Union Member and co-owner Sergio Flores has been a baker at Dianda's for more than 30 years.

Union bakers at San Francisco’s famous Dianda’s Italian-American Pastry Co. have been creating some of the city’s most loved cakes and pastries since the Mission district bakery opened its doors in 1962. What is the secret to their long success? Happy workers, time-honored recipes and loyal customers.

This well-loved neighborhood bakery is renowned for its immense and beautiful St. Honore cakes, panettone, leche cakes, elaborate wedding cakes, almond torte, as well as more than 20 different Italian pastries and 35 different kinds of cookies. All of the bakery’s products are handmade by BCTGM Local 24 (San Francisco) members, using recipes passed down from generations of bakers.

The Italian Dianda family sold the bakery in 2003 to three long-time Local 24 Dianda’s bakers, Sergio Flores, Luis Pena and Floyd Goldburg. The three bakers kept the same employees, the same routines and the same Italian recipes. Today, you can find Flores, Pena and Goldburg at the shop baking as early as 2 a.m.

The family business began when Elio Dianda left his hometown of Lucca in Tuscany after World War II and brought his skills as a pastry chef to America, according to Pasquale “Pat” Dianda, the son of Elio. His father bought a bakery that had existed since 1906 – a time when trains still ran through the Mission District. Using the recipes he carried with him from Lucca, Dianda opened the bakery doors using all union workers.

Local 24 member and Dianda's co-owner, Luis Pena, adds chocolate to a tray of Italian butter cookies.

Jackie Tortura, AFL-CIO

For the fourth time, locked-out American Crystal Sugar workers rejected an identical contract offer from the management company. The workers are members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM).

American Crystal Sugar workers have gone 16 months without a contract. 

Susan Sylvester, a Crookston, Minn., resident who has worked at the company for 37 years, told the Huffington Post:

Our families, they’ve really suffered great hardship, especially the ones with little kids….It’s a strain on marriages, it’s a strain on relationships. Sixteen months with no pay coming in.

See the video “AFL-CIO: Children Speak Out Against the American Crystal Sugar Company Lockout (BCTGM).” Donate to the American Crystal Sugar Lockout Fund. 

“By now it should be clear that Dave Berg and Crystal Sugar’s management team has no interest in ending a fiscally irresponsible lockout that has been disastrous to farmer shareholders, put the federal sugar program in jeopardy and hurt countless families in the Red River Valley,” said BCTGM Local 167G President John Riskey. “It’s time for shareholders to reclaim their company and send management back to the table for real give-and-take negotiations.” 

Since the lockout began, American Crystal Sugar’s:

• Profits have fallen. Net proceeds fell more than 30% in fiscal 2012 to $555 million, compared to $811 million for the fiscal year that ended Aug. 31, 2011.  The amount received by growers per ton of beets fell more than $14 to $58.67. In contrast, farmers at Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative are projected to receive $74.05 per ton in 2012. Western Sugar expects $82.70 per ton, and Michigan Sugar expects $87.74 per ton.
• Production is down.  Warehouses are full of unsalable remelt. Production of molasses—a less valuable product compared to sugar—grew 124% due to storage problems and production delays. Tons of products produced and sold declined more than 15% in fiscal 2012, to the lowest level in a decade.
• Debt continues to rise.  Short-term debt increased to $110 million at the end of August 2012, a 66% increase from the $66.2 million in debt at the end of fiscal 2011, and a 2,100% increase from $5 million in debt at the end of fiscal 2010.  merican Crystal Sugar had its lender increase its line of credit by $60 million.

In October, the AFL-CIO announced a nationwide boycott of American Crystal Sugar products. Learn more about the American Crystal Sugar products boycott.

November 21, 2012 – The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a Summary Judgment against Bread of Life d/b/a Panera Bread in South Western Michigan.  The Judgment states the company violated Sections 8(a)(5) and (1) of the National Labor Relations Act (ACT) by refusing to recognize and bargain with the BCTGM Local 70 (Grand Rapids, Mich.). 

