December 2006

Region Five International Vice President Sean Kelly reports the successful ending to an organizing campaign at Kohl & Frisch Limited, a pharmaceutical distributor in Moncton, New Brunswick. The New Brunswick Labour Board (NBLB) had to decide the outcome of the election after the employer challenged one of the ballots.

The NBLB ruled in favor of the union, giving the win to BCTGM Local 406 ( Moncton, NB). Vice President Kelly credits the efforts of Local 406 Business Agent & Organizer Mark Robar and International Representative & Organizer Karl Walker.

To our new members at Kohl & Frisch, we welcome you into the BCTGM family and wish you a very Happy New Year!

November 2006

BCTGM Local 280 ( Evansville, Ind.) Business Agent and Financial Secretary Dennis Howard reports that the organizing election at the ADM flour mill in Mt. Vernon, Indiana to represent the truck drivers bargaining unit was won by the Local Union. These drivers deliver flour to all of our Union bakeries. The mill is represented by BCTGM Local 315G (Mt. Vernon, Ind.).

 

October 2006

Region Three Vice President Jeanne Graham reports an organizing victory at Simmons Foods, a poultry feed processing mill in Fairland, Oklahoma. The group that was organized includes production workers and transport drivers.

What made this campaign interesting was that Local 16G ( Kansas City, Missouri) and Local 51G (Carthage, Missouri) pooled their resources and jointly worked on the organizing effort.

Graham credits Local 16G Business Agent & Financial Secretary Roger Catron and Local 51G President Tony Pugh. International Representative Steve Bertelli led the organizing effort, assisted by International Representatives Wayne Purvis and Dan Gust.

BCTGM Local 24 (San Francisco) scored two organizing victories earlier this year, covering seven in-store bakeries in Redwood City, Calif. Six of the in-store bakeries are owned by Safeway and the other bakery is owned by Pac-N-Save. All of these bakeries are new facilities. Congratulations to the Local 24 organizers and the newest members of the BCTGM!

We encourage all BCTGM Local Unions to visit their local grocery stores and talk to the in-store bakers. If they do not already belong to a Union, talk to them about the benefits of being a BCTGM baker!

 

August/September 2006

The demographics of the workplace are changing rapidly in North America and the BCTGM must adapt quicker than employers to be successful in organizing. A recent organizing campaign at the captive bakery at the Fiesta Mart grocery chain in Houston, Texas, is a case in point.

The bargaining unit of 131 bakers consists primarily of immigrant workers from El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico. According to the campaign's lead organizer, International Representative/ Organizer Cesar Calderon, the main issue was the verbal abuse the workers were subjected to by management. Supervisors routinely called the employees "stupid" and "good for nothing." "This lack of basic respect for the workers was the foundation for a very successful organizing campaign," International Vice President Tony Johnson reflected.

The subsequent organizing campaign included anti-union, anti-worker propaganda and mandatory meetings. "The fear in-stilled in the workers by the employer and the union-busting consultants was over-powered by a coalition of religious leaders, politicians, community leaders and affiliates of the AFL-CIO Houston Central Labor Council," said BCTGM International President Frank Hurt. "This same alliance will be instrumental in a fight for a decent contract," added Hurt.

In the June 30th representation election, the workers prevailed and are now represented by the BCTGM.

Special recognition goes to Local 163 (Houston) Financial Secretary Treasurer Donald Pierce, Local 111 (Dallas) rank-and-file organizer Victor Bernabe, and International Representative/Organizer Dale Nichols.

El BCTGM da la bienvenida a los panaderos de Mercado de Fiesta en nuestra familia de la union!

 

April 2006

Workers employed at Richmond Baking of Oregon voted overwhelmingly to join BCTGM Local 114 (Portland, Ore.). The McMinnville, Ore. facility is one of three baking plants operated by Richmond Baking Company--the flagship plant is located in Richmond, Ind. and the East Coast operations are based in Alma, Ga. (BCTGM Local 372B represents the Indiana workers.) The bakery, built in 2001, produces organic cookies and crackers, cracker meal and batter mixes for both the domestic and international markets.

Initial contact with the Oregon workers was in the fall of 2005. Local 114 Business Agent Terry Lansing said conditions at the McMinnville plant were typical of non-union bakeries. "The workers objected to the low wages, high turnover of employees, and a general lack of respect from the managers and owners," said Lansing.

With help from International Representative Eric Anderson, Local 11 representatives met with the McMinnville workers, discussed the conditions and problems, formed an organizing committee in the plant and moved toward certification. The workers filed for Union recognition on December 27, 2005 and the National Labour Relations Board conducted the successful vote on March 1.

 

March 2006

The New York City area is renowned for pastries, cakes, biscuits, cookies, breads and other baked goods made by unionized BCTGM Master Journeymen Bakers. The ranks of these talented union bakers just grew as BCTGM Local 3 ( Long Island City, NY) has organized three new bakeries. BCTGM Vice President Art Montminy reports the newly organized bakeries are Gertel Uptown Bake Shop located in New York City, Reisman Wholesale Bakery located in Brooklyn and Zomick's Wholesale Baking located in Cederhurst. Montminy credits BCTGM Local 3 President Narciso Martus and Organizer Joe Rodriquez for the successful campaigns.

Montminy also reported that BCTGM Local 102 ( Ozone Park, NY) has successfully organized the warehouse workers and drivers at Pumpernickel Express in Montville, N.J. Credit was given to BCTGM Local 102 Financial Secretary & Business Agent Ray Aquilino.

Congratulations to BCTGM Local 3 and BCTGM Local 102 for these successful organizing campaigns!

 

February 2006

This years AFL-CIO Union Industry Show will be in Cleveland, Ohio on May 5 th, 6 th and 7 th at the Cleveland I-X Center. The Cleveland area is home of many BCTGM union retail bakers, who are notorious for their craft baking. These craft baking skills will be demonstrated at the show! BCTGM Local 19 ( Cleveland, OH) remains committed to organizing non-union craft baking shop so those bakers can begin to enjoy the benefits of our union brothers and sisters. Recently Local 19 had organized three more retail bakery locations! The first is Assad's Bakery located in Cleveland. The second location is LaPuma Fine Bakeries located in Lyndhurst. The third location is Reider's Market Bakery located in Chardon. Congratulations to Local 19 for assisting these bakers and to our newest members-Welcome!

 

January 2006

International Vice President Robert Oakley reports the successful conclusion to an organizing campaign at the Kraft-Nabisco warehouse in Richmond, Va. and the depot in Chesapeake, Va.

The campaign was conducted by Local 358 ( Richmond, VA) and the International Union. The campaign focused on the driver sales employees.

Oakley notes that Local 358 has make a concentrated effort to focus more time and effort in assisting non-union workers and their families, thereby growing their local union.

The campaign, which was concluded by an NLRB election, was run by Local 358 Financial Secretary Ted Constable and President Ray Daniels and assisted by International Representative & Organizer Jimmy Condran. Also aiding in the organizing effort were International Representatives & Organizers John Price and Cesar Calderon.

Constable and Daniels credited the organizing committee for their important contributions. Condran reported that he was very impressed by the local union's ability to integrate their computer technology skills into the campaign.

Congratulations and welcome to our newest members who work for Kraft-Nabisco in Virginia!