we cast as union members will be crucial in ensuring we have pro-labor candidates elected at the local and state level all the way up to the White House. BCTGM members need to show our union voting power and solidarity at the ballot box. Download here On its way to the printing press today, the special 2020 Workers VOTE...

29 September, 2020

Statement from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) removing SARS-CoV-2 airborne transmission information from its website: Scientists across the world have been saying for months that the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) travels distances through the air. The CDC finally acknowledged that on Friday but today abruptly retracted that recognition. This is a total and blatant disregard for science and keeps workers from getting the protections we need. This is yet another...

22 September, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic has amplified many workers' desires for workplace protections โ€” both against losing their jobs and against the virus. Faced with unsafe working conditions or precarious employment, workers are turning to the BCTGM for help. "Employers may or may not provide the safety tools that workers need. And yet workers know that if they speak up and refuse to work without the proper safety measures, they'll be fired."BCTGM International Director of Organization John Price. Under...

17 September, 2020

Brothers, sisters and friends, I want to wish you and your families a happy Labor Day. I know this year Labor Day will be nothing like our celebrations of the past. Many parades are canceled, backyard barbecues will likely be smaller or not even held this year. But while we may not be together, we are still united as a union and as a movement. This Labor Day we celebrate workers โ€“ especially essential workers like BCTGM...

07 September, 2020

As the COVID-19 pandemic ravages the country, working people are looking for ways to join together to form a union in their workplaces and negotiate for strong health and safety protections. The AFL-CIO has launched a new โ€œAm I Safe at Work?โ€ web tool to raise awareness of what a safe workplace should be, and how a union can help achieve those goals. The Am I Safe at Work web tool contains fundamental information to empower...

02 September, 2020

August 18, 1920, women gained the constitutional right to vote after a century-long fight for equal representation. TODAY commemorates the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. As we approach the 2020 election, mobilizing working women to vote is paramount to the goals of electing female candidates and candidates who advocate for women, and of getting this country back on track in the wake of the...

18 August, 2020

On Friday, August 14,ย Jill Biden and Louis Gossett Jr. will join Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky and Seniors for Biden for a virtual rally celebrating the 85th anniversary of the creation of Social Security.ย  Please click here to RSVP for the LIVE event!They're going to discuss Joe Bidenโ€™s plans to protect retirement security as President -- and how you can help make a difference in November.There will also be a special announcement by Robert Roach, Jr., President of...

12 August, 2020

In a new op-ed in The Hill, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler warned that we are running out of time to prioritize child care in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. With schools closing, working mothers with young children have faced an astronomically outsized burden that has exhausted and isolated many. The burden is not sustainable and, if we don't address it, a significant portion of women could be pushed out of the labor force,...

11 August, 2020

Unless the Senate delivers $1 trillion dollars in aid to states, cities, towns and schools to address massive budget shortfalls caused by the coronavirus, our nationโ€™s veterans could face significant job loss and see cuts to public services they depend on such as access to health care through Medicaid. 13% of all veterans work for state and local governments according to the Economic Policy Institute, making state and local government workers more likely to be veterans than workers...

05 August, 2020

BCTGM International Organizer/Business Agent Jason Thomas had worked at the Bimbo Bakeries USA bakery in Oklahoma City, Okla. for 25 years when he began thinking about earning a college degree. It was in 2018 while attending the BCTGMโ€™s International Convention as a delegate, that he learned about the Union Plus Free College Program.โ€œIt sounded like a great opportunity for me. I thought why not give it a try,โ€ Thomas recalls. The Union Plus Free College Program partners...

03 August, 2020

After months of delay, Senate Republicans have revealed a โ€œbillโ€ that spectacularly fails to meet the moment. It does nothing to address state and local budget crises and our cratering economy. As COVID cases spike and unemployment remains high, we need Senate Republicans to stop delaying and immediately turn to the crisis at hand. They cannot leave Washington again until the next relief package includes at least $1 trillion in federal aid to our states,...

30 July, 2020