On February 24, 2012, after a full and complete hearing on a petition filed by the BCTGM Local 70 to represent all of the I-94 Market Bakers, the NLRB ruled the unit was appropriate and ordered a secret ballot election be conducted at all six of the Bakery/Cafes.  On March 22^nd and 23^rd the NLRB Region 7 conducted a secret ballot election at six Panera Bread Cafes in Southwest Michigan in a division called the I-94 Corridor Market Place.  Eighteen Bakers were eligible to vote and the majority voted yes (11-7) to be represented by BCTGM Local 70.  

“We began this union movement to put an end to the arbitrary and capricious unfair management practices at Panera Bread,” says Lead Baker Daniel Wood.  “Panera’s abuses moved us to exercise our legal rights to unionize, we’ve faced persecution and harassment by the company ever since,” Wood adds.

The company refused to accept the majority vote and filed objections to the election.  BCTGM International Representative John Price filed more than two dozen unfair labor practice charges against the company for threatening, coercing and intimidating workers during the campaign.  Other charges were filed against Panera Bread of Life for unilaterally making changes to working conditions without negotiating with the Union after the majority of Bakers voted to be represented by Local 70. 

After several months of the NLRB investigating the charges against the company and the objections filed against the union, the NLRB dismissed the company’s charges and issued an official complaint against Panera Bread of Life.  On August 14, 2012, the company agreed to drop its objections to the election and settle all of the unfair labor practice charges which included certification of the election results.

“Less than a month later the company continued to violate Federal labor laws, including, refusing to bargain,” notes John Price.   On October 2, 2012, the NLRB issued another complaint against Panera Bread of Life, resulting in the most recent Judgment against the company.  “This company has no respect for worker’s rights or this country’s labor laws,” Price notes.

“I simply want to be respected and recognized as the artisan baker that Panera advertises that I am,” concludes Kathleen von Eitzen, a baker at the company’s Battle Creek, Mich. Café.

From visiting critically ill children in Philadelphia, to coordinating toy and clothing gift donations in Minnesota and Ohio, BCTGM members have embody the true spirit of giving during the holiday season.

BCTGM Local 492 members delivered holiday gifts and cheer to the sick children at Saint Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia.

BCTGM Local 492 members who are employed at the Kraft plant in Philadelphia have been bringing smiles to the faces of sick children at Saint Christopher’s Hospital in Philadelphia since 1998.  This year’s visit included gift deliveries and surpises from Elmo and Dora The Explorer.

 And in Columbus, Ohio, BCTGM Local 57 members from General Mills and Kroger Bakery volunteer to help with the Christmas Care/One New Toy program. The effort is an annual partnership between the Central Ohio Labor Council and a coalition of schools, organizations, businesses, civic groups, government, and more than 900 volunteers. The goal of the program is to ensure that Ohio families registered for the program receive food for a week and at least one new toy for each child in the home.

Local 57 members, led by Financial Secretary/Business Agent Vester Newsome (pictured on left), unload a truck filled with generous food product donations from General Mills and Kroger, for the One New Toy program.

Nearly 3,000 Ohio families were assisted by the program this year. Both Kroger Bakery and General Mills generously donated products for the charitable event.

BCTGM Local 218 member Mike Hummell, a Hostess/Wonder worker for 14 years, helps to tell the story of the Hostess bankruptcy through the eyes of dedicated Kansas bakers.

“You’ve heard the Mainstream Media read you the Hostess PR sheet, now hear the truth from the mouths of the people who had their pension stolen. As the mainstream media distracted America with misinformation about Unions, the Hedge Funds got away with theft. They collected $4.25 an hour from each and every worker for the Baker’s pension fund, then refused to send the money to the pension. In this 25 minute film you will hear about the causes and effects of this blatant, and apparently legal, theft. You will also learn the truth about the reason Hostess had to close. SPOILER ALERT: it’s not what you’ve been told by your favorite news source. They have ALL blown the story.”

Click here to watch this on YouTube.

“When the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union drew a line in the sand in November and said it would rather risk liquidation, it was over. It was a principled position that the brands would do better with a fresh start and new management.”

Read this New York Times piece from STEVEN M. DAVIDOFF that examines liquidation not as what killed Hostess, but rather the only thing that could have saved it.

• PDF: bctgm.org/PDFs/NYTimes_Feb5-2013.pdf

• Permalink: dealbook.nytimes.com

In January, BCTGM President David B. Durkee sat down for a 2-part interview with Joshua Sosland of Milling & Baking News to speak from the Union’s perspective on the ongoing situation at Hostess.

