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Representing manufacturing, production, maintenance and sanitation workers in the baking, confectionery, tobacco and grain milling industries.
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(This is a re-post from the AFL-CIO's Live Convention BLOG) Bankruptcy laws are rigged against working people. Employers, corporations and lenders often exploit these laws to weaken our retirement security, cut health care and leave young workers saddled with student loan debt, without the prospect of a good job or the ability to discharge the debt through bankruptcy. Look no further than the coal giantsย Peabody Energy and Arch Coal, which created Patriot Coal to shed their obligations...

10 September, 2013

โ€œIf we fight, we win,โ€ shouted Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D) near the end of her keynote speech on the opening evening of the 2013 AFL-CIO Convention. โ€œReal reform isnโ€™t easy,โ€ Warren said to loud applause. โ€œUphill battles? You bet!โ€ ...

09 September, 2013

A delegation of BCTGM members will be attending theย AFL-CIO 2013 National Conventionย in Los Angeles from Sept. 8โ€“11. In the months leading up to the AFL-CIO Convention, the Federation posed significant questions about the future of the labor movement online and within communities during listening sessions. They have heard the ideas of rank-and-file members and activists from coast to coast on how we can build a more robust movement for working people now and in the future. Check...

05 September, 2013

Thomas E. Perez, the U.S. secretary of labor, sends you this message on Labor Day: Brother and Sisters, From the U.S. Department of Labor, where I proudly work in a building named for my great predecessor Frances Perkins, let me wish all of my friends in the AFL-CIO and your familiesโ€”wherever you areโ€”a safe, happy and healthy Labor Day. This Labor Day feels special in many ways: weโ€™re celebrating 100 years of the Labor Departmentโ€™s tireless efforts...

02 September, 2013

This is a cross post from the AFL-CIO: The growing movement for aย living wage and justiceย for fast-food and other low-wage workers will reach another milestone next week with a nationwide strike set for Aug. 29. Following the success and public support of aย walkout in eight citiesย earlier this month, those workers and the community, faith and labor groups that back themย are calling on fast-food and low-wage retail workersย across the nation to join them in the fight for $15...

26 August, 2013

WASHINGTONย โ€“ Preliminary results from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries released on August 22 show a reduction in the number of fatal work injuries in 2012 compared with 2011. Last year, 4,383 workers died from work-related injuries, down from a final count of 4,693 fatal work injuries in 2011. Based on preliminary counts, the rate of fatal workplace injuries in 2012 was 3.2 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers, down from...

22 August, 2013

We have built a new section onto our website just for you โ€“ the BCTGM Stewards Corner. The job of a steward is one of the most challenging, most rewarding and most important jobs in our union. ย Thatโ€™s because union stewards are on the front lines of our fight to develop a strong, active union in the workplace. Stewards have an enormous impact on our membersโ€™ faith and belief in the union. The steward is the one...

22 August, 2013

[caption id="attachment_3473" align="alignleft" width="553" caption="BCTGM Intl. Pres. David Durkee (pictured far right) marches with L. 1 officers to protest ALEC's 40th Anniversary Meeting in Chicago.ย "][/caption] BCTGM International President David Durkee joined with members of BCTGM Local 1, the Chicago Federation of Labor and various allies at a rally to protest the American Legislative Exchange Council's (ALEC's) 40th Anniversary Meeting in Chicago. ALEC is leading conservative efforts to roll back the rights of working families. From the Chicago...

08 August, 2013

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is now fully staffed and able to continue to function to protect workersโ€™ rights after the U.S. Senate on July 30 confirmed five members. The votes end a months-long blockade on President Obamaโ€™s nominees by Senate Republicans who threatened to shut the board down August 27. The five members are current NLRB Chairman Mark Pearce; Nancy Schiffer, a former AFL-CIO associate general counsel; and NLRB attorney Kent Hirozawa, currently the...

01 August, 2013

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) Federal regulators have proposed $193,300 in fines for a Billings, Mont. sugar plant after inspectors discovered 17 health and safety violations. The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced Monday that The Western Sugar Cooperative has 15 days to contest the agency's findings. Among the alleged violations, 12 were considered serious enough to raise the probability of workers being killed or seriously injured. Those included inadequate fire exits, failure to provide railings...

29 July, 2013

AFL-CIO Although it took an eleventh hour deal, a shimmer of light has broken through the extreme Republican obstruction in the Senate. It is finally time to end the unprecedented blocking of President Obamaโ€™s nominees, which has spanned more than 700 days. More important, a confirmed National Labor Relations Board will provide millions of workers with real protection of their rights to organize and bargain with their employers. Our founding fathers granted the Senate the power to...

17 July, 2013

Kensington, MD, July 12, 2013 โ€“ Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) President David B. Durkee issued the following statement in response to the impending re-entry by Hostess Brands, LLC into the snack cake market: โ€œThis coming week, Hostess Brands, LLC is expected to re-enter the wholesale snack cake market. Despite the fanfare, the long-term viability of this effort is highly uncertain. Rather than hire professional, experienced bakers who have produced quality...

12 July, 2013

AFL-CIO For 78 years, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has safeguarded the rights of workers to organize and collectively bargain to improve their wages, benefits and workplace environment. Next month, the NLRB’s power to protect more than 80 million private-sector workers could be further limited when the term of one of the current members is set to expire, leaving the board inoperable and without a quorum. Frustrated by Republican attempts to prevent a vote on President...

09 July, 2013

KALAMAZOO (WKZO) -- Union members gathered to protest outside the Panera Bread location on West Main in Kalamazooย Friday. Many Panera workers in Michigan voted over a year ago to form a collective bargaining unit as a part of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union, but Battle Creek Panera baker Kathleen Von Eitzen says the franchise owner is refusing to recognize them. Former employee Kyle Schilling says he was fired after refusing to...

21 June, 2013

The Panera bakerโ€™s story affects everyone in America who cares about their right to stand up for themselves at work: More than a year since they voted to form a union, Panera workers in Michigan are still waiting. The franchisee that owns the Panera Bread stores in the region refused to recognize the BCTGM as the official representative of the bakers and refused to meet to bargain a first contract.ย  The NLRB found that Panera broke...

19 June, 2013