Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 24, 2018)
PAGE 2 | August 24, 2018 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS (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 & Manager: 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 $15 a year for union members, $23 a year for all others. Pay by credit card online at nwlaborpress.org/subscribe, or send a check to our mailing address (above) along with your name, address and union affiliation, if any. Group rates of $10.56 a year per person are available for 25 or more subscriptions; 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: If you move, let us know at nwlaborpress.org/subscriber-services or by mail at our mailing address (above). Be sure to provide your old and new addresses and the name/number of your local union. Please allow three weeks for the change to take effect. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS P.O. BOX 13150 PORTLAND, OR 97213-0150 OREGONIANS: To cast a vote in the Nov. 6 general election, you must register by Oct. 16! Low Prices! Coats, etc. Mon-Fri 9-6, Sat 9:30-5:30, Sun 12-6 Bakers picket Portland home of Nabisco board member The profitable company is halt- ing pension contributions while paying executives so much that even shareholders are gagging. By Don McIntosh A busload of union picketers turned up outside the Northwest Portland home of a Mondelēz board member Christiana Smith Shi July 21, chanting and carry- ing “Hands Off Our Pensions” signs. Mondelēz, formerly known as Kraft, is the parent company of Nabisco, the well-known maker of Oreos, Chips Ahoy and Ritz crackers. On May 23, Mondelēz stopped contributing to a multi-employer pension sponsored by the Bakery Con- fectionery Tobacco and Grain Millers (BCTGM) union. Those payments were required under the union contract covering about 2,000 employees at Nabisco bakeries in Portland and four other U.S. locations, but the contract expired Feb. 29, 2016 and the two sides haven’t met to negotiate in more than two years. Mondelēz is replac- ing the pension payments with contributions to a 401(k)-type retirement savings account. Last year, Mondelēz paid its outgoing CEO Irene Rosenfeld $17.3 million and its incoming CEO Dirk Van de Put $42.4 mil- lion — pay packages that were so sweet that even shareholders rebelled, rejecting those terms by a 5-to-4 margin in a non- binding advisory vote at the company’s May 16 annual meeting. Christiana Smith Shi, a for- mer Nike executive, has served on the Mondelēz board since Jan. 4, 2016, so she shares re- sponsibility for the decision to deliver lavish CEO pay while ending worker pension contri- butions. But behind six-foot fences and drawn curtains, there was no sign whether she was at home during the union protest. Shi — who’s also on the board of UPS and Williams Sonoma — lives in a $2.6 million house in the Nob Hill district of North- west Portland. Built in 1899, the three-story 5,179 square foot Victorian is decorated with U.S. flags and red, white and blue bunting. That provoked some sharp com- ments from bakery workers; since April 2016 their union has been protesting Mondelēz deci- sion to lay off hundreds of Chicago workers and shift some production to a new plant near Monterrey, Mexico. Backed by the national AFL-CIO, BCTGM is leading a consumer boycott against all Mexican-made Nabisco products.
