This contemptible move by this greedy multi-national company epitomizes all that is wrong with corporate America and U.S. trade policy. (Click on either image below to download a PDF.)

*This letter was also published in the July/August 2015 Issue of the BCTGM News.

The products listed here are just some of the BCTGM-made products and is not inclusive of every BCTGM local or union-made product. BCTGM members work for hundreds of North America’s best food companies producing thousands of quality goods, too numerous to list. As always, look for the BCTGM Union Label!

BAKED BEANS

• Burnham and Morrill (B&M), Portland, Maine (Local 334)

BEVERAGES

• Canada Dry, 7-UP, A&W Root Beer, Orange Crush, and RC Cola, Denver, Colo. (Local 26)

BREAD & ROLLS

• Bimbo Bakeries U.S.A.: Bimbo, SB Thomas, Sara Lee, Nature’s Harvest, Earthgrains, Freihofer, Colonial, Metz, Arnold, Brownberry, Oroweat, Entenmann’s, Ball Park, Marinela, Maier’s, Beefsteak, D’Italiano, J.J. Nissen, Boboli, Mrs. Baird’s, Heiner’s, Tia Rosa (tortillas), Stroehmann.

ICE CREAM TOPPINGS

• The Masterson Company, Milwaukee, Wisc. (Local 244)

PASTA

• Ebro Puleva, Fresno, Calif. (Local 85)
• Dakota Growers Pasta Co., New Hope, Minn. (Local 22)
• Ronzoni Foods Canada (New World Pasta), Montreal, P.Q. (Local 227)

SNACKS/CHIPS

• Frito-Lay, Inc., Rold Gold Pretzels, Canton, Ohio (Local 19)
• UTZ Pretzels/The Bachman Company, Reading, Pa. (Local 6)
• Frito-Lay, Topeka, Kan. (Local 218) & Vancouver, Wash. (Local 364)
• Pirate Booty, Keystone Foods Products, Inc., Easton, Pa. (Local 6)
• Mike-Sell’s Potato Chip Co., Dayton, Ohio (Local 57)
• Happy’s Potato Chips/Old Dutch Foods, St. Paul, Minn. (Local 22)
• Bugles, General Mills, West Chicago, Ill. (Local 316G)

SWEET GOODS

• Safeway Bakery: Local 114 (Portland, Ore.), Local 118 (Washington, D.C.), Local 68 (Baltimore, Md.)
• Hostess Brands, LLC, Ding Dongs, Twinkies, SnoBalls – (Only Hostess Brands sweet cake products from Indianapolis (Local 1) and Columbus, Ga. (Local 42) bakeries.)

UNION-MADE BREWS

 
 
Here is a brief list of beers and ales made by union members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), the International Brother of Teamsters (IBT), the United Autoworkers (UAW), the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE), and IUE-CWA. (For a more extensive list – there are MANY – visit www.unionplus.org/union-made/beers.)

Or if you prefer union-made ROOT beer, chose Barq’s, Blumers or Old Philadelphia. For non-alcoholic beer give Sharp’s a try!

Sanders is expected to join Local 100G members, labor supporters and community leaders outside the Penford plant at approximately 5:15 p.m. and deliver remarks shortly thereafter. The plant is located at 1001 First Avenue, S.W. in Cedar Rapids.

“Bernie Sanders has been a voice for working people all his life. He is a man who never gives up and who always makes decisions based on what is good and right for the average American. We are proud he has chosen to take time out of his extremely busy schedule to visit Local 100G members in Cedar Rapids,” says BCTGM International President David B. Durkee.

The informational picket outside the Penford plant is the second in a series of protests against Ingredion’s unfair contract proposals. The collective bargaining agreement covering approximately 160 union members at the plant expired on August 1. Workers at the plant continue to work under the terms of the expired pact while Union negotiators attempt to reach a fair new contract.

Union and company negotiators have held three negotiating sessions and the most recent talks came to a halt after company representatives delivered to the Union what it termed as its “last, best and final offer.” Ingredion negotiators have proposed more than 100 concessionary changes to the collective bargaining agreement.

