News Blog
Representing manufacturing, production, maintenance and sanitation workers in the baking, confectionery, tobacco and grain milling industries.
bctgm, bakers union, tobacco union, candy union, food workers, food workers union, grain millers, grain millers union, mondelez, nabisco, snack union,
19449
blog,paged,paged-39,bridge-core-2.5.9,qode-page-transition-enabled,ajax_fade,page_not_loaded,,qode-title-hidden,qode-theme-ver-24.4,qode-theme-bridge,disabled_footer_bottom,qode_header_in_grid,wpb-js-composer js-comp-ver-7.9,vc_responsive,elementor-default,elementor-kit-9096

Pictured here after the final votes were counted is (from left, front row) Intl. Rep. David Woods, Randy Williams, George Key, Tony Sanders, L. 42 Bus. Agt. Zach Townsend and L. 149 Pres./GEB member Letitia Malone, (from left, back row) Vanessa Corbitt, Allan Wright, Joseph Dickens and Phyllis Dickens. It was the unwavering strength and courage of 80 workers at a peanut shelling plant in Alabama that prevailed in their fight for dignity and respect through...

29 June, 2015

Chicago, Ill. โ€“ BCTGM representatives met today with local and international representatives of Mondelฤ“z International, Inc. to discuss investment plans related to the companyโ€™s Chicago bakery located at 7300 South Kedzie Avenue. Mondelฤ“z essentially told the BCTGM that the workers had to come up with $46 million in annual savings at the Chicago facility for the company, or it would take the $130 million planned investment to its Salinas, Mexico bakery. And, even with the $46...

15 May, 2015

The five-member panel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Washington, D.C.ย  has reaffirmed that the Kellogg Company illegally locked out more than 220 members of BCTGM Local 252G at the companyโ€™s Memphis, Tenn. cereal plant from October 22, 2013 to August 11, 2014. The May 7th NLRB decision directed the company to make all employees whole for any loss of earnings and benefits they suffered as a result of the unlawful lockout. The ruling...

14 May, 2015

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has scheduled a Federal Hearing to deliberate the Federal Complaint against Archer Daniel Midland (ADM) for violating Federal Labor Laws by interrogating, threatening and intimidating workers during their efforts to join a union. Sixty-two workers at the ADM Bio-Product Maintenance plant in Decatur, Ill. voted to join BCTGM Local 103G earlier this year in a secret ballot election conducted by NLRB Region 25. This was the second attempt by the ADM...

13 May, 2015

Under intense pressure from the labor movement and the progressive community, the Senate voted 52 to 45 to block debate on Fast Track legislation that would have forbidden Congress from making amendments to the Trans-Pacific Partnership. BCTGM International President David Durkee urges union members to continue to put pressure on their members of Congress. "This is far from over. There is nothing pro-trade legislators and corporate lobbyists won't do to force this job-killing deal through Congress....

13 May, 2015

We canโ€™t afford to pass fast track legislation, which would pave the way for a bad trade deal that lowers wages and outsources jobs. For decades, weโ€™ve seen how fast-tracked trade deals have devastated our communities through lost jobs and eroded public services. Weย need a new model for trade that raises wages, addresses currency cheating, and doesnโ€™t prioritize corporate profits over protecting working people. ย Thatโ€™s why Congress must reject Fast Track and maintain its leverage and its...

12 May, 2015

"Fast Track isn't a video game, a motor speedway or the official name of the high-speed rail project in California. In fact, "Fast Track" does not refer to anything swag at all โ€” it's a term that refers to international trade policy โ€”ย and a very lame policy at that. Check out these few reasons why "Fast Track" is terrible for working people in this BuzzFeed Post from the AFL-CIO.ย    1.ย โ€˜Fast Trackโ€™ is Old School Viaย flapjackstate.com   And not in...

12 May, 2015

Every summer, the United Association of Labor Education (UALE) sponsors four regional โ€œwomenโ€™s schools.โ€ ย These residential programs typically last between 4-5 days and include classes and workshops on a variety of union-related topics. Women from all over the country and beyond learn the skills and knowledge needed to play leadership roles in their unions. ย One of the most valuable aspects of the schools is the chance to meet and network with union women from around the...

30 April, 2015

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