Organizing
Representing manufacturing, production, maintenance and sanitation workers in the baking, confectionery, tobacco and grain milling industries.
bctgm, bakers union, tobacco union, candy union, food workers, food workers union, grain millers, grain millers union, mondelez, nabisco, snack union,
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Today, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced new legislation, The Workplace Democracy Act. What would this legislation do? END Right-to-Work-for-Less ALLOW unions to be formed through majority sign-up STOP companies from denying a first contract for new union workers EXPOSE third-party firms hired to run anti-union campaigns. Senator Sanders on the Workplace Democracy Act: "Under our legislation when a majority of workers sign cards to join a union they will have that union, end of discussion. We are sick and tired of...

09 May, 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

BCTGM Local 22 (Minneapolis) Organizer Edgar Gomez together with communications staff at the Minnesota AFL-CIO worked with a City Pages journalist to tell the story of Franklin Street Bakery workers who have been fighting for the right to join a union for more than two years. The Baker Uprising: Minnesota's king of hunger relief faces mutiny in his bread factory ...

22 March, 2018

Repost from our Brothers and Sisters at the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)- the largest federal employee union representing 700,000 federal and D.C. government workers nationwide and overseas.  The richest 1 % of American households now own 40% of the country's wealth, and they’re fighting tooth and nail to keep it that way. That’s why we see corporate-backed politicians doing everything they can to take away our voice, our rights, our freedom to join in...

05 March, 2018

On Saturday, February 3, BCTGM Local 22 joined forces with the Minnesota AFL-CIO and the greater Twin Cities labor community in support of Franklin Street Bakery workers at A Taste of Justice. The event represented the bakery workers’ response to the Taste of the NFL party hosted on the same day by their part-owner, Wayne Kostroski. BCTGM Local 22 President Bruce Peglow reported tremendous support from the labor/progressive community in the Twin City area, with an...

05 February, 2018

Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its annual report on union membership, which found that the number of union members rose by 260,000 in 2017. This reflects critical organizing victories across a range of industries, which have reaped higher wages, better benefits, and a more secure future for working people around the country. “In the face of a challenging year, the power of working people is on the rise,” said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. “Together,...

19 January, 2018

The Executive Director of the NFL Players Association, DeMaurice Smith, has sent a letter to the CEO of the Super Bowl Host Committee, condemning the actions of "Taste of the NFL"  director and Franklin Street Bakery owner Wayne Kostroski. "For more than a year, Franklin Street Bakery workers have been exploring whether to exercise their freedom to form a union so they can have a voice in the workplace and negotiate for a better life for...

12 January, 2018

As BCTGM members and their families prepare to celebrate the holidays and welcome a New Year, we can look back at 2017 as a source of pride and optimism for our Union. While the BCTGM and our members certainly continue to confront serious and difficult challenges, we head into 2018 fully prepared to take whatever action is necessary to improve the lives of our members and bring the benefits of BCTGM membership to more workers...

20 December, 2017

In less than two months, Superbowl 52 will be held in Minnesota. As part of the festivities, a charity called “Taste of the NFL” will hold a party with the rich and famous to raise money for food shelves to help “Kick Hunger.” Raising money for food shelves is a great cause, but “Taste of the NFL” Executive Director Wayne Kostroski  reportedly pays workers at his Franklin Street Bakery so little that they must use these...

19 December, 2017

In Edina, Minn. today, BCTGM Local 22 members, Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation and union supporters demonstrated outside of Interlachen Country Club where Franklin Street Bakery part-owner Wayne Kostroski was speaking on/raising money for his Taste of the NFL charity. The activists demonstrated in solidarity with the workers who have been trying to organize a union at Franklin Street Bakery for more than 18 months. Listen to Local 22 President Bruce Peglow explain the other side of bakery owner Wayne Kostroski's...

29 November, 2017

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...

08 September, 2017

When President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act on June 10, 1963, women made only 60 cents on the dollar for doing the same job as a man. The gap has narrowed in the intervening years, but pay is not yet equal and wages have been held down for women and men alike. We must erase the wage gap by raising pay for all working people. Lift All for Equality The pay gap narrows when...

09 June, 2017

[caption id="attachment_5831" align="alignright" width="300"] Intl. Rep. Jason Davis, Sen. Bernie Sanders, L. 149 Pres. Letitia Malone.[/caption] "If Mississippi Nissan workers succeed, it will send a powerful message in the south and across this country that working people are prepared to fight for justice." – Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) told the Nissan factory workers. On March 4, BCTGM International Representative Jason Davis and Local 149 (Memphis) President and GEB member Letitia Malone traveled to Canton, Miss. to join in...

06 March, 2017

"Organizing MUST be a priority of every member of the BCTGM in order to grow and build our strength," BCTGM International President David Durkee said during a recent one-day meeting on the BCTGM's organizing program. "Organizing is hard work. But it is something that each and every local union needs to embrace and expand," Director of Organization John Price explained in his opening remarks. The meeting included all International Vice Presidents, International Representatives, BCTGM Organizers and International staff....

27 February, 2017

Workers at the 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,  Wayne Kostroski,  is also the...

20 January, 2017