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Representing manufacturing, production, maintenance and sanitation workers in the baking, confectionery, tobacco and grain milling industries.
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"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 workersโ€™ 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 itโ€™s worth remembering that Labor day is more than just a three-day weekend. Labor Day โ€œis a creation of the labor movement" and is โ€œdedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers.โ€ 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

Shown below is the full text of a letter International President David Durkee sent to Presidentย Obama concerning the July 29 announcement byย Mondelฤ“z International that it intends to moveย hundreds of union production jobs from the historicย BCTGM-represented Chicago Nabisco Bakery to the companyโ€™sย low-wage facility in Mexico. This contemptible move by thisย greedy multi-national company epitomizes all that is wrong withย corporate America and U.S. trade policy. (Click on either image below to download a PDF.)   *This letter was also published in...

01 September, 2015

The Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) is committed to empowering union women.ย  Part of that commitment includes providing union women with important preventive health information. Taking that commitment to another level, CLUW recently released a short survey to aid in the development of a special online feature devoted to womenโ€™s health, with a particular focus on prevention. According to CLUW President Connie Leak, the survey is designed to help discover what digital media union women...

31 August, 2015

On Monday, August 24, NPR Chicago broadcast a special story detailing the recent announcement by Mondelฤ“zย International thatย it isย shipping 600 union jobs โ€” half the plantโ€™s workforce โ€” to Mexico. The program includes interviews with BCTGM Local 300 members at the Chicago Bakery. The report also includes information on how the city worked withย Mondelฤ“zย  the last time the companyย threatened to move production outside of the U.S. by providingย $300 million in tax breaks to completeย infrastructure work at...

28 August, 2015

A new Gallup poll released this week shows that public approval of unions has risen by five percentage points over the past year, reaching 58% positive, the highest point since a 59% approval rating in 2008 and significantly higher than the all-time low of 48% approval recorded in 2009....

28 August, 2015

After two days of meetings, contract negotiations between Ingredion Inc. and representatives of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) Local 100G have been suspended until early September. The collective bargaining agreement covering approximately 160 union members at the plant expired on August 1. Workers at the plant continue to work under the terms of the expired pact while Union negotiators attempt to reach a fair new contract with Westchester, Ill.-based Ingredion, which purchased the...

24 August, 2015

On Friday, August 14, more than 100 union members, family members and community supporters of BCTGM Local 100G members gathered for an informational picket and rally outside the Ingredion plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The collective bargaining agreement covering approximately 160 union members at the plant expired on August 1. During contract negotiations, Ingredion negotiators proposed more than 120 concessionary changes to the collective bargaining agreement. The BCTGM has filed Unfair Labor Practice charges with the...

17 August, 2015

Cedar Rapids, Iowa โ€“ Members of ย BCTGM Local 100G continue their fight for a fair new contract with Ingredion, Inc., the Westchester, Ill.-based company that purchased the Penford Products facility this spring. The collective bargaining agreement covering approximately 160 union members at the plant expired on August 1. The BCTGM has filed Unfair Labor Practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 18 Office in Des Moines regarding the companyโ€™s unethical behavior before and...

04 August, 2015

Kensington, MD โ€“ More than BCTGM 1,300 members at four Kellogg cereal plants voted to ratify a new five-year Master Contract to replace the one set to expire on October 3, 2015. The locations of the plants included under the new Agreement are Lancaster, Pa. (374G), Battle Creek, Mich. (Local 3G), Omaha, Neb. (50G), and Memphis, Tenn. (252G). The five-year deal includes a five-year moratorium on plant closings, solid wage and pension increases and maintenance of...

03 August, 2015

Cedar Rapids, Iowa โ€”ย When Ingredion Inc., headquartered in West Chester, Ill., purchased the Cedar Rapids, Iowa Penford Products plant this spring, company officials said that for the immediate future, there would not be drastic changes. However, contentious negotiations that began June 1, 2015 continue between company officials and representatives of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Union (BCTGM) Local 100G (Cedar Rapids) for a successor Agreement covering workers at the plant. The present collective bargaining...

30 July, 2015

The BCTGM International was informed today by Mondelฤ“z that the company had chosen to spend $130 million in new investment at its Salinas, Mexico plant, rather than at the historic Chicago facility, represented by BCTGM Local 300. As part of this investment, Mondelฤ“z will install four new lines at its Mexico plant, replacing nine production lines at its historic Chicago facility, where approximately 1,000 workers are represented by BCTGM Local 300. The Chicago plant, which dates to...

29 July, 2015

Americaโ€™s system for preventing worker illnesses and deaths from chemicals, fumes and dust is so broken that OSHA warns companies not to rely on its legal exposure limits to protect employees. The Center for Public Integrity has produced a new series of investigative reports on occupational health hazards and the failure of the government to limit exposures. The first installment, Slow-Motion Tragedy for American Workers, reviews the devastating impacts of exposures to silica and other workplaces toxins,...

30 June, 2015