The Penford site was opened in 1890 as the Douglas Starch Works and has employed generations of family members from the Cedar Rapids area. Ingredion, a multinational Corporation is headquartered in Westchester, Illinois.

WHEN:
5:00 p.m./Friday, September 4, 2015

 WHERE:
Penford Products Factory

1001 First Avenue, S.W. in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Listen to Ron Baker discuss this event and the situation at Ingredion Inc. on the Rick Smith show (broadcast Wed. September 2, 2015):

BCTGM Local Union 22 and Pearson’s Candy have yet to reach agreement on a new contract to replace the one that expires on October 27. Local 22 represents more than 160 employees at the candy facility, which is owned by private equity company Brynwood Partners.

BCTGM Local 22 representatives assert that company negotiators are demanding employees agree to concessions, three years after Pearson’s workers already made huge financial sacrifices.

“To help Pearson’s get back on its feet after years of struggling financially, three years ago our members agreed to freeze their pension plan, lower wage rates for new hires and pay more for their health insurance,” said Ron Mohrland, BCTGM Local 22 President.

Since that time, the company has reversed its fortunes, growing revenue by 50 percent and acquiring the successful Bit-O-Honey brand from Nestlé USA.

Despite the rising profits of the company, negotiators for Pearson’s are asking their over-worked employees for additional concessions. “Now they want our members to give up overtime pay.  This would force our members, predominantly women who have worked for the company for decades, to work 12-hour days without receiving overtime.”

In a letter to Pearson’s Candy CEO Michael Keller, Local 22 representatives urge him to get involved. “Major sacrifices were made during the last round of negotiations but with the company’s success and financial well-being, our members are not going to further erode their contract,” states the letter.

According to BCTGM International Vice President Jethro Head, the recalcitrance of  Pearson’s  is typical of small companies owned by large private-equity firms. “It’s all part of the private-equity playbook: attack the union and its contract so there is more cash for dividends and management fees paid directly to the owners of the private equity firm. This model explains income inequality perfectly,” said Head.

This is not the first time a Brynwood-owned company has been in the news for demanding unconscionable concessions from its employees. In 2008, shortly after Brynwood acquired Stella D’Oro from Kraft Foods members of BCTGM Local 53 (New York) were forced to strike at the Brooklyn, N.Y. facility when the company demanded huge concessions. After 11 months on strike, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ordered the company to reinstate the workers with back-pay. The strike and its aftermath was immortalized in the HBO documentary, “No Contract, No Cookies.”

The company and the union are set to continue negotiations on October 26, one day before the expiration of the contract.

Annabelle Candy Company:

Rocky Road, Abba Zaba, Look, Big Hunk and U-No.

(Local 125/Oakland, Calif.)

Boyer Candies:

Mallo Cups, Peanut Butter Cups, Smoothie Cups, Triple Twist Pretzels, Dark Chocolate Mallo Cups.

(Local 19/Cleveland, Ohio)

Concord Confections (Tootsie Roll Industries):

Double Bubble Bubble Gum.

(Local 264/Toronto)

Ghirardelli Chocolate:

Pumpkin Spice Caramel Squares, Solid Milk, Milk & Caramel, Solid 60% Cacao Dark and Dark & Sea Salt Caramel and all varieties of chocolates.

(Local 125/Oakland, Calif.)

Hershey:

Hershey Milk Chocolate Bars, Hershey Milk Chocolate with Almond Bars, Cookies N’ Creme Bars (snack, extra-large and giant sizes only), Hershey Kisses (Milk Chocolate, Milk Chocolate with Almonds, Special Dark, Cookies N’ Crème), Rolo, Hershey Nuggets.

(Local 464/Hershey, Pa.)

Jelly Belly:

Candy Corn, Fall Festival Mix, Sour Gummi Pumpkins, Mellocreme Pumpkins, Jelly Belly Disney Villains bags, Harry Potter Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans, Halloween Jelly Belly Disney Mickey and Minnie Jelly Beans, Hello Kitty Halloween Deluxe Mix, Harry Potter Jelly Slugs, Jelly Belly BeanBoozled, Gummi Rats, Gummi Tarantulas.

