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Representing manufacturing, production, maintenance and sanitation workers in the baking, confectionery, tobacco and grain milling industries.
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According to a recent blog piece by The Atlantic,  laws raising the minimum wage in 12 states went into effect on January 1st. Additionally, the minimum wage in Maryland and Washington D.C. will go up in July, and inflation adjustments will be made to raise the minimum wage in Colorado and South Dakota. A handful of cities and counties, including New York, will also see minimum-wage increases. Efforts to raise the minimum wage paid off in 2015, and as...

04 January, 2016

The holidays are best enjoyed with union-made cookies, cakes and desserts! BCTGM Local 24 (San Francisco) represents union bakers at numerous specialty bakeries renowned for scratch made breads, cookies, cakes and pastries. San Francisco’s Boudin Bakeries has produced sourdough bread since 1849. Since apprenticing with former Boudin owner “Papa Steve” Giraudo at 17, Master Baker and BCTGM Local 24 member  Fernando Padilla has lovingly preserved Boudin’s breadmaking traditions. On his role in continuing the Boudin legacy, Fernando says: “Like Papa Steve, I’m just another baker.” The modest and talented Fernando leads a team of 20...

16 December, 2015

More than five years after 29 miners were killed in an explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine in Raleigh County, W.Va., justice was finally served as former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship was found criminally guilty for a conspiracy to willfully violate the Mine Safety and Health Act. While the tragedy was the largest loss of life in a mine accident in the United States since 1970, numerous other workers have lost their lives in...

03 December, 2015

The text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has been released, and it’s worse than we thought. It has many of the same provisions that gave corporations and CEOs more power over our communities and shipped jobs overseas. Watch this video to learn why TPP is not good for America's workers. https://youtu.be/yVkom0B_UjY...

19 November, 2015

More than three years have passed since they voted to form a union and Panera workers in Michigan are still waiting. The franchisee that owns the Panera Bread stores in the region continues to refuse to recognize the BCTGM as the official collective bargaining representative of the bakers and refuses to meet to bargain a first contract.  The NLRB found that Panera broke the law by refusing to bargain, and ordered the company to bargain with the...

06 November, 2015

Annabelle Candy Company: Rocky Road, Abba Zaba, Look, Big Hunk and U-No. (Local 125/Oakland, Calif.)   Boyer Candies: Mallo Cups, Peanut Butter Cups, Smoothie Cups, Triple Twist Pretzels, Dark Chocolate Mallo Cups. (Local 19/Cleveland, Ohio)   Concord Confections (Tootsie Roll Industries): Double Bubble Bubble Gum. (Local 264/Toronto)   Ghirardelli Chocolate: Pumpkin Spice Caramel Squares, Solid Milk, Milk & Caramel, Solid 60% Cacao Dark and Dark & Sea Salt Caramel and all varieties of chocolates. (Local 125/Oakland, Calif.)   Hershey: Hershey Milk Chocolate Bars, Hershey Milk Chocolate with Almond Bars, Cookies N’ Creme...

14 October, 2015

Twin Cities, Minn. − After months of negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement, workers at the Pearson’s Candy Company facility in St. Paul, Minn. are urging company CEO Michael Keller to force company negotiators to bargain in good faith. BCTGM Local Union 22 and Pearson’s Candy have yet to reach agreement on a new contract to replace the one that expires on October 27. Local 22 represents more than 160 employees at the candy facility,...

09 October, 2015

The BCTGM, together with the AFL-CIO, has gone on the offensive to convince Congress and the Obama Administration, that a 40 percent excise tax on so-called “Cadillac” health care plans will have a detrimental effect on union workers who have sacrificed to maintain quality health care coverage for themselves and their families. The tax is part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and would force employers to pay a 40 percent tax on health benefits that...

22 September, 2015

If we’re going to raise wages for all working people and get our communities thriving again, we need to protect and strengthen the rights of working folks to speak up together at our workplaces. Check out this excellent video from Robert Reich about why unions are the key to building a strong middle class!    ...

15 September, 2015

The following article featuring the current organizing drive  of BCTGM Local 232 in Phoenix, Arizona was published online by Erik De La Garza  on Thursday, September 10.  PHOENIX (CN) - Multibillion-dollar Shamrock Foods, the largest dairy in the Southwest, threatens, spies on and fires employees for supporting their union, the National Labor Relations Board claims in court. NLRB Regional Director Cornele A. Overstreet sued Shamrock Foods Co. on Tuesday in Federal Court. Shamrock Foods is ranked 185...

14 September, 2015

Obama may join other presidents who have tried and failed to contain industrial dust. OSHA was supposed to finish reviewing public comment on its proposed rule in June. “If OSHA is unable to get out a rule on silica, something with such strong scientific evidence and completely feasible controls, then we can pretty much eliminate the notion that OSHA can get out regulations on any kind of health standard,” says former OSHA legislative analyst Celeste Monforton,...

07 September, 2015

"We are sick and tired of the war against working families," Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders told BCTGM Local 100G members and supporters outside the Penford Products plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Sanders joined BCTGM Local 100G workers in an informational picket line, set up to highlight the workers’ struggle for a fair contract. The new owner of the plant, mult-national Ingredion Inc., is proposing more than 100 concessions, which would essentially gut the union contract. Sanders decried...

05 September, 2015

Labor Day is a welcome, and well-deserved, day off for millions of American workers and their families. But it’s worth remembering that Labor day is more than just a three-day weekend. Labor Day “is a creation of the labor movement" and is “dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers.” Here are four important accomplishments of the labor movement that benefit all Americans: 1) Unions Helped End Child Labor. Union organizing and child labor reform were...

04 September, 2015

In a sign of solidarity, Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders will join BCTGM Local 100G members and supporters in an informational picket outside the Penford Products factory in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Friday, September 4th. Union members at the plant have been fighting for a fair new contract with Ingredion, Inc. which purchased the facility this spring. Sanders is expected to join Local 100G members, labor supporters and community leaders outside the Penford plant at approximately...

03 September, 2015

Labor Day is the unofficial end of the summer holiday season. While the day honors the hardworking men and women who make this nation go and grow, the weekend also gives us a chance for one more big backyard barbecue blowout. Here are some BCTGM-made goods to get your barbecue off to a great start. The products listed here are just some of the BCTGM-made products and is not inclusive of every BCTGM local or union-made product....

02 September, 2015