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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 cross post from BoldProgressives.org: http://boldprogressives.org/chicagos-teachers-just-went-on-strike-heres-everything-you-need-to-know-about-why/) Today the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) went on strike, its first action of the sort in 25 years. Why are these 29,000 teachers and school workers going on strike in the nation's third-largest public school district? Because they want what all workers want: fair pay and decent working conditions. They also want what all teachers want to serve their students to their best of their abilities. Here's a few...

10 September, 2012

Kalamazoo, MI. โ€“ On June 28, three months after the majority of bakers employed at Panera Bread Cafรฉโ€™s in the I-94 corridor division of Michigan voted to become union members, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a Federal Complaint against the company for violating worker rights. The Panera bakers voted on March 23 to be represented by Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) Local 70. Following the union representation election, both...

07 September, 2012

Approximately one-third of working Americans do not earn enough money to meet their basic needs. Wages have not kept pace with the rising cost of housing, healthcare, and education and currently, 40 million Americans are working in low-paying jobs without basic health and retirement benefits. For families walking a financial tightrope, unable to save for college, a home, or retirement, United Way is here to help. "The relentless jobs crisis, combined with an historic number of...

07 September, 2012

ย  Jackie Tortura, AFL-CIO - America needs good jobs and shared prosperity, AFL-CIO President Richardย Trumka told delegates at the Democratic National Convention tonight. Itโ€™s abundantly clear the Romney-Ryan ticket is only offering prosperity for the richย and an economic nightmare for everyone else, whether it's cutting Medicare and Social Security, giving the rich more tax breaks orย outsourcing America's jobs. โ€œProsperity requires democracyโ€”starting with the essential right of everyone in this great country to a voice, both in...

05 September, 2012

American Rights at Work -ย  What do โ€œCovert Affairsโ€ star Christopher Gorham, Cy Young winner Justin Verlander, and the Cleveland Brownsโ€™ Benjamin Watson have in common?ย  Theyโ€™re all proud union members and theyโ€™re all participating in our third annual Labor Day Tweet-a-Thon. Each year, our goal is simple: Take over Twitter during the holiday weekend, using the #unionmember hashtag to spread a positive message about the value of unions. Last year, American Rights at Work and...

31 August, 2012

On August 30, 2012, the BCTGM International Union and Local 218 (Kansas City, MO) won an organizing campaign at White Energy Gluten Mill in Russell, Kan. Gluten is one of the most critical ingredients in the manufacturing of most bakery and confectionery products. White Energy's customers include a number of BCTGM-represented baking and confectionery companies like Bimbo, Sara Lee, and Hershey. The workers in the newly organized unit produce wheat gluten. The facility also produces ethanol,...

30 August, 2012

AFL-CIO - Michael Frank headed over to a rally in East Grand Forks, Minn., last night, one of many heโ€™s taken part in over the past year. Frank, along with 1,300 other workers, was locked out of the American Crystal Sugar factory a year ago, and last nightโ€™s event was part of the workersโ€™ ongoing efforts to urge the sugar beet processing company return to the bargaining table. โ€œThey donโ€™t...

24 August, 2012

"The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president." --Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, October 2010 It has been said that the first casualty of war is the truth. Much the same can be said about political campaigns, especially a presidential race. Between now and Election Day, the American people will be inundated with hundreds of millions of dollars of political television and radio ads designed to...

23 August, 2012

ย  After many years of struggle, Hyatt workers and allies launched a global boycott of Hyatt on July 23, 2012. Leaders from the AFL-CIO, the NFL Players Association, the National Organization of Women (NOW), the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Netroots Nation, Interfaith Worker Justice, and more joined Hyatt housekeepers for the launch, which marks the largest escalation to date in an ongoing campaign for basic worker rights. Hyatt has singled itself out as the worst...

10 August, 2012

Audio available at https://dl.dropbox.com/u/12103381/7-25press%20conference.mp3 (St. Paul, Minn., July 25) โ€“ Today AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka joined 1300 workers with the Bakery, Confectionery Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM), who have been locked out of five processing facilities and other facilities of American Crystal Sugar, in announcing that the AFL-CIO and BCTGM are escalating their campaign for fairness and justice at the company. The lockout, which began on August 1, 2011, came in the...

25 July, 2012

CLC president Ken Georgetti published a letter in the Ottawa Citizen on July 18, 2012 in response to an opinion piece carried in the paper. In that article, Jonathan McLeod repeated the claim that is common in some business and political quarters that the imposition of so-called right-to-work legislation creates higher rates of growth in American states that use it. Georgetti challenged McLeodโ€™s research. In his opinion piece, Jonathan McLeod says bringing Southern U.S. state labour...

24 July, 2012

Kalamazoo, MI. โ€“ On June 28, 2012, three months after the majority of Bakers employed at Panera Bread Cafรฉs in the I-94 Corridor Division voted Union yes, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a federal complaint against the company.ย  After Panera Bakers voted yes to be represented by the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) International Union Local 70, both the company and the union filed unfair labor practice charges against one...

16 July, 2012

AFL-CIO If anyone thinks U.S. manufacturing isnโ€™t relevant to our lives today, they should consider this report from the Alliance for American Manufacturersย pointing to theย battle against raging wildfires in the western states: The Associated Press is reporting that the sole U.S. manufacturer of a device to spray airborne fire retardant is no longer in business. This means that while Air National Guard units currently possess Modular Airborne Firefighting Systems (MAFFS), new MAFFS systems are no longer being...

10 July, 2012

“I applaud the Supreme Court for upholding the Affordable Care Act.  American citizens finally won with this very important decision,” notes BCTGM International President Frank Hurt on the June 28 ruling. The Supreme Court led by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. upheld the core of President Obama's healthcare law, ruling that the government may impose tax penalties on those who do not have health insurance by 2014. The decision came on a 5-4 vote. The Affordable...

28 June, 2012

People are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of nutrition and how healthy pet foods can affect overall well-being of their pets.ย  So why not make sure pets are consuming union-made animal foods and treats? BCTGM members proudly produce pet products including Milk Bone and a wide variety of Nestlรฉ Purina products. Milk Bone BCTGM Local 36G members in Buffalo, N.Y. produce all brands of Milk Bone products at the companyโ€™s only factory in Buffalo.ย  BCTGM made...

28 June, 2012