NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS |
...Nabisco boycott continues
From Page 1
contract since their old one expired Feb. 29,
2016. No negotiations have taken place since
April 2016, but the impasse hasn’t yet resulted
in a strike or lockout.
Mondelēz has made two “last, best, and fi-
nal” contract offers, most recently in Decem-
ber, but BCGTM rejected the terms. BCGTM
says it wants Mondelēz to bring the jobs back,
and rejects the company’s proposal to with-
draw from the union-sponsored multi-em-
ployer pension. Mondelēz is proposing instead
to contribute an equivalent amount to a 401(k)
plan, because the union pension is headed for
insolvency. As of April 28, the Bakery and
Confectionery Union and Industry Interna-
tional Pension Fund was projected to run out
of money in 13 years. But Mondelēz is still
honoring the terms of the expired union con-
tract, and is continuing to make pension con-
tributions, totaling $21 million in 2016.
Instead of striking, BCTGM has focused its
efforts on promoting the boycott, and has sent
laid-off workers around the country, first to
speak to union gatherings, and now to college
campuses in a tour assisted by the national stu-
dent labor organization United Students
Against Sweatshops.
On May 17 — in a demonstration BCTGM
called the “Nabisco shareholders showdown”
— union protesters showed up outside a cor-
porate meeting space in Lincolnshire, Illinois,
for the annual shareholder meeting. Inside the
meeting, several union leaders and a laid-off
worker Anthony Jackson questioned company
executives about the decision to downsize in
Chicago. Though Mondelēz reports that sales
are declining, the company is still immensely
profitable, netting $26 billion in 2016 and pay-
ing its CEO $16.7 million.
At the shareholders meeting, BCTGM re-
gional vice president Jethro Head submitted a
shareholder proposal for Mondelēz to create a
...AT&T strike
From Page 1
The company is also increas-
ingly using outside contractors
known as “authorized dealers”
to sell products and serv-
ices. Workers at those
locations aren’t
AT&T employees
— or union
members.
Headquartered
in Portland, 666-
member CWA
Local 7901 repre-
sents several hun-
dred AT&T wireless
and DIRECTV workers
in the Portland metro area. On
Day One of the strike, Local
7901 decided to concentrate its
forces at the AT&T retail outlet
at Mall 205. There, Local 7901
June 2, 2017 | PAGE 5
MULTNOMAH COUNTY
Labor Council takes stand
against soda tax initiative
The Northwest Oregon Labor
Council, AFL-CIO, took ac-
tion May 22 against a pro-
posed “soda tax” for Mult-
nomah County. At the Labor
Council’s Executive Board
meeting earlier in the day, rep-
resentatives of the Teamsters,
Bakers Local 114 and United
Food and Commercial Work-
ers Local 555 spoke in opposi-
tion to the tax, which would be
regressive because it would
fall harder on lower-income
people. Union officials ex-
pressed concern that it would
cause the loss of union jobs. A
similar tax has been in effect in
Philadelphia for about a year.
Advocates of the tax will need
to collect 17,000 signatures to
get it on the ballot. The Labor
Council approved a resolution
opposing the soda tax and dis-
couraging union members
from signing the initiative pe-
titions.
PEOPLE
New leader at Oregon
Tradeswomen
Outside the Mondelēz shareholders meeting,
protesting a proposal to replace Nabisco workers’
pension with a 401(k). (Photo by Nate Zeff)
committee that would report on the community
impact of Mondelez layoffs and factory clo-
sures. The resolution did not get majority sup-
port from shareholders.
—Don McIntosh
ONLINE EXTRA
This four-minute
video explains the
union’s fight:
youtu.be/izIbgNshpvs
executive vice president Celeste
Jones, an employee of the
AT&T store in Gresham, led a
group of about 20 strikers and
supporters. Participation in the
strike was stronger at some lo-
cations than others: Only some
workers at the Mall 205 store
walked off the job, and
employees at the
Lloyd Center store
on Northeast
Broadway report-
edly resolved as a
group not to take
part in the strike
at all, but strike
participation was
solid at the Gre-
sham and Clackamas
Town Center locations.
“It was really weighing in my
heart, and I felt like this was the
right decision,” said Mall 205
AT&T employee Jacob Shoda
about his choice to take part in
the strike. Shoda, who’s worked
at AT&T for six years, said he’s
reached the top of the pay scale,
$17.50 an hour. He also earns
$1,200 to $2,000 a month in
sales commissions, but a change
AT&T made in its commission
structure significantly reduced
his commission earnings in the
last year. CWA wants the next
contract to bar the company
from changing the commission
structure unilaterally.
About 90 minutes into the
strike, the Mall 205 picketers
got a visit from a special guest:
U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley.
Merkley dropped by to meet
strikers and walk the strike
picket line, along with several
members of his staff.
Strikers returned to their reg-
ularly scheduled shifts Monday
morning May 22.
Oregon Tradeswomen Inc.
(OTI) has named a new exec-
utive director — Kelly Kup-
cak. She
succeeds
Connie
Ashbrook,
who has led
the group
since she
helped
found it in
1989. Kup-
Kelly Kupcak
cak cur-
rently works as director of
technical assistance at Chicago
Women in Trades. At Chicago
Women in Trades, Kupcak
managed a 10-state multi-year
initiative and a national U.S.
Department of Labor contract
to improve outcomes for
women in nontraditional sec-
tors through technical assis-
tance to employers, registered
apprenticeship programs, and
government agencies. Ash-
brook will continue to be in-
volved with OTI as an advisor.
Kupcak will start at OTI July
10, 2017.
Barbara Byrd retires from
University of Oregon LERC
After 22 years, labor educator
Barbara
Byrd is re-
tiring from
the Univer-
sity of Ore-
gon Labor
Education
and
Re-
search Cen-
ter (LERC),
Barbara Byrd
which she
currently serves as Portland
Center Coordinator. Byrd will
continue on in her part-time
position as secretary-treasurer
of the Oregon AFL-CIO. Her
term at the state labor federa-
tion runs through October
2019.
We Know Legal Problems
Everyone deserves
affordable
legal protection. No matter how
Can Be
Challenging
trivial or traumatic, and everything in between.
LegalShield will be there to help — from real estate
to divorce and beyond — we have your rights covered.
For total peace of mind
LegalShield
Solution For Today’s Legal Needs/ Legal & Identy Theft Service Plans
T. J. Holder/ 360-213-8597
tjholder@crystalphoenix.biz