(Local 125/Oakland, Calif.)

Just Born, Inc.:

PEEPS Jeepers Peepers Ghosts, PEEPS mini-pumpkins, PEEPS Snack Size Marshmallow Orange Chicks, Mike and Ike Vampire Variety, Mike and Ike Mummy Mix, Hot Tamales, Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews.

(Local 6/Philadelphia)

Nestlé Chocolate:

Laffy Taffy, Rope Taffy,Tangy Taffy, Baby Ruth, Butterfinger, BB’s and Pearson’s Nips, Nestlé ‘ Peanut Butter Cups and Minis, Nestlé Crunch Bars, Skinny Cow Candy, Sno Caps.

(Local 342/Bloomington, Ill., Local 1/Chicago)

New England Confectionery Company (NECCO):

Mary Jane Peanut Butter Kisses, Mary Jane Original, Clark Jr., Skybar Zombie Food, Bat Wings, Mummy Hearts, NECCO Jr. Wafers.

(Local 348/Framingham, Mass.)

Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc.:

All varieties of Tootsie Roll products, Dots.

(Local 1/Chicago)

During the contract meeting held on Sunday, January 3, 2016 workers at Richmond Baking Company, members of  Local Union 1 Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union AFL-CIO-CLC, voted unanimously to reject the company’s final offer. They later voted unanimously to set a strike date and time for 2 p.m. Monday, January 4, 2016. Negotiations with Richmond Baking Company, located at 520 N. Sixth Street Richmond Indiana, began November 11, 2015 and after eight bargaining sessions Richmond Baking Company refused the Union’s efforts to settle the contract and instead opted to give its workers a final offer.

Richmond’s final offer provides for no wage increases for loyal long term senior employees and relatively meager increases for other workers whose pay ranges between $8.50 and $12. While offering no wage increase for a lot of employees and meager increases for others, Richmond demands that a great majority of its employees pay at least twice as much for their health care. In addition, Richmond is demanding their employees pay much higher health care deductibles and out of pocket maximums along with higher prescription and doctor visits co-pays.  These health care concessions would force many Richmond employees to pay over one third of their base rate of pay towards health care costs.

The current offer comes on the heels of the two previous negotiations wherein Richmond forced concessions on its employees. Six years ago Richmond forced wage cuts of up to over 50% for some jobs for all new employees and three years ago Richmond took their employees defined benefit pension plan and required their employees to pay substantial contributions towards their health care costs.

Don Woods President of Local 1 said: “Workers felt disrespected and unappreciated by the company’s contract offer, especially workers who started before 2005 who wouldn’t receive a wage increase. There’s such a high turnover that workers are putting in an average of 14 hours a day to fill orders, and they can be treated better at fast-food jobs with similar starting wages; turnover also forces longtime employees to work more hours. The working conditions are horrible. Some have to work 20 hours a day, and then the next day if they come in late, the company wants to reprimand them.”

“The Union tried to encourage workers not to strike, but employees were fed up and voted to walk, despite a $500 signing bonus offered to the entire bargaining unit for accepting the contract,” according to Woods.

BCTGM Midwest Region International Vice President Jethro Head, who is the lead negotiator for the Local 1 bargaining committee, said: “I repeatedly expressed to Richmond’s bargaining committee how their employees felt constantly demeaned by their daily treatment and work scheduling scheme that is one-sided in favor of the company and which was designed to force employees to scramble every workday for work assignments to augment their low wages.” Head continued: “Couple the daily scheduling scheme with the fact that employees have had no real increases in wages in over 6 years, plus having to shoulder an increasingly greater portion of health care costs, you get the explosive situation we have here where Richmond employees voted unanimously to strike.”

“The more we give them the more they want” says Shelia Rutherford who has worked for Richmond for over 7 years. Shelia added: “We have decided it’s time to stop giving back to a company that is making money and don’t want to share the profits with its employees who helped them make it.”

