Local Union News
Representing manufacturing, production, maintenance and sanitation workers in the baking, confectionery, tobacco and grain milling industries.
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Puerto Rico is suffering from a recent wave of high-magnitude earthquakes and hundreds of tremors that have rattled the island over the past month, leaving the people and infrastructure devastated once again. On February 10, BCTGM Local 6 (Philadelphia) officers and members delivered 14,000 pounds of baked goods and snacks donated by union contracted companies Bimbo Bakeries USA and Keystone Foods to the Seafarers International Union (SIU) hall in Philadelphia. The union-made products were put into...

11 February, 2020

(Below article is excerpted from a Dec. 18 article by NW Labor Press) Workers who make bread for Grand Central Bakery in Portland, Ore. voted to join BCTGM Local 114 on December 12 in an election held by the National Labor Relations Board. The 29-to-9 vote affirmed what the workers had told management three weeks earlier: Local 114 has the support of a majority of the workers at the companyโ€™s wholesale bakery. Workers who make bread...

19 December, 2019

In Portland, Maine on a recent chilly Saturday morning, BCTGM Local 334 Business Agent John Jordan held a special meeting for Local 334 retirees. The purpose of that meeting? To explain the Butch Lewis Act of 2019 (S. 2254) and the importance of contacting U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) to urge her support of the legislation. It is crucial that ALL BCTGM members and retirees across the country contact their Senators and urge them to support...

15 November, 2019

In early October, maintenance workers at the new Purina pet food plant in Hartwell, Ga. voted to join BCTGM Local 42 (Atlanta). This organizing win followed the successful election of quality control workers at the Fairburn, Ga. pet food facility, also represented by Local 42. The Hartwell plant opened in early 2018 as a distribution center while the production facility was being built. In May 2018, workers at the new plant reached out to the BCTGM...

08 November, 2019

BCTGM Local 351 in Albuquerque, New Mexico is the picture of labor union activism. From organizing new workers, political action and membership education, to offering unfaltering support to other labor campaigns, the officers and members of Local 351 exemplify trade union activism. In October, under the leadership of President/Business Agent Andrew Gutierrez, Local 351 was able to organize a non-union distribution center at the Bimbo Bakeries U.S.A. offices in Albuquerque. The workers at the facility signed...

07 December, 2018

When the quality assurance workers at the Nestle Purina PetCare plant in Edmond, Oklahoma realized the benefits production workers enjoyed thanks to a BCTGM collective bargaining agreement, they set out to become members of Local 366G (Oklahoma City). Local 366G represents the 235 workers in production, processing, sanitation, maintenance, and the warehouse. And on April 19, the workers of the Nestle Purina Pet Care quality assurance department joined the ranks of the unionized plant by voting...

20 April, 2018

As a result of the federal tax cut, Disney promised that its employees would get $1,000 bonuses. Disney offered the bonuses to most of its employees with no conditions. But for 41,000 union members in Anaheim, California and Orlando, Florida, Disney is requiring them to agree to the company's contract proposals in order to get the bonus. More than 100 BCTGM Local 83 (Buena Park, Calif.) members are candy production workers at the Disneyland park in...

25 March, 2018

BCTGM Local 6 members were among thousands of workers who rallied in Philadelphia's Thomas Paine Plaza on February 24 ahead of a Supreme Court voteย that could profoundly affect the ability of public-sector workers to improve their wages and working conditions.ย The Philadelphia rally, which included AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, was a part of the national "Workers Day of Action" movement, which included events in 28 cities. Today, February 26th, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral...

26 February, 2018

A Federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Just Born against BCTGM Local 6 (Philadelphia) workers who went on strike in 2016. In a 15-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl ruled on December 29 that the company failed to prove that the Local 6 members violated a no-strike clause in the collective bargaining agreement. About 400 Local 6 members went on strike on September 7, 2016.ย Workers returned to work in late October 2016, although...

04 January, 2018

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, Oregonโ€™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...

26 September, 2017

In an area of Pennsylvania where workers at several manufacturing plants belong to the BCTGM, it wasnโ€™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 unionโ€™s online organizing form. Afraid of management retaliation, the worker, Louis Morales, initially used a...

08 September, 2017

Together with the Mother Jones Museum and the Mother Jones Heritage Project, BCTGM Local 4 (St. Louis) participated in a special 180th Birthday celebration for the legendary Mother Jones. 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. Theย special 180th birthday cake was...

01 May, 2017

Workers at theย Franklin Street Bakery in Minneapolis have struggled for years with poverty wages, unaffordable health insurance, lack of time off to care for family members, little opportunity for advancement and raises, favoritism, and unfairly applied work policies. When the bakers decided to exercise their legal right to form a union and improve their conditions, management launched an aggressive anti-union, anti-worker campaign against the workers. The owner of Franklin Street Bakery, ย Wayne Kostroski, ย is also the...

20 January, 2017

BCTGM Director of Organization John Price joined with officers and organizers from BCTGM Local Union 22 (Minneapolis) in a series of meetings with employees of Franklin Street Bakery who are in the midst of an organizing drive to join the BCTGM. 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...

19 January, 2017

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 specialtiesโ€ฆ 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) ย  Dare Foods Limited A variety of gums, jellies, hard candy and gift tubs,...

14 December, 2016