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Representing manufacturing, production, maintenance and sanitation workers in the baking, confectionery, tobacco and grain milling industries.
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AFL-CIO Ohio voters today resoundingly overturned the anti-worker agenda pushed by Gov. John Kasich (R), Republican state lawmakers and outside interest groups, which took away the right of public employees to collectively bargain for a middle-class life. Moments ago, the vote was called: Buckeye State voters said “No” to Issue 2. The Associated Press reports it was defeated by a 63 percent to 37 percent margin. The “No” vote on Issue 2 repeals Kasich’s S.B. 5...

09 November, 2011

AFL-CIO While Verizon workers toil without a contract, a report issued jointly today by Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy shows that it’s not just its workers the company is short-changing; it’s all of the American people. For the last three years, Verizon has paid less than zero taxes. That’s right—through the use of corporate loopholes, Verizon has actually “made” money through its tax filings, according to the report, “Corporate...

08 November, 2011

OSHA fined All-Feed Processing & Packaging Inc. $758,450 and cited the company for 23 safety and health violations at its pet food production and packaging facility in Galva, Ill. OSHA cited All-Feed for willful violations of OSHA's air contaminant, respiratory protection and hearing conservation standards. The company's failure to provide appropriate fire and explosion protection in locations where concentrations of combustible dust existed was cited under OSHA's "general duty" clause, which requires employers to provide...

02 November, 2011

Bakers at the new Safeway Retail Bakeries in Burlingame and Los Gatos, California are now members of BCTGM Local 24 (San Francisco).  According to Local 24 Financial Secretary Joe Biringer, the local union contacted the bakers after the new retail outlets opened.  The local organized the two bakeries, consisting of bakery managers, journeyman bakers, apprentice bakers, cake decorators, apprentice cake decorators, and donut fryers.  Local 24 requested and were granted voluntary recognition by Safeway. Financial Secretary Biringer...

01 November, 2011

BCTGM Local 167G GRAND FORKS, N.D. – An overwhelming majority of American Crystal Sugar Company’s locked out union workers voted via secret ballot to reject the company’s latest contract proposal. “Today our members sent a loud and clear message to American Crystal Executives,” said BCTGM Local 167G President John Riskey. “We want to work, but we will not accept a contract that puts our jobs and the entire community at risk.”   92% of union members voted and 90%...

01 November, 2011

OSHA fined Bridgford Foods Corp. $422,600 and cited the company for 27 safety and health violations at its food manufacturing facility in Dallas. The violations include failing to establish and maintain a hearing conservation program for workers exposed to noise hazards beyond the permissible exposure limit, and failing to establish a lockout/tagout program for energy sources to protect workers from machines starting up unexpectedly. OSHA has placed Bridgford in its Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP),...

28 October, 2011

 (Photo: The Rick Smith Show, PA) On September 23, 400 student guest workers from around the world were joined by 1,000 unemployed American workers, union members, activists and labor leaders in a march and rally outside the Hershey Chocolate Company packing plant in Pennsylvania. The students marched up Chocolate Avenue leading a massive group of 1,000 supporters. The crowd bore signs reading “Justice at Hershey’s” and “Exploitation Is Wrong in Any Language,” and chanted, “Hey Hershey’s, can’t...

26 October, 2011

Today, the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) announced their official endorsement of the Occupy Wall Street movement for economic and political justice. “We stand in solidarity with those protesting Wall Street’s greed. The consequences of this insidious wave of corporate greed – hundreds of communities pummeled; countless families devastated; the standard of living for workers sabotaged and our manufacturing capability strangled. These protests are sending a clear message to Wall Street...

06 October, 2011

Reposted from CHCH - Click here to see the video Canada's largest, and newest commercial bakery opened officially in Hamilton Wednesday. The $100 million Canada Bread plant covers nearly 400,000 square feet on Nebo Road. The plant is a division of Maple Leaf Foods, and will produce a variety of products - mostly from the Dempster's line - including breads, buns, english muffins, and tortillas. The new plant is the anchor tenant in the recently-opened Red Hill...

28 September, 2011

In response to a fire last night in the Drayton, ND Crystal Sugar facility and one this morning in East Grand Forks, MN, BCTGM Local 167G President John Riskey issued the following statement: “When you put poorly trained replacement workers into these facilities, preventable accidents can and will happen. That is exactly what happened last night in Drayton and in East Grand Forks this morning. Yesterday, Vice President Brian Ingulsrud told the media there were no concerns...

09 September, 2011

“For the first time in four weeks, representatives from American Crystal Sugar Company finally agreed to meet with BCTGM union negotiators. We came to the table in good faith with proposals that addressed many of the company’s concerns including changes to health coverage and expanding upon the company’s substance abuse policy. Unfortunately, the company ignored our ideas and stubbornly offered the same proposal that 96% of our membership rejected. While the company has refused to schedule another meeting,...

24 August, 2011

By John Riskey, INFORUM We want to keep working. It’s that simple. As the community already knows, 1,300 Red River Valley residents employed by American Crystal Sugar Co. have been forced off the job against our will. We are your neighbors. We go to church with you. We spend money at local businesses. We raise our families here because the Red River Valley is a great place to live and work. On Tuesday, American Crystal Sugar...

05 August, 2011

EAST GRAND FORKS - After voting overwhelmingly to reject the final offer from American Crystal Sugar, some1,300 workers in Minnesota, North Dakota and Iowa have been locked out. This morning, BCTGM Local 167G  President John Riskey read a statement at all affected facilities. "Today, American Crystal Sugar workers...

01 August, 2011

On June 21, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) proposed important new rules to improve and modernize the NLRB election process.  The proposed rule issued by the NLRB ensures workers have a basic right we hold dear in this country: the right to vote. By eliminating voting delays and modernizing an outdated system, the rule removes unfair obstacles so that workers can vote on whether to form a union if they want to. It’s a step...

25 June, 2011

BCTGM Local 9 (Seattle) has organized the bakers and cake decorators at three Kroger in-store bakeries in Kirkland and Bellevue, Washington. The successful campaigns were lead by Local 9 officers, according to Region 6 International Vice President Randy Roark.  The BCTGM welcomes the new Kroger bakers into our BCTGM union family!...

08 May, 2011