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Representing manufacturing, production, maintenance and sanitation workers in the baking, confectionery, tobacco and grain milling industries.
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The BCTGM knows firsthand the hardship that results when multinational corporations, Wall Street and their political allies in Washington, D.C. team up to enact โ€œfree tradeโ€ agreements. In the last 20 years, many thousands of BCTGM members have lost their good, middle-class jobs because the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has made it easy and profitable for companies like Nabisco, Hershey and Kellogg to close plants in the U.S. and Canada and move production...

17 April, 2015

The 31 workers at the Patty King International manufacturing plant are proud new members of BCTGM Local 264 (Toronto). The workers at the Concord, Ontario plant produce Jamaican Patties, a Jamaican ethnic food. The production workers reached out to Canadian International Vice President Ron Piercey and the Local 264 Business Agent Bill Hegedus and Business Agent Michael Smith. The workers are predominately Sri Lankan and Indian. Communication was made easy by one of the workers who translated...

17 April, 2015

The financial and social impacts of workplace injuries are huge, with workers and their families and taxpayer-supported programs paying most of the costs. Read the full OSHA Report: ย Adding Inequality to Injury: The Costs of Failing to Protect Workers on the Job How has the cost of a workplace injury affected you? ย Share your story about workplace injuries.  ...

13 March, 2015

The record is clear, convincing and indisputable. For more than two decades, โ€œfree tradeโ€ agreements have had a disastrous impact on American and Canadian working families and devastated communities throughout North America. The BCTGM and our members know firsthand the hardship that results when multinational corporations, Wall Street and their political allies in Washington, D.C. team up to enact โ€œfree tradeโ€ agreements. In the last 20 years, many thousands of our BCTGM Brothers and Sisters have...

12 March, 2015

The BCTGM is among 60 unions within and outside of the AFL-CIO that collectively signed a letter to Congress expressing opposition to Fast Track authority, which is used to advance unfair trade deals. The letter, which can be viewed byย clicking here, demonstrates the unity between workers who have jobs that are directly impacted by bad trade deals, and those whose jobs are indirectly affected. "The BCTGM and our members know firsthand the hardship that results when multinational...

03 March, 2015

Republican leaders in Congress and the Obama Administration have declared that trade is a potential area of compromise this year and working people should be concerned. ย New trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) are being negotiated in the same failed North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) model. The negotiations are focused on padding corporate profits not increasing workersโ€™ paychecks. Before any trade deal comes to a vote, the administration will ask Congress to pass...

26 February, 2015

โ€œSenator Elizabeth Warren recently gave a speech where she made her case for electing women Democrats to Congress saying, โ€˜If you donโ€™t have a seat at the table, youโ€™re probably on the menu.โ€™ And this is something Iโ€™ve started telling workers in organizing campaigns.โ€ โ€” John Price, BCTGM Internationalย Director of Organization [caption id="attachment_4789" align="alignright" width="288" caption="Workers at the Penford Foods plant in Seattle became fed up with the companyโ€™s elimination of benefits and contacted the BCTGM. They...

23 January, 2015

As BCTGM members and their families welcome a New Year, we can look back at 2014 as a source of great pride and optimism for our Union. ย While the BCTGM and our members certainly faced serious and difficult challenges on many fronts, we are heading into the New Year as a stronger, battle-tested Union, fully prepared to take whatever action is necessary to improve the lives of our members and bring the benefits of BCTGM...

06 January, 2015

Delight your friends and loved ones with holiday treats made by hard-working BCTGM members! Listed here is a small sampling of holiday sweets made by BCTGM members in the U.S. and Canada. Allan Candy Company Allan Traditional Candy Canes (Peppermint, Cherry and Mini Peppermint), Allan Holiday Collection Candy Canes (French Vanilla & Gingerbread, Butterscotch & Cappucino, Mini Canes), Allan Fruit Buddies Candy Canes, Allan Chewy Candy Canes. BCTGM Local 350T (Granby, Quebec) Brown & Haley Holiday gift boxes, baskets, tins...

09 December, 2014

After 34 years with the International Union, Ray Scannell, the Director of the BCTGM International Union Research & Education Department, will retire on November 1. Scannell came to the BCTGM not long after graduating with a Masterโ€™s degree in organizational behavior from the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. His first position at the Union was staff assistant in the Department of Research & Education. [caption id="attachment_4686" align="alignright"...

01 November, 2014

Today, workers at the Bimbo Bakeries USA high performance facility in Elkhart, Indiana voted to become members of BCTGM Local 1 (Chicago). This is the fourth Bimbo high performance workplace the Union has organized in the last 22 months. In 2010, Bimbo Bakeries USA announced it would invest one billion dollars into upgrading and building new high performance bakeries in the United States.ย  Bimbo built four brand new high performance bakeries in Rockwall, Texas; Lehigh Valley,...

29 October, 2014

In 2006, organizers at Local 358 (Richmond, Va.) were extremely disappointed after workers at the Supervalu distribution center in Richmond Virginia, voted narrowly against joining the BCTGM. โ€œItโ€™s a punch in the gut when you lose a campaign,โ€ says International Representative Jim Condran who assisted the local during the organizing drive.ย  โ€œBut we never lost contact with those workers and the organizing committee continued to work doggedly to garner more support.โ€ Fast forward eight years, and those...

23 October, 2014

FACT:ย In January 2014, 13 states raised their minimum wage;ย since thenย these states added more jobs and have lower unemployment rates than the 36 states that did not raise the minimum wage. FACT:ย The U.S.ย Government could save $7 billion dollars if companies just paid employees a higher minimum wage.* FACT:ย Federal minimum wage is $7.25ย โ€“ย and some states actually have a lower state wage of $6.25 an hour. How can anyone, alone or with a family, survive on minimum wage? FACT:ย Theyย canโ€™t. But together we are...

21 October, 2014

In an action taken to strengthen the BCTGM, enhance membership service and utilize resources more effectively and efficiently, Delegates to the 39th BCTGM Constitutional Convention overwhelmingly passed Resolution Number 28, which Amends Article IV, Sections 1 and 5 of the BCTGM International Constitution to Consolidate Regions One and Two and to rename the Regions. ย Click HERE to zoom in or print a PDFย of the image below. ...

01 October, 2014