NPR Nearly 180 people — including 18 teenagers — have been killed in grain-related entrapments at federally regulated facilities across 34 states since 1984, records show. Their employers were issued a total of $9.2 million in fines, though regulators later reduced the penalties overall by 59 percent. Click here to read about these incidents by state on NPR.com ...
AFL-CIO Brandon Rees, acting director of the AFL-CIO Office of Investment, sends this report from today’s shareholder meeting of Mondelēz International (formerly Kraft Foods) near Chicago. At today’s Mondelēz International's shareholder meeting, the IUF, the international union body representing food workers worldwide, and unions representing the company’s North American employees, raised concerns about human rights abuses in the company’s overseas operations. Many Mondelēz-branded cookies and crackers are produced by union members, including Oreo, Chips Ahoy, Ritz and Triscuit. In...
Forty-two years have passed since the Occupational Safety Health (OSH) Act was signed into law. Now, Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) has reintroduced the Protecting America’s Workers Act (PAWA) (S. 665) in an effort to strengthen the nation’s occupational safety protections. She calls the legislation "a long-overdue update to the OSH Act, and a good step towards making workplaces safer and healthier across America." PAWA works to address workplace injuries, illnesses and deaths. Specifically, PAWA would expand OSH...
In 2011, 4,693 workers were killed on the job, according to a new AFL-CIO report, “Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect.” That is an average of thirteen workers every day. In addition, another estimated 50,000 die every year from occupational diseases – an average of 137 a day, bringing the total worker fatalities to 150 a day. North Dakota, Wyoming, Alaska and Arkansas had the highest workplace fatality rates, while New Hampshire, Rhode...
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. [caption id="attachment_3230" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Debra Colvin decorates a special order cake at the Fairfield bakeryKristopher Brady (left) and Kent...
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), crippled by a January court ruling against two recess appointees, has the potential to get back to full strength if the Senate confirms nominations President Barack Obama made April 9. Previous attempts to fill the NLRB have failed over congressional opposition to Board actions and Obama's nominees. The President's move to nominate a full five members to the Board comes on the heels of a possible vote in the House...
"MARKET GAINS PUMP CEO PAY – Corporate chiefs pull in $50 million or more" - USA Today, 3/21/13 "Last year I attended a Thanksgiving dinner at Harris Elementary School…in Decatur (IL), where I learned that 92 percent of the kids are on free or reduced-cost lunches." —Howard G. Buffett, leading advocate for U.S. and global hunger relief and son of Warren Buffett, USA Today, 12/2/12 __________________________________________ Corporate CEO’s take home tens of millions of dollars a year and...
Jackie Tortora, AFL-CIO In response to Metropoulos & Co. CEO C. Dean Metropoulos' statement to The Wall Street Journal that the company will not hire union workers when reopening four former Hostess Brands bakeries, BCTGM International President David B. Durkee issued the following statement on behalf of all BCTGM members: The BCTGM is pleased to see that Hostess Brands LLC, the newly formed snack cake company created by Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Co, has announced...
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...
Ursula Zerilli, MLive.com KALAMAZOO, MI – Daniel Wood used to carry extra baking tools in his back pack, but lately the Panera Bread lead baker dons a briefcase full of legal paperwork. Wood, who works at the Panera Bread franchise on West Main Street, has become a leader of sorts of 17 bakers from six Panera Bread franchises in Kalamazoo, Portage, Battle Creek, Jackson and St. Joseph, who were the first in the country to unionize...
Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain has approved the sale of the sweet cake business formerly operated by Hostess Brands, clearing the way for Twinkies and other brands to return to shelves. Hostess Brands Inc. is selling the Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Ho Hos brands, to Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Co. for $410 million. Metropoulos has said it hopes to have the snack cakes back in stores by this summer. The judge also approved the sale Hostess...
Silver Spring, MD, March 14, 2013 – National Labor College (NLC) is pleased to announce the election of Bakery, Confectionery Tobacco and Grain Millers International Union President David B. Durkee to its Board of Trustees. "David has been a union activist his entire life, fighting for workers and standing up to corporations. His strong leadership skills have helped guide the BCTGM through some incredibly difficult recent struggles," said AFL-CIO President and Chairperson of the NLC Board...
By Bruce Vail, Working in These Times Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor announced an expanded package of benefits for more than 18,000 workers fired from their jobs at Hostess Brands, the company famous for producing Wonder Bread and Twinkies. The workers—formerly employed in 864 separate Hostess locations in 48 states—were summarily fired last November when company managers rather than reach an agreement with striking members of the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers...
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that approximately 18,000 workers laid off in 48 states from 864 Hostess company locations are eligible to apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance. “As President Obama said in his State of the Union address, ‘to grow our middle class, our citizens must have access to the education and training that today’s jobs require,’ ” said acting Secretary of Labor Seth D. Harris. “Trade Adjustment Assistance enables workers to...
By Dave Jamieson, Huffington Post Kathleen VonEitzen heads into work at 10 p.m. with a long night ahead of her. A trained baker, VonEitzen spends the evening and early morning hours cutting and shaping trays full of dough, shuffling between multiple ovens, and constantly checking her crusts until they're browned just right. She pulls hundreds of fresh baguettes, bagels, cookies and scones from the ovens until her shift finally ends around dawn. VonEitzen, 55, doesn't work in...