In part one of this interview, Sosland focuses on Durkee’s background and the philosophy of the Union.

“The philosophy always was and remains, ‘It’s all about the members.’ That was drilled through us every single day.

“And retired BCTGM President Frank Hurt, to the very last day he was here in December, said, ‘This union’s done more for me than I could ever do for it.’ That sums up how we’re supposed to conduct ourselves,” Durkee said.

• Click here to read Part ONE: The BCTGM President, Background and Philosophy

In part two, Durkee discusses the tangled history that resulted in a complete impasse between the BCTGM and Hostess Brands management in the period leading to the liquidation of Hostess.

“We can hold our heads high because we had a very honorable dispute with Hostess.” Durkee said. “What our members wanted is what happened. I was taught many years ago in this business that when you go to bed at night you’ve got to be able to put your head down and go to sleep comfortably. And we’re able to do that here.”

• Click here to read Part TWO: Durkee sees 1990s origins to climactic Hostess clash

BCTGM represented bakers can be found in Safeway bakeries from coast to coast. From intricately decorated cakes for every special occasion, to delectable fruit pies and gourmet cookies, the union bakers take pride in the products they provide.

Featured here are the dedicated and proud bakers of Local 85 (Sacramento, Calif.) in Safeway bakeries in Fairfield and Sacramento, California.

Debra Colvin decorates a special order cake at the Fairfield bakeryKristopher Brady (left) and Kent Costa (right) move bread into the proof box.

Kristopher Brady (left) and Kent Costa (right) move bread into the proof box.

Nancy Ledesma (left) and Debra Colvin (right) prepare cakes for the pastry case at the Fairfield bakeryHongxay Nhin prepares baguettes for the oven at the Sacramento bakery.

Hongxay Nhin prepares baguettes for the oven at the Sacramento bakery.

The Panera baker’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.  The NLRB found that Panera broke the law by refusing to bargain, and ordered the company to bargain with the bakers.  But the company appealed that ruling to the D.C. Circuit Court, which has put the case on hold because of another ruling about President Obama’s three recess appointments to the NLRB.  So the workers are still waiting for justice.

The Board protected the workers’ right to join the BCTGM. But the Board’s power to enforce the laws that protect workers is at risk. If the Senate does not act quickly to confirm all five of President Obama’s NLRB nominees, it will be impossible for workers like the ones at Panera Bread in Michigan to get the justice they deserve.

What Can You Do?

Join the Panera workers and supporters for a solidarity rally in Kalamazoo, Michigan THIS FRIDAY, June 21 and help us spread the word!

• Download the event flier
• Share the event sticker on Facebook and Twitter
• RSVP to this event on Facebook (and share with your friends!)

Follow hashtags #PaneraUnionYes and #GiveUs5 on Twitter, and join the conversation with these sample Tweets:

• #Solidarity rally for #Panera Workers in SW Michigan #PaneraUnionYes #GiveUsFive pic.twitter.com/y5UzUBXiOE [Click to Tweet]
• Michigan Panera Bakers Unite to Demand Justice #PaneraUnionYes #GiveUs5 [Click to Tweet]
• Mich. Panera Bakers’ fight a prime example of why Sen. needs to confirm NLRB nominees NOW! #PaneraUnionYes #GiveUs5[Click to Tweet]

Sign the Petition: Give Us Five!  All workers deserve the protections of the law.  giveus5nlrb.org/

More information:
panerabakersunite.wordpress.com
bctgm.org/action-center/paneraunionyes
giveus5nlrb.org

We have built a new section onto our website just for you – the BCTGM Stewards Corner.

The job of a steward is one of the most challenging, most rewarding and most important jobs in our union.  That’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 members’ faith and belief in the union. The steward is the one union person our members see every day when they go to work. In the eyes of most BCTGM members, you are the union.  Because this is so, the BCTGM steward, more than any other union leader or activist, has the opportunity to energize and mobilize the source of our union’s strength: the membership.

The purpose of this interactive site is to help our thousands of stewards across North America become more effective and educated in this very important role.

