BCTGM
 |
|
| Full name | Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers' International Union |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1886 |
| Members | 73,694 |
| Affiliation | AFL-CIO, CLC |
| Key people | David B. Durkee, President; Steve Bertelli, Secretary-Treasurer |
| Office location | Kensington, Maryland, United States |
| Country | United States, Canada |
| Website | www.bctgm.org |
The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers' International Union (BCTGM) is a labor union in the United States and Canada primarily representing workers in the food processing 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 Canadian Labour Congress and the International Union of Foodworkers (IUF).
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, PA. 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 AFL-CIO 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.
On August 26, 2000, approximately 680 BCTGM workers began a strike against The Earthgrains Company (now a subsidiary of Bimbo Bakeries USA) 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; Atlanta and Forest Park, Georgia; and Mobile, Alabama, 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.
...
Wikipedia