Local 1 Business Agent Rochelle Ross, who services the bakery and represent Richmond workers with daily issues, said: “I have never seen anything like this. The company calls every one of its workers a family member but treats them like they are distant cousins who are only to be disinherited.”  “Richmond calls this Family Pride” says Ross, “but workers at Richmond, who a lot of the time have to work 12 to 16 hours to make ends meet because wages are too low, see this as an effort the placate them and control them by having them think they truly belong to a family – it’s tantamount to a gimmick.”

BCTGM Local 1 has made itself available to meet with Richmond to resolve these negotiations. The parties are scheduled to meet Saturday to resume talks.

Those violations include illegally engaging in “surface bargaining”– meaning engaging in a sham process of going through the motions without an intention of reaching agreement – with members of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) Local 100G members working at the Cedar Rapids facility; unlawfully declaring an impasse in negotiations; and unlawfully imposing terms and conditions of employment on members of BCTGM Local 100G. In addition to these violations of federal law, the Regional Office found that the company committed other violations of the law leading up to and during the bargaining process.

The Des Moines- (now Minneapolis) based Region 18 of the NLRB found substance to every claim made by the union in its filings. These include: restraining and coercing its employees; threatening employees with replacement if they do not agree to Employer concessions; and, misrepresenting to employees both Union and Employer bargaining positions.

Additionally, the Board cited Ingredion’s failure to bargain collectively and in good faith with BCTGM Local 100G, engaging in direct dealing with employees, refusing to timely provide and/or unreasonably delay providing relevant and necessary information requested by the Union.

BCTGM International Vice President Jethro Head, who led contract negotiations with Ingredion, Inc. on behalf of the Cedar Rapids BCTGM members said, “This employer repeatedly and consistently disregarded the law and good faith bargaining with the union.”

“It is especially disconcerting when you consider that these workers have been loyal and dedicated employees with numerous generations of families and family members working here. Ingredion purchased the plant in March of 2015 and came to town with absolutely no regard for the workforce, their skills, and their dedication to their work or this community,” added Head.

“When BCTGM Local 100G’s contract expired on July 31, 2015, Ingredion demanded more than 120 drastic contract changes, including cutting starting wages by $4.50-per-hour, gaining the ability to force employees to work 16-hour days, freezing workers’ pensions while drastically increasing health insurance costs. These demands were made all on the heels of a business year where corporate profits were up nine percent. From the very beginning of the bargaining process, they ignored proper legal protocol both at the bargaining table and in their other dealings with the union. They have exuded an arrogance at the negotiations table which is sadly quite usual these days when it comes to multi-national corporations dealing with workers in our communities. We knew we were right with respect to their disregard for the law. Our contentions regarding their past lawless approaches have now been verified, and will be prosecuted by the Labor Board.”

Former Local 100G President Chris Eby said, “We knew that they would be finally found out and that they would be required to come back to the table and engage us in good faith. We are ready to address the issues in a fair and legally appropriate forum and look forward to that happening in the near future.”

Incoming Local 100G President Seth Marling stated, “ We are pleased with the NLRB’s ruling in our favor on all charges and look forward to negotiating in good faith to resolve this dispute.”

The Ingredion Inc. plant is located at 1001 1st St SW, in Cedar Rapids and is doing business as Penford Products Company. The plant produces industrial starches and ethanol in their processes. Ingredion’s CEO, President and Chairman Ilene S. Gordon was paid nearly $8 million dollars in salary and other compensation in 2014. Ingredion has 11,000 employees at 36 locations worldwide.

TAKE ACTION! Click here to sign our petition to SAVE AMERICAN JOBS

In a thirty-three page Decision, Judge Olivero wrote, “ADM has committed numerous violations of Section 8(a)(1) of the Act by interrogating and threatening its employees.

During their 2015 effort to become members of BCTGM Local 103G, workers at ADM’s Bio-products facility in Decatur, Ill. were intimidated and harassed by management in the days leading up to the election.  Local 103G filed objections to the conduct of the election.

