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Representing manufacturing, production, maintenance and sanitation workers in the baking, confectionery, tobacco and grain milling industries.
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Together with the Mother Jones Museum and the Mother Jones Heritage Project, BCTGM Local 4 (St. Louis) participated in a special 180th Birthday celebration for the legendary Mother Jones. Retired BCTGM International Vice President Jeanne Graham, a life-long admirer of the legendary Mother Jones and a major supporter of the Mt. Olive, Ill.-based Mother Jones Museum, helped coordinate the creation of a BCTGM-made cake to commemorate the life of Mother Jones. Theย special 180th birthday cake was...

01 May, 2017

The important worker safety and health gains that the BCTGM and the American labor movement have fought for and won are now threatened. The Trump administration has launched an all-out assault on regulations. The president has ordered that for every new protection, two existing safeguards must be removed from the books. At the same time, Republicans in Congress have moved quickly to overturn new rules issued by the Obama administration. Agency budgets and enforcement programs...

28 April, 2017

Nearly 700,000: Thatโ€™s the number of high-wage manufacturing jobs sent by NAFTA to Mexico, where pay remains near the lowest in the world. On the presidential campaign trail, then-candidate Trump called NAFTA the โ€œworst trade deal.โ€ We agree. But any renegotiation must raise wages and standards for workers, not further tilt our economy to benefit the wealthy few. The labor movement's blueprint for rewriting NAFTA includes: No more private justice system for foreign investors; New powerful rules on the environment...

27 April, 2017

Nobody should be in danger for a dollar, but 4,836 people died in 2015 at work from machine malfunctions, equipment failures, falls from construction equipment, and other deadly and preventable causes. More than 50,000 people died from those work-related injuries and illnesses. These are mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, folks who simply worked for a living. Safety has been losing the tug of war with profits for years. Death is the result, and the danger is...

26 April, 2017

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka gave a major address before the National Press Club in Washington D.C., calling upon leaders of both parties to not only pursue an agenda that benefits working people across the country, but that strengthens the right of every American to negotiate for better wages and benefits. As part of President Trumka's formal address on American jobs, Nabisco/Mondelez worker Michael Smith was invited as a special guest. President Trumkaย urged action on behalf of...

05 April, 2017

The BCTGM is among the IUF member unions around the world that will be engaging in a week of global trade union action this week,ย March 27-31, to signal our collectiveย commitment to defending quality permanent employment against the destructive short-termism which is driving management at Mondelฤ“z. In addition to the Nabisco brand in North America, ย Mondelฤ“z also owns the Cadbury, Milka, Toblerone, Cote d'Or, belVita, LU, Trident, TUC, Halls, ย Tang and other world renowned brands. Unions in the...

27 March, 2017

Guest Post by J. David Cox, Sr., National President, American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), AFL-CIO Over the last several years, anti-union lawmakers and their corporate allies have waged a relentless battle against working people. Now, the campaign to dismantle collective bargaining rights has arrived squarely at the steps of the federal government and the public workers who keep our country healthy, safe, and strong. On March 16, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that...

27 March, 2017

Millions of union members and activists around the globe joined together yesterday to mark the one year anniversary of the 600 layoffs of BCTGM Local 300 members from the Mondelฤ“z/Nabisco Chicago bakery. The BCTGM's Digital Day of Action received the full support of the AFL-CIO and its 55 affiliated Unions. From teachers (AFT), Nurses (NNU), Seafarers (SIU and MTD), Office Professionals (OPEIU) and Postal Workers (APWU), to Communications Workers (CWA), Auto Workers (UAW), Machinists (IAM), Electrical...

24 March, 2017

โ€œTodayโ€™s layoff of the first 277 employees from the Nabisco Chicago Bakery should not be seen as the end of the Unionโ€™s fight to save these American jobs, but rather the launch of an intensified effort to educate the American consumer on the transfer of this work from the hard working employees of Chicago to low wage jobs at Nabiscoโ€™s production facility in Salinas, Mexico.โ€ - BCTGM International President David Durkee; March 23, 2016 Today,ย March 23rd, marks...

23 March, 2017

The AFL-CIO Executive Councilย has approved a new National Good Jobs campaign that will expose and challenge the corporate outsourcingย of jobs by American companies, choosing Mondelฤ“z International as its first example of greed over good. The AFL-CIO has issued the following press release: March 14, 2017 Mondelฤ“z (Nabisco/Oreo)Will Be the First Solidarity Campaign (San Antonio, March 14, 2017) โ€“ The AFL-CIO Executive Council came out of its annual winter meeting reinvigorated and reorganized around the principle that every worker...

15 March, 2017

March 23rd marks one year since Mondelฤ“z/Nabisco began laying off Local 300 members from the Chicago bakery and sending their jobs to Salinas, Mexico. Now, workers toiling under exploitive conditions in Mexico produce the formerly made-in-the U.S. Nabisco products that are shipped back to American consumers. The Nabisco 600 and the Check the Label campaign has gained tremendous support from activists coast to coast. In a collective act of solidarity, we are asking BCTGM members, their...

10 March, 2017

Women around the world markedย International Women's Day on Wednesday, with many wearing red to work and others taking the day off from work toย join rallies, demonstrations, marches and other special events. The global message was one of unity callingย for an end to workplace violence and harassment, pay equity, one fair living wage and labor rights at work. In Washington D.C., more than a thousand protesters gathered for theย Women Workers Rising rallyย held outside the Department of Labor....

09 March, 2017

[caption id="attachment_5831" align="alignright" width="300"] Intl. Rep. Jason Davis, Sen. Bernie Sanders, L. 149 Pres. Letitia Malone.[/caption] "If Mississippi Nissan workers succeed, it will send a powerful message in the south and across this country that working people are prepared to fight for justice." โ€“ Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) told the Nissan factory workers. On March 4, BCTGM International Representative Jason Davis and Local 149 (Memphis) President and GEB member Letitia Malone traveled to Canton, Miss. to join in...

06 March, 2017

The Congressional and White House attacks on worker rights and health and safety continue. On Wednesday March 1, 2017, the House of Representatives passed H.J. Res. 83, a Congressional Review Act Resolution of Disapproval, that would repeal an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rule that clarifies an employerโ€™s responsibility to maintain accurate records of serious work-related injuries and illnesses. The Resolution passed 231-191, largely along party lines with the Republicans in support of doing away...

02 March, 2017

"Organizing MUST be a priority of every member of the BCTGM in order to grow and build our strength," BCTGM International President David Durkee saidย during a recent one-day meeting on the BCTGM's organizing program. "Organizing is hard work. But it is something that each and every local union needs to embrace and expand," Director of Organization John Price explained in his opening remarks. The meeting included all International Vice Presidents, International Representatives, BCTGM Organizers and International staff....

27 February, 2017