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. Send a check for that amount,
indicating mailing address and union affilia-
tion, to P.O. Box 13150, Portland, OR 97213.
For 25 or more subscriptions, group rates of
$9.60 a year per person are available to
trade union organizations. Call 503-288-3311
for details.
CORRECTIONS: See an error? Please let us
know at editor@nwlaborpress.org or by
phone at 503-288-3311.
PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID
AT PORTLAND, OREGON.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS NOTICE: Three weeks
are required for a change of address. When or-
dering a change, please give your old and
new addresses and the name and number of
your local union.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
P.O. BOX 13150
PORTLAND, OR 97213-0150
Broadway Floral
for the BEST flowers call
503-288-5537
1638 NE Broadway, Portland
140
Low Prices!
Mon-Fri 9-6, Sat 9:30-5:30, Sun 12-6
Portland, Oregon.
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.