In a thirty-three page Decision, Judge Olivero wrote, “ADM has committed numerous violations of Section 8(a)(1) of the Act by interrogating and threatening its employees. Accordingly, I have determined that the Respondent’s misconduct during the critical period is sufficient to set aside the results of the election held on January 20 and 21, 2015.”

“Now that the Board set aside the 2015 election results and issued a cease and desist order against ADM, we’re hopeful employees will be able to freely and fairly vote to become members of the BCTGM,” says BCTGM Director of Organization John Price.

Nick Mitchell, a Lead Maintenance employee at the plant says workers are eager to become union members. “Conditions haven’t changed and we’re prepared to win a fair election and become members of the BCTGM,” Mitchell says.

Taking matters into their own hands, Local 1, with assistance from the International Union, has launched a  campaign to bring this issue to the public’s attention.

In late February, Local 1 distributed fliers outside a fundraising campaign event for Hillary Clinton that was being sponsored by Lifeway CEO Julie Smolyansky. That action prompted Smolyansky to meet with Local 1 officers soon after, however the CEO has since ignored requests by the Local to bargain a union contract.

According to Local 1 President Donald Woods, the Local is willing to take this issue all across the country to gain support. “The BCTGM represents workers all across North America and we all look out for one another. There is great solidarity in this union,” says Woods.

To that end, the BCTGM distributed fliers during the Natural Products West Expo in Anaheim, Calif. on March 12 where Lifeway CEO was representing the Chicago company. 

“The hard-working employees of Lifeway, who exercised their federally protected right to join a union, are having their rights trampled on by Ms. Smolyansky’s refusal to bargain,” concludes Woods.

Since that time, Lifeway executives, including CEO Julie Smolyansky, have refused to negotiate a first union contract with BCTGM Local 1 (Chicago) and continue to violate federal labor law.

In November 2015, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a Summary Judgement ordering the company to negotiate with the union. In December 2015, an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ruled that the company had illegally fired two workers, had violated federal law for anti-union activity, and had unilaterally changed work rules that ultimately harmed many of the company’s female workers.

Despite these actions, the spirit of the Lifeway workers has not been diminished. Instead, workers have remained steadfast and committed to their decision to become union members and are welcoming a renewed effort to expose the hypocrisy of CEO Julie Smolyansky.

International Vice President for the Midwest Region Jethro Head says that Smolyansky advocates progressive ideals publically but in the workplace adopts the attitude and behavior of an anti-union, anti-worker boss. “Ms. Smolyansky consistently talks about empowering women, about social equality and conscious capitalism. Yet her actions in the workplace reflect a deep disrespect for workers, their families, and federal law. Her actions contradict everything she talks about,” says Head.

According to BCTGM International President David B. Durkee, the International Union will do everything in its power to bring the company to the table to negotiate in good faith.   “We are taking this issue very seriously. Local 1 will have the full weight of the International Union behind it as we bring this issue to the public. You cannot ignore the will of the people and disregard federal law without there being consequences,” concludes Durkee.

In contract negotiations that began in May, Just Born proposed eliminating the workers’ pension plan, offered substandard market wage increases while increasing the workers’ share of health insurance costs. While the Union proposed modifications to the health insurance plan that would have offered the company substantial savings, the company refused. On September 2 workers voted overwhelmingly to strike to maintain the benefits and standard of living they had earned over decades of service.

Local 6 has represented the candy workers at the plant since the 1950s. Besides marshmallow Peeps, the company is known for its non-chocolate candy products Mike and Ike, Teenee Beanee jelly beans and Hot Tamales. Just Born purchased the Goldenberg Candy Company in 2003, retaining its Philadelphia factory where BCTGM members produce Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews.

Workers began picketing outside the plant this afternoon.

“The workers at the company’s PEEPS plant have devoted much of their lives to producing these iconic Just Born candies. And the company has benefited from their skills and dedication through soaring profits. Workers deserve to be treated fairly with reasonable wage increases and a pension that allows them to retire with dignity,” notes Hank McKay, president of BCTGM Local 6.

