The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) is a

labor union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

primarily representing workers in the

food processing Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms. Food processing takes many forms, from grinding grain into raw flour, home cooking, and complex industrial methods used in the mak ...

industry. The union was established in 1886 as the Journeyman Bakers Union. The contemporary BCTGM was formed in January 1999 as a merger of the Bakery, Confectionery and Tobacco Workers' International Union and the American Federation of Grain Millers. The BCTGM is affiliated with the

AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...

, the

Canadian Labour Congress The Canadian Labour Congress, or CLC ( or ), is a national trade union centre, the central labour body in Canada to which most Canadian trade union, labour unions are affiliated. History Formation The CLC was founded on April 23, 1956, thro ...

and the International Union of Foodworkers (IUF).

History

The predecessors of today's BCTGM include the Bakery and Confectionery Workers International Union of America. The B&C began as the Journeymen's Bakers Union, organized in 1886 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Many of its original members were of German origin, and were inspired to form the union by the . It was chartered by the

American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutual ...

in 1887, and soon extended its jurisdiction to cover the candy and ice cream industries, leading it to change its name. In 1936, it was joined by the Amalgamated Food Workers of America. In the late 1950s, the B&C, as it was called, was riven by accusations of corruption against its president, James G. Cross. In response, at the end of 1957, many local unions voted to disaffiliate and form a new American Bakery and Confectionery Workers' International Union. B&C was thrown out of the

and the ABC was admitted in its place. After 11 years of feuding, in 1969, the two organizations reunited under the B&C name. The Tobacco Workers International Union was founded in 1895. As it and the Bakery and Confectionery Workers International Union of America shared many common goals, both organizations merged in 1978, creating the Bakery, Confectionery and Tobacco Workers (BCT). The American Federation of Grain Millers (AFGM) also has roots stemming back to the 1800s. In 1936, the National Council of Grain Processors was formed when a number of smaller grain milling unions agreed to unite as a national union under the banner of the American Federation of Labor, one of the early umbrella organizations for labor unions. In 1941, the council was renamed the American Federation of Grain Processors and in 1948 was reorganized as the AFGM. Shared goals and shared industries led to the January 1, 1999, merger between the BCT and AFGM, creating the modern BCTGM. Because the predecessors of BCTGM organized workers in the U.S. and Canada, they included the word "International" in their name.

Strikes

On August 26, 2000, approximately 680 BCTGM workers began a strike against The Earthgrains Company (now a subsidiary of

Bimbo Bakeries USA Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc. () is the American corporate arm of the Mexican multinational corporation, multinational bakery product manufacturing company Grupo Bimbo. It is the largest bakery company in the United States. The subsidiary, headquarte ...

) at a plant in Fort Payne, Alabama. The strike was brought in part to protest mandatory overtime and few days off. By August 31, 2000, the strike had spread to five other bakeries in Memphis and

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

;

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

and

Forest Park, Georgia Forest Park is a city in Clayton County, Georgia, United States. It is located approximately south of Atlanta and is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 19,932. In the 1800s, Forest Park ...

; and

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

, where worker contracts had expired. At this time, around 1,565 workers were involved. By September 6, the strike had expanded to eight more plants. Around 2,700 workers were involved, a total of 12% of Earthgrains' workforce. The strike eventually grew to a maximum of 27 bakeries before it was ended with the ratification of a new contract at Fort Payne on September 22. On November 9, 2012, the BCTGM went on strike at bakeries operated by

Hostess Brands Hostess Brands Inc. is an American bakery company formed in 2013. Its main operating subsidiaries are Hostess Brands, LLC, and Voortman Cookies Limited. The company owns several bakeries in the United States that produce snack cakes under the ...

, to protest contract changes forced upon its members by a bankruptcy court. On November 16, 2012, after warning the union that it would be unable to continue operations unless employees returned to work, Hostess Brands, Inc., filed a motion to change its bankruptcy filing from one of reorganization to one of liquidation, shutting down the company. The liquidation resulted in the loss of 18,500 jobs, including approximately 6,500 BCTGM members. After announcing the company's liquidation, Hostess Brands published a notice announcing that the business is unprofitable under its current cost structure, much of which is determined by union wages and pension costs, describing their offer to the BCTGM as having included wage, benefit and work rule concessions and giving Hostess Brands' 12 unions a 25 percent ownership stake in the company, representation on its board of directors and $100 million in reorganized Hostess Brands' debt. The

Teamsters Union The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of the Team Drivers International Union and the Teamsters National Union, the union now represents a diverse members ...

had reached a deal with the Hostess, but BCTGM, representing bakery workers, refused to agree to concessions. Teamster officials were quoted as saying that the BCTGM had chosen "to not substantively look for a solution or engage in the process". BCTGM President Frank Hurt issued a statement claiming that Hostess failed because its six management teams over the last eight years were unable to make it a profitable, successful business enterprise, and that despite a commitment from the company after an earlier bankruptcy that the resources derived from the workers' concessions would be plowed back into the company, this never materialized. BCTGM President Hurt resigned from his position 6 weeks later effective January 1, 2013.

2021 strike actions

On July 5, 2021, BCTGM members of Baker Workers Local 218 at the Frito-Lay factory in Topeka, Kansas, voted to strike. , the strike had continued for more than two weeks. Workers spoke out about 12-hour, 7-day work weeks, stagnant wages, and inhumane conditions in the plant such as a lack of air conditioning. Speaking to Vice's ''Motherland'', 37-year employee and union steward Mark McCarter urged consumers to boycott Frito-Lay and Pepsi products for the duration of the strike. Starting on August 10, 2021,

Nabisco Nabisco (, abbreviated from the earlier name National Biscuit Company) is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International. Nabisco' ...

employees from several bakeries and distribution centers across the United States went on strike over disagreements regarding new labor contracts with the company. By August 20, the strike involved over 1,000 workers. On October 5, 2021, workers at all of

Kellogg's Kellanova, formerly known as the Kellogg Company and commonly known as Kellogg's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, US. Kellanova produces and markets con ...

cereal-producing plants in the United States went on strike over disagreements during contract negotiations.

Leadership

Presidents

:1941: Andrew Myrup :1943: Herman Winter :1950: William F. Schnitzler :1952: James G. Cross :1961: James Landriscina :1962: Max Kralstein :1969: Daniel E. Conway :1978: John DeConcini :1992: Frank Hurt :2013: David B. Durkee :2020: Anthony Shelton

Secretary-Treasurers

:1886: George Block :1888: August Delebar :1892: George Horn :1895: Henry Weismann :1897: John Schudel :1899: Frank Harzbecker :1908: Otto Fischer :1912: Andrew Myrup :1936: Herman Winter :1943: William F. Schnitzler :1950: James G. Cross :1952: Curtis Sims :1957: Peter H. Olson :1961: Henry Bartosh :1970: Gregory Oskoian :1978: Rene Rondou :1990: Graydon E. Tetrick :1991: Frank Hurt :1992: Gene McDonald :1998: David B. Durkee :2013: Steve Bertelli :2019: Anthony Shelton :2020: David Woods

References

External links

BCTGM
official site.
Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) records
University of Maryland Labor History Collection, Special Collections and University Archives. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers And Grain Millers' International Union AFL-CIO affiliates Canadian Labour Congress affiliates Bakers' and confectioners' trade unions Baking industry Tobacco industry trade unions Trade unions established in 1886 Grain industry of the United States