Here you can:

• Learn all about your role and responsibilities;
• Find details on your legal rights as a steward;
• Get step-by-step guidance through the grievance procedure;
• Link to and print manuals, publications and other materials; and
• Get regular news and safety updates pertaining to stewards.

You can easily access the STEWARDS CORNER at any time by clicking the link in the main navigation above, or by using the URL bctgm.org/stewardscorner.

On Tuesday October 22, 2013 global cereal and snack giant Kellogg Company locked out workers represented by BCTGM Local Union 252G at the company’s Memphis cereal facility.

The $14 billion dollar company wants to replace steady, middle-class, full-time jobs with casual, part-time employees who would make significantly lower wages and substandard benefits. This will hurt these working families, the Memphis community, and ultimately, the company.

CLICK HERE to download a full Fact Sheet on the situation in Memphis. (PDF)

Join Memphis community groups as we pray for locked out Kellogg’s workers and the economic well-being of our community.

When?  Thursday, November 7^th at 6 p.m.

Where?  Corner of N. Airways and Dunn Avenue (in front of Kellogg plant)

Click here to download the flier (PDF)

In an October 30^th Kellogg Company communication, the company reports the hiring of Edward Thompson as its new Vice President, Global Labor Relations.  Thompson will oversee Kellogg’s Center for Excellence and its initiatives, which is  “…to further improve our labor and employee relationships around the world,” the company states.

“It is our hope that the treatment of the Memphis locked out employees is one of Thompson’s first priorities,” said BCTGM International President David B. Durkee.  BCTGM Local 252G members have been locked out of the Kellogg cereal plant in Memphis, Tenn. since October 22nd.

“We will see if this new improved focus on labor and employee relations actually considers the unnecessary lock out of these highly experienced and productive employees — workers who have an average service time of 20 years of dedicated service with Kellogg and nearly 40 percent who have worked at the plant for more than three decades.  It’s one thing to promote progressive labor relations on paper, and it is another thing to apply it in real life in Memphis with a workforce that has given so much to this employer.

“If Kellogg intends to sincerely address an improvement of its labor and employee relations, it would put workers at the Memphis facility back to work and negotiate in good faith as the process is intended,” said Durkee. “Kellogg is the market leader in ready-to-eat cereal in North America and as an industry leader, it should also set an industry-wide example as to what constitutes fair treatment of its employees who have been a tremendous part of its success.

“Kellogg’s recent announcement of cuts in personnel worldwide while increasing profits is yet another example of where the company’s priorities actually lie. The creation of the Kellogg ‘Center of Excellence’ and its intent to improve employee and labor relations runs contrary to the company’s actual employee relations practices on the ground.

“The Memphis lockout of more than 200 BCTGM members and their families is a prime example of this corporate duplicity. If Kellogg is sincere about a renewed emphasis on improving employee and labor relations, it can start with an on-the-ground common sense effort in Memphis that exhibits fair treatment of those who have made this company a very profitable producer of high quality products— the hourly employees. We will see.”

The BCTGM represents more than 4,000 Kellogg employees throughout North America. The BCTGM also represents thousands more workers in the cereal industry at such companies as General Mills, Quaker Oats, and Ralcorp among others.

Last week, Reverend Dwight Montgomery, President of the Memphis Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), sent a letter to Kellogg CEO John Bryant asking him to change his approach with the locked out workers of Local 252G:

“This lockout is an unacceptable tactic designed to deprive families of income and medical coverage in an effort to force the changes you seek through the imposition of unwarranted economic duress on those who have served your company with their dedicated service for decades. Such is a dismal example of the use of corporate power over those who are supporting and raising families in our Memphis communities.  Locking out these employees and replacing these workers, temporarily or otherwise, turns a cold shoulder to their decades of dedicated work performed on your behalf.”

Click here or on the image below to read the full letter.

Delight your friends and loved ones with holiday treats made by hard-working BCTGM members! Listed here is a sampling of the BCTGM-contracted companies that produce seasonal specialties….

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)

Boyer Candies

Boyer Mallo Cups, Peanut Butter Cups, Triple Twist Pretzels, Peanut Butter Smoothies.

Local 19 (Cleveland)

Concord Confections, Inc.