Just Born is a privately held, family-owned, company with sales of $230 million.  Originally incorporated in 1923 in New York City, Just Born currently operates out of Bethlehem, where it’s been located since 1932.

Participants of the solidarity event included the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 13000, Steelworkers (USW) Local 2559, CWA District 2-13, Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 375, Teamsters (IBT) Local 773,  as well as members of AFSCME and SEIU. Also present was the Northhampton County Democrats and the Democratic City Chair of Bethlehem.

Local 6 President Hank McKay together with BCTGM International Strategic Campaign Coordinator Ron Baker led the rally from a Pennsylvania AFL-CIO event truck in the park across from the Just Born facility. BCTGM International Vice President Art Montminy, CWA District 2-13 Vice President Ed Mooney, Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Rick Bloomingdale and Secretary-Treasurer Frank Snyder joined Baker and McKay on the platform to lead the crowd in union chants. When the large group disassembled, they joined Local 6 members on the picket line outside of the Just Born plant.

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)

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)

Hershey Foods Corp.

On the morning of January 11, sick of unsafe working conditions and unfair pay, dozens of workers at Portland Specialty Baking marched into the company president’s office and asked for voluntary union recognition.

Current and former workers at Portland Specialty Baking, together with attorneys and supporters, announced a class action wage theft lawsuit on Aug. 8.

It was early 2015 that BCTGM Local 114 (Portland, Ore), with assistance from the BCTGM International Union and the AFL-CIO, launched an extraordinary campaign to help organize workers at the bakery.

Organizers met with workers for nearly a year, listening to their stories, while uncovering the major issues workers in the bakery faced. Workers in the plant complained of unsafe working conditions, the need for safer and more modern equipment, scheduling issues, and below average pay and benefits for the industry in the Northwest.

Initially, communication was a challenge for the organizers as Portland Specialty Baking’s workforce is overwhelmingly comprised of immigrants and refugees, divided into pockets of different nationalities and language groups. NLRB election notices, for example, were translated into Arabic, Burmese, Chukkese, Khmer, Laotian, Nepalese, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese. However, through perseverance and the help of interpreters, inroads were made.

Despite a majority of workers having signed union recognition cards, the company brought in a professional union-buster, who led presentations at the beginning of nearly every shift, for two weeks. Workers were then called in one by one for individual meetings with two or three managers at a time, and most workers were called in multiple times. When the election took place in early February, a majority of workers were afraid of company backlash and voted against union representation.

On Feb. 4, workers voted in a NLRB union election. Despite 102 workers having signed union authorization cards a few weeks prior, the election was lost. The vote came after two weeks of an intense anti-union campaign led by the company.

Meanwhile, the company aggressively cut union access to the workers. Not only were union organizers not allowed into the plant to talk to workers, but they were ordered off the property.
In a meeting with company President Josh Richardson, Local 114 Financial Secretary-Treasurer Terry Lansing asked if Richardson would allow a union representative on site so that employees could hear both sides. He refused.

“I asked him, ‘Have you been inside the homes of your workers and seen their children huddled in their coats because they can’t afford heat? We have,’” recalls Lansing.

BCTGM International Director of Organization John Price reflects on the effort noting that it is a key example of why American workers need card check recognition. “In January, a large majority of the workers here wanted to join the BCTGM. They were excited to become union members and begin bargaining a first contract. And yet, after an alarming anti-union campaign that focused on fear and intimidation, many of those workers reluctantly changed their support.”

According to Lansing, the union had more than 60 percent support among the workforce going in to the election. “There was a lot of fear in the plant, even among those in favor of joining the union. At the end of the day, the constant harassment, surveillance, threats and promises were too much to overcome,” recalls Lansing.

Despite the union election loss, workers at Portland Specialty Baking have not stopped fighting for their rights on the job. Working with the non-profit group Northwest Workers’ Justice Project, six months after the election, seven workers filed a class action lawsuit against the company.

Workers and union organizers march to the company office after more than 60 percent of the workers signed union authorization cards.

