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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 19, 2016)
PAGE 2 | February 19, 2016 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS ...Nabisco recruits strikebreakers NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS From Page 1 (International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X) Established in 1900 in Portland, Oregon as a voice of the la- bor movement. Published on a semi-monthly basis on the first and third Fridays of each month by the Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc., a non-profit mutual benefit corpo- ration owned by 20 unions and councils including the Ore- gon AFL-CIO. Serving more than 120 union organizations in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Office location: 4275 NE Halsey St., Portland, Oregon Mailing address: P.O. Box 13150, Portland, OR 97213 Phone: (503) 288-3311 Web address: http://nwlaborpress.org Editor: Michael Gutwig Associate editor: Don McIntosh Office manager: Cheri Rice Printed on recycled paper, using soy-based inks, by members of Teamsters Local 747-M. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Individual subscriptions are $13.75 per year for union members, $20 a year for all others. 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And at the Mondelēz Interna- tional Nabisco Portland Bakery in Portland, union officers say strike replacement workers are being brought in to shadow union workers. On Feb. 8, half a dozen individuals wearing con- tractor badges were brought onto the plant floor by managers, and stood watching while union members performed their jobs. “We’ve never had that in our plant before,” said Judy Schultz, a 31-year employee in Portland. Laurie M. Guzzinati, Mon- delēz Director of Corporate & Government Affairs North America, wouldn’t confirm that the company is contracting with Huffmaster, but said in an emailed statement: “We work with a variety of resources to protect our business and serve our customers in the event of any business disruption.” Guzzi- nati also said the company in- tends to negotiate in good faith, “with the goal of securing con- tracts with the BCTGM that will continue to provide our employ- ees with good wages and bene- fits, while at the same time al- lowing the company to continue its journey to drive strong, sus- tainable growth and snacking WHERE DELICIOUS MOMENTS OF JOY ARE CREATED: Mondelēz Interna- tional, parent company of Nabisco, says its mission is to create “delicious mo- ments of joy.” In the Portland, Oregon, plant above, union workers turn train- cars full of ingredients into Oreos, Wheat Thins, and other Nabisco products. leadership in the marketplace.” “We don’t know how much of it is psychological, or how much it’s real,” said Ron Baker, BCTGM International Strategic Campaign Coordinator about the replacement worker recruit- ment effort. But Baker said labor relations have soured since Mondelēz — pronounced “mohn-dah-LEEZ” — was formed in 2012 as an in- dependent spinoff of Kraft’s global snack division. Mondelēz has about 3,640 union employees in the United States, according to its most re- cent annual report. Those in- clude BCTGM members as well as Machinists and Operating Engineers. Most of Nabisco’s union workers earn about $26 an hour, enjoy employer-pro- vided health insurance for them- selves and their families, and have a traditional “defined ben- efit” pension plan. Meanwhile, Mondelēz CEO Irene Rosenfeld received $21 million in total compensation in 2014. Mondelēz has also begun communicating directly with workers about the upcoming contract negotiations via a web site, negotiations2016.com. On the site, Mondelēz appears to take shots at the union-spon- sored multi-employer pension, with posts about the unrelated Teamsters Central States Pen- sion, which is headed for insol- vency. As the Mondelēz site points out, BCTGM’s multi-em- ployer pension fund is also in “critical and declining status” and at the current rate, is pro- jected to become insolvent within 17 years. Guzzinati declined to explain the company’s purpose in em- phasizing that information, but said the site was created to pro- vide news and information re- lated to the negotiations process. Baker, the national union campaign coordinator, wouldn’t discuss specifics of what the union will ask for in negotia- tions, other than to say that it will seek greater job security protec- tions, in response to Mondelēz’ recent decision to shift some production to Mexico. Last July, the company announced it will spend $130 million to install four new production lines in Salinas, Mexico, and shut nine of its 16 production lines in Chicago, laying off 600 of its 1,200 Chicago workers. The union is fighting that decision in court and in the public, and is calling on supporters to learn more and sign a support petition at fightforamericanjobs.org.
