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Representing manufacturing, production, maintenance and sanitation workers in the baking, confectionery, tobacco and grain milling industries.
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It has been more than a year and a half since workers at three Chicago-area Lifeway Foods facilities overcame a vicious anti-union campaign and voted overwhelmingly to join the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM). Since that time, Lifeway executives, including CEO Julie Smolyansky, have refused to negotiate a first union contract with BCTGM Local 1 (Chicago) and continue to violate federal labor law. In November 2015, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)...

08 April, 2016

The Chicago Tribune published this joint commentary by BCTGM International President David B. Durkee and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on March 29.ย  Oreos are incredibly popular, one of America's top guilty pleasures. But we soon might not be able to stomach them, if the iconic cookies don't sustain good jobs in the United States. As part of the relentless killing of American manufacturing, Nabisco plans to cut in half the workforce at its largest domestic bakery, in Chicago,...

29 March, 2016

March 23/Erin Johansson If an entire industry existed with the sole purpose of interfering with a federally protected right, isnโ€™t it common sense that our federal government should want to keep tabs on it? Thankfully, the Obama administration just released a rule that will step up federal monitoring of employers who hire unionbusting consultants. Unionbusters profit from telling companies how to stop working people from coming together in union to improve their workplaces. When faced with an...

24 March, 2016

Some safety incentive programs are โ€œespecially problematic with ergonomic issues,โ€ according to OSHAโ€™s deputy director. Jordan Barab told attendeesย at the 19th annual Applied Ergonomics Conference in Orlando that itโ€™s difficult to hide an injury like a broken leg, but itโ€™s not as hardย to hide a musculoskeletal disorder (MSD). Barab continued a dialog on safety incentive programs that resurfaced when OSHA proposed revisions to its guidelines for Safety Management Systems. In those guidelines, OSHA said companies shouldnโ€™t use safety...

23 March, 2016

KENSINGTON, Md. - Today, the BCTGMย - which represents nearly 4,000 members at Mondelฤ“z International, maker of Nabisco snack products - announced in response to the layoff of the first 277 workers at the Southside Nabisco Chicago Bakery, an escalation in its efforts to promote its โ€œCheck the Labelโ€ campaign, encouraging American consumers to reject Nabisco products made in Mexico and instead, buy those that are produced in America in support of American jobs. BCTGM will...

23 March, 2016

Workers at Lifeway Foods Inc. facilities in Chicago voted to join BCTGM Local 1 (Chicago) a year and a half ago but remain without a union contract as the company refuses to negotiate with the union. And despite a 2015 order by theย the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the company will notย bargain in good faith. Taking matters into their own hands, Local 1, with assistance from the International Union, has launched a ย campaign to bring this...

14 March, 2016

BCTGM members working at Nabisco plants throughout the U.S. take great pride in producing the iconic products that have been a part of millions of Americans' lives for more than 50 years. Today the BCTGM has launched a public education campaign encouraging Americans to "Check the Label" to support American jobs by ensuring their favorite Nabisco products are produced in America before purchasing. Through a simple label check, together we can send a powerful message in support...

08 March, 2016

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled thatย Archer Daniels Midland (ADM)ย is guilty of violating federal labor laws. The NLRB adopted the findings and conclusions of Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Melissa M. Olivero. In a thirty-three page Decision, Judge Olivero wrote, โ€œADM has committed numerous violations of Section 8(a)(1) of the Act by interrogating and threatening its employees. During their 2015 effort to become members of BCTGM Local 103G, workers at ADM's Bio-products facility in Decatur, Ill....

03 March, 2016

Read the Report (Washington, DC, March 3, 2016) โ€“ A new report released today from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) offers further data that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is fatally flawed. โ€œEPIโ€™s new report quantifies what a mistake it was to leave currency rules out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The trade deficit with TPP countries โ€“ attributable in large part to misaligned currency โ€“ cost Americaโ€™s working families 2 million jobs in 2015, more than half in...

03 March, 2016

In July 2015, Nabisco announced it had chosen to invest an additional $130 million in its new $400 million plant in Salinas, Mexico, instead of investing that money in its iconic plant in Chicago. As a result, 600 workers in Chicago could lose their jobs and an entire South Side community could be devastated. Watch and share this video with everyone you know! Join the fight to save American Jobs! TAKE ACTION!ย Click here to sign our...

19 February, 2016

Generations of BCTGM Local 300ย families from this Southside Chicago community have produced Nabisco products for more than five decades. Sign this petition to Mondelฤ“z/Nabisco CEO urging her to stop outsourcing American jobs to Mexico: http://bit.ly/1QGFVdA...

28 January, 2016

In response to Mondelฤ“z Internationalโ€™s ongoing violations of its Collective Bargaining Agreement, BCTGM Local 300 โ€“ which represents nearly 1,000 members at the Mondelฤ“z Nabisco Bakery located at 7300 Kedzie Avenue in Chicago โ€“ filed for injunctive relief requesting court-compelled arbitration regarding these violations. The complaint particularly calls for arbitration regarding the companyโ€™s continued use of non-union employees in bargaining unit positions instead of hiring union employees into open positions, as required under the Collective...

22 January, 2016

International Union of Food Workers Announces Solidarity in Support of United Effort to Protect Worker Rights KENSINGTON, Md., January 7, 2015 โ€“The International Union of Food Workers (IUF) and its affiliates, representing 2.5 million workers in 126 countries, have affirmed their solidarity with Mondelฤ“z International workers across the globe. IUF affiliates represent the vast majority of Mondelฤ“z manufacturing employees in over 30 countries from Alexandria, Egypt to Chicago, Illinois; and since 1920, the organization has been...

07 January, 2016

Following a months-long investigation, Region 18 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced that it had decided to issue a complaint charging Ingredion, Inc. with multiple violations of the National Labor Relations Act at its Cedar Rapids, Iowa facility. Those violations include illegally engaging in โ€œsurface bargainingโ€โ€“ meaning engaging in a sham process of going through the motions without an intention of reaching agreement โ€“ with members of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers...

06 January, 2016

Americaโ€™s economy has swung out of balance. Itโ€™s getting harder to get by, let alone get ahead. Everyday Americans are working more than ever before. Our work has created record wealth for an economic recovery thatโ€™s been everywhere but ordinary peoplesโ€™ wallets. Our economic rules unfairly favor corporate CEOs and the rich because they manipulate the rules in their favor. Almost no one stands up for average Americans these days,ย and now there is a Supreme Court...

06 January, 2016