According to the lawsuit, Portland Specialty Baking has neglected to pay workers the proper overtime wages. Oregon law states that workers in manufacturing facilities must be paid overtime after ten hours (in a day) and cannot work more than 13 hours a day. The lawsuit also charges the company of illegally discouraging workers from using sick leave they’re entitled to under Oregon law.

As early as this summer, the same workers who voted the union down in February are fighting to organize support for another representation election.

“They can see that things in the plant have not changed and in some cases have only gotten worse. So, we’ll continue to support and organize until these workers have dignity and respect on the job,” says Price.

In July, the company settled all NLRB charges but Local 114 has subsequently filed two additional federal charges against the company for wrongfully terminating two union supporters.

Specialty Baking makes pretzels, cakes, bagels and muffins for Starbucks, Franz (US Bakery), Safeway, Costco and Winco.

The campaign, which began in 2016, has received tremendous support from the Minneapolis/St. Paul community including the Minnesota State AFL-CIO, local community groups, town council members, and even the NFL Players Association.

The owners of Franklin Street Bakery continue to deny its workers the right to freely organize and the National Labor Relations Board recently found the company had violated federal labor law on 50 separate occasions over the course of the campaign. According to Price, the workers at Franklin Street Bakery remain “committed and unwavering in their desire” to join BCTGM Local 22.

The owner of Franklin Street Bakery,  Wayne Kostroski,  is also the founder and Executive Director of the Taste of the NFL which is a charity that he began in the early 90’s that pairs celebrity chefs with current and former NFL players to raise money for hunger. Each of these celebrity chefs own a restaurant in one of the 32 NFL cities.

Meanwhile, many of the Franklin Street workers are forced to utilize resources from a local food pantry located a few blocks away from the bakery. 

If you are in the Minneapolis area, please join Franklin Street Bakery Workers and supporters for a “Taste of Justice”.  The special February 4th event will help lend support to the workers while raising money for the Waite House Food Shelf. View details, donate online and RSVP here.

Check out the Taste of Justice event page on Facebook!

Retired BCTGM International Vice President Jeanne Graham, a life-long admirer of the legendary Mother Jones and a major supporter of the Mt. Olive, Ill.-based Mother Jones Museum, helped coordinate the creation of a BCTGM-made cake to commemorate the life of Mother Jones. The special 180th birthday cake was made and decorated by the talented Local 4 baker Nancy Schramm and was a centerpiece of the special event according to Local 4 Financial Secretary/Business Agent Josh Camden.
Graham notes that it is only fitting that the BCTGM-made cake be part of the 180th birthday celebration as her 100th birthday cake for the birthday celebration held May 1, 1930 was made by a B&C Local 118 member. The bottom tier of that cake had the union logo decorated onto the icing.

Mother Jones is buried in Union Miners Cemetery in Mt. Olive, Illinois, in honor of the ordinary workers who built the labor movement and fought for labor rights.

Read the special article on Mother Jones on pages 8 & 9 of the May/June 2015 BCTGM NEWS.

In an area of Pennsylvania where workers at several manufacturing plants belong to the BCTGM, it wasn’t a difficult decision for workers at the Cargill Cocoa facility in Hazelton about who to contact when they wanted to form a union.

A worker at the Cargill plant first reached out to BCTGM International Director of Organization John Price in January through the union’s online organizing form. Afraid of management retaliation, the worker, Louis Morales, initially used a fictitious name. However, after several weeks of communicating with Price and understanding workers’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act, he felt comfortable in revealing his true identity and agreed to help arrange a meeting between the BCTGM and the workers.

More than 100 workers at the Cargill Cocoa facility produce high quality chocolate, coatings, fillings, cocoa powders, cocoa liquors and cocoa butters used in food manufacturing, bakery, confectionery, beverage, and dairy applications.

Louis Morales, together with his brother Freddy, also a longtime Cargill Cocoa worker, led the in-plant organizing effort. The key issues that pushed the workers to form a union were workplace safety, favoritism, constantly changing company policies and unfair workplace rules.