Double Bubble Bubble gum and gumballs in festive packages.
BCTGM Local 264 (Toronto, Ontario)

Dare Foods Limited

A variety of gums, jellies, hard candy and gift tubs, festive filled with Icy & Spicy Mints, Snowdrift Mints, festive colored Ju Jubes and Dare’s Scotch Mints.

BCTGM Local 264 (Toronto, Ontario)

Brown & Haley

Holiday gift boxes, baskets, tins and packages filled with the company’s renowned Almond Roca, Cashew Roca, Mocha Roca, Sugar Free Almond Roca and Candy Cane Roca.

BCTGM Local 9 (Seattle)

Frankford Candy & Chocolate

Holiday candy toys, gift baskets, tins boxes and packs filled with gums, jellies, hard candy, molded filled, hollow and solid chocolate under the Frankford name

BCTGM Local 6 (Philadelphia)

Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc.

Tootsie Roll brand candies and pops.

BCTGM Local 1 (Chicago)

Gimbal’s Fine Candies

Sour Lovers and LavaBalls

BCTGM Local 125 (San Leandro, Calif.)

Hershey Foods Corp.

The following letter was sent from Kellogg Company in Valls (Spain), in a show of solidarity with the locked-out workers in Memphis.

The holiday baking season is in full swing for BCTGM Local 114 members at the Fred Meyers bakery in Clackamas, Oregon where the union bakers produce hundreds of thousands of loaves, rolls, muffins and bagels daily to prepare for the holiday season.

The bakery fills the shelves of more than 500 Fred Meyer stores, QFCs and other Kroger stores in five states. The bread line alone produces 30 different varieties, with most of the ingredients are sourced locally.

Check out this Portland, Ore. news report of the bakery’s holiday efforts, including details provided by BCTGM Local 114 member David Morales, the bakery’s bun foreman.

In the true holiday spirit of giving, Kellogg workers from Locals 50G in Omaha, Neb. and 3G in Battle Creek, Mich. are in Memphis this week delivering holiday cheer to the children and families of locked out Local 252G members.

Yesterday, after an 11 hour drive from Omaha, Local 50G members personally distributed gift cards to more than 100 children of Local 252G members. Today, union members from Battle Creek arrive prepared to give out additional holiday gifts and cheer to the families of their locked out brothers and sisters. Both locals purchased the gifts for the Local 252G children using generous donations from their fellow Kellogg workers.

Additionally, each child composed a hand written letter to Kellogg CEO John Bryant telling him about his/her parent and how the lockout has affected their family. Each letter is accompanied by a photo of the sender.

Locked out worker Leigh Sauceda Hawkins, whose 14 year old daughter Lexi came to the union hall to deliver her letter to CEO Bryant stated, “Thank you to Omaha for the support, love, and gift. She smiled BIG when she walked in with her dad to show me what y’all did. Thank you isn’t enough, we do appreciate you all and are so grateful.” wrote Hawkins on the Local’s face book page.

Check out this moving VIDEO about the special holiday event produced by the news crew of Memphis ABC 24:

CLICK here to read more of the childrens’ letters.

SIGN THE PETITION

Click here to add your name to this list of union members, activists and supporters around the globe demanding an end to the lockout of BCTGM Local 252G members in Memphis.

“There are some upon this earth of yours,” returned the Spirit, “who lay claim to know us, and who do their deeds of passion, pride, ill-will, hatred, envy, bigotry, and selfishness in our name, who are as strange to us and all out kith and kin, as if they had never lived. Remember that, and charge their doings on themselves, not us.”   – Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

As the children of locked out members of BCTGM Local 252G collected the generous gifts from Kellogg workers from Omaha, Neb., the air of the Memphis union hall was filled with joy and hope. Hope that in this season of generosity and goodwill, the corporate giant Kellogg would find it hard to keep workers in Memphis locked out of their jobs and unable to provide for their families.

That is why more than 100 children of locked out union members delivered letters addressed to Kellogg CEO John Bryant to the Local 252G union hall. Most were handwritten and accompanied by a photo of the sender, while every letter was signed personally.  (Click here to watch coverage of this event from ABC 24 Memphis)

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

 SIGN THE PETITION

Click here to add your name to this list of union members, activists and supporters around the globe demanding an end to the lockout of BCTGM Local 252G members in Memphis.