PAGE 8 | March 4 , 2016 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
COMMUNITY SERVICE
Nabisco wants to end Bakers’ pension
Members of Bakery Confec-
tionery Tobacco and Grain
Millers (BCTGM) at Nabisco
continued to work after their
contract expired Feb. 29.
BCTGM refused a request by
Nabisco parent company Mon-
delēz International for a tempo-
rary contract extension. As a re-
sult, the union could strike, or
the company could lock out
workers, at any time. Further
contract talks are scheduled for
Baltimore starting March 7.
The Bakers Union represents
about 2,200 workers at six
Nabisco plants and two distribu-
tion centers in the U.S. Local
364 represents 200 workers at
Nabisco’s Portland Bakery at
100 NE Columbia Boulevard.
During two weeks of bargain-
ing that began Feb. 16 in Char-
lotte, North Carolina, Mondelēz
proposed to withdraw from the
union’s multi-employer B&C
Pension Fund — and instead
contribute an equivalent amount
to a 401(k)-style retirement sav-
ings plan. BCTGM called that
unacceptable. With traditional
pensions like the B&C Pension
Fund, employers invest funds to
make sure they can pay a guar-
anteed monthly benefit; with
401(k)s, all the investment risk
is on individual employees.
Mondelēz says it wants out of
the B&C Pension Fund because
the fund is projected to be insol-
vent within 17 years. But
BCTGM negotiator Ron Baker
said that doesn’t make financial
sense: If Mondelēz withdraws,
by law it would still be required
to pay $900 million to make
good on its existing obligations.
Baker said that’s about $25 mil-
lion a year for several decades
— about the same as Mondelēz
is paying now without the extra
401(k) style payments it’s pro-
posing.
In what Mondelēz called its
final offer, emailed to the union
Feb. 25, the company is also
proposing to reduce its contribu-
tion to employee health insur-
ance to 90 percent; right now it
pays 100 percent.
BCTGM continues to protest
Mondelēz’ decision to replace
several bakery production lines
in Chicago with new facilities in
Mexico. BCTGM is getting
ready to launch a consumer boy-
cott of Mexican-made Nabisco
products.
“We are going to be on it like
a dog on a bone, and we are not
going to let up,” Baker said.
LOcaL 48 vOLunteers
heLp feed hOmeLess
On Saturday, Feb. 13,
members of IBEW Local
48’s Reach out and En-
gage Next-gen Electrical
Workers (RENEW) group
put together over 140
sack lunches and
handed them out to the
homeless in downtown
Portland. Above, jour-
neyman Perry Felllman
and apprentice Kim
Cole prepare sand-
wiches. Left, apprentices
Kevin Lux and Kennitha
Wade, and material han-
dler Doug Hines get
ready to hand out
lunches. “It’s another
great way that Local 48
members are giving
back to their communi-
ties,” said Union Rep
Terry Reigle.
ONLINE EXTRA
BCTGM has produced a powerful
video about the 600 Nabisco workers
in Chicago who are fighting to save
their jobs: youtu.be/l4gNcoYg_qc
NLRB issues split decision in Walmart case
By Mark Gruenberg
Press Associates Inc.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Na-
tional Labor Relations Board
(NLRB) administrative law
judge (ALJ) issued a split deci-
sion in a notable case involving
anti-union retailer Walmart.
ALJ Jeffrey Carter ordered the
firm to rehire 14 workers it ille-
gally fired for standing up for
their rights in 2013, and to re-
scind discipline against 41 more.
He ordered the 14 reinstated with
back pay.
But that was all. Carter limited
the reach of his ruling.
He decided their job actions,
part of OURWalmart’s nation-
wide campaign of one-day
strikes in 2012 and its “Ride for
Respect,” which saw members
of the workers’ group descend
on Walmart’s Arkansas head-
quarters during its annual meet-
ing the following spring, affected
only 30 of the corporations 4,300
stores in the United States.
The action, aided by the
United Food and Commercial
Workers, launched its campaign
to put public pressure on the gi-
ant retailer to improve wages,
hours and working conditions at
the stores.
After the one-day strikes, and
despite prior company state-
ments, Walmart fired the 14
workers and disciplined the oth-
ers. Both moves broke labor law,
Carter found. Walmart illegally
threatened the workers for plan-
ning to take “protected concerted
activity,” Carter said. It also ille-
gally “issued disciplinary per-
sonal discussions” to workers
“because they participated in la-
bor activity on their own time,”
he added.
Walmart officials illegally
read the workers “talking points
that they could reasonably con-
strue” as a work rule with an il-
legal ban on strikes, Carter
added. And it illegally “coached”
the workers for engaging in the
protected strike, he explained.
In his 137-page ruling, Carter
ordered standard NLRB notices
posted at those 30 stores. The
notices say Walmart admits it
broke labor law against OUR-
Walmart members and promises
not to do it again. Carter did not
order Walmart to tell workers
and managers at other U.S.
stores about the ruling. And la-
bor law doesn’t issue fines.
OURWalmart, which has since
reorganized into another form,
had no comment on Carter’s de-
cision.
Photo by Dawn Jones of Redstone / Hearts + Sparks Productions
ceLebrating bad-ass fashiOn
Mercy Sham, a recent graduate of
the Oregon Tradeswomen pre-ap-
prenticeship program, models
workwear at Curious Comedy
Theater for the first-ever
Tradeswomen Fashion Show. The
sold-out Feb. 24 event raised
money for Oregon Tradeswomen
Inc., a non-profit that works to get
more women to enter high-skill,
high-wage construction and
metal trades.
HAPPENINGS
Knitting for Newborns kicks off 2016
TeamLabor! volunteer program
Labor’s Community Service Agency
(LCSA) is calling on organized la-
bor’s knitting, crochet, and sewing
hobbyists in the Portland Metro area
to register to participate in an after-
noon of crafting benefitting hospital-
ized children with barriers to health
care.
Knitting for Newborns will be held
on Sunday, March 13, at the Beaver-
ton Library from 1 to 3 p.m. Admis-
sion is by registration only.
The event is sponsored by Hands
On Greater Portland and benefits
children hospitalized at Virginia Gar-
cia Health Center and Randall Chil-
dren’s Hospital. The knitting pro-
gram is part of LCSA’s TeamLabor!,
in partnership with the Northwest
Oregon Labor Council and United
Way of the Columbia-Willamette.
For more information, or to regis-
ter, go online to lcsaportland.org and
click on the “get involved” tab, or
call Eryn Byram at 503-231-4962.
SW Walker Road, Beaverton. Regis-
tration opens at 11 a.m. The event is
coordinated by the National Associ-
ation of Letter Carriers (NALC)
Branch 82 and the Northwest Oregon
Labor Council, and includes a silent
auction. Since its inception in 1989,
union members have raised nearly
$400,000 for MDA. For more infor-
mation, or to sign up and receive
fundraising packets and instructions,
call Jim Falvey, president of Letter
Carriers Branch 82 at 503-493-5903.
To donate silent auction items, call
Kyle Ellerbe at 503-223-3177 or
email kellerbe@mdausa.org.
Low Prices!
The 27th annual Labor Bowl Chal-
lenge for Muscular Dystrophy will
be held Sunday, April 17, from noon
to 2:30 p.m. at Sunset Lanes, 12770
Mon-Fri 9-6, Sat 9:30-5:30, Sun 12-6