After learning of the many confectionery workers represented by the BCTGM, and that workers at the nearby Bimbo Bakeries USA locations in Hazelton and Lehigh Valley were represented by BCTGM Local 6 (Philadelphia), the workers asked to meet with union members and representatives of the Local.

BCTGM International Representative Roger Miller coordinated the campaign with Local 6 President/Business Agent Hank McKay, Local 6 Financial Secretary-Treasurer Kevin Looney and Local 6 Organizer Edgar Rodriguez.

According to Price, because more than 50 percent of the Cargill Cocoa workers are Hispanic, Rodriguez and BCTGM International Organizer Hector Rosa, both of whom are fluent in Spanish, were key to communicating with the workers throughout the campaign.

Bimbo bakery worker and Local 6 steward from Hazelton, John Tate, and Anthony Downing, a union member and steward from the Lehigh Valley Bimbo bakery, and the Local 6 organizing team met with the workers several times to answer questions and address concerns.

According to McKay, Downing was key to the union’s digital organizing effort including the establishment of a Facebook page called, “Cargill Cocoa Union Yes!” that helped share information quickly and easily with the workers.

“The Local 6 members from Bimbo Bakeries helped the Cargill Cocoa workers understand the many benefits they would gain if they voted to become members of the BCTGM. It was worker-to-worker communication and the message was carried back into the plant where support grew rapidly,” recalls Price.

BCTGM East Central International Vice President Art Montminy met with the organizing committee about what to expect during a union organizing campaign and assisted the Local in the final weeks.

By late June, more than 60 percent of the workers had signed union representation cards and Price filed for an election. On August 3, the Cargill Cocoa Workers voted overwhelmingly to join the union.

“Economics is always a factor in organizing. But these workers also wanted a voice on vital issues like safety and scheduling. Once they heard from other union workers and trusted the organizers, they realized the BCTGM and Local 6 could help improve their life in the workplace,” reflects Montminy.

Thanks to the tenacity of a small group of Oregon bakers fighting to become members of BCTGM Local 114 (Portland, Ore.), nearly 200,000 Oregon manufacturing workers will benefit from strengthened overtime laws.

In January, Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries changed how it interprets overtime laws as a result of a lawsuit filed on behalf of Portland Specialty Bakery (PSB) workers. The baking company was charged with violating an Oregon state law that requires overtime pay when workers employed in a mill, factory or manufacturing facility work more than 10 hours in a day. The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries was forced to issue an immediate statewide correction to the overtime law.

Seeking to overturn the changes, the business industry lobbied the Oregon state legislative session. H.B. 3458, Overtime Protections for Manufacturing Workers, began as a business-backed effort to strike down the worker-friendly legal interpretation of the law requiring overtime pay after 10 hours in factories and mills.

BCTGM Local 114 organizers and Portland Specialty Bakery workers were called upon to testify during the legislative session. As a result of their testimony and the efforts of the Oregon AFL-CIO, BCTGM and national AFL-CIO, the bill was amended and expanded to further protect workers. The revisions of Oregon’s overtime law guarantee 10 hours of rest between shifts of eight hours or more, a new weekly cap of 60 hours, and no mandatory workweeks longer than 55. Unionized workers are allowed to waive some of those provisions in their collective bargaining agreement.

 “The law adds several layers of protection for our manufacturing workers,” says BCTGM Local 114 Secretary Treasurer Terry Lansing. “But what I really like is that if an employer sees the law as too restrictive, then the employer can recognize a Union to represent the workers and negotiate a work week that works best for them and the workers. The law is an aid in organizing workers. And organizing the unorganized is worth the effort,” Lansing concludes.

Oregon also passed two pieces of first-in-the-nation labor legislation: cracking down on abusive scheduling practices by employers, and preventing local jurisdictions from passing antiunion “right-to-work” ordinances.

Portland Specialty Baking workers voted in a NLRB union election in February 2016. But thanks to an intense anti-union campaign led by the company, the vote fell short. Workers continue their effort to join BCTGM Local 114.