PAGE 2 | August 20, 2021 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
Nationwide Nabisco strike starts with Portland
From Page 1
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and pay us less.”
Marks is one of 210 strikers
at the Portland bakery who are
maintaining round-the-clock
pickets in four-hour shifts. They
get near constant honks of sup-
port from passing motorists on
busy Columbia Boulevard.
“Our biggest problem is peo-
ple dancing in the streets right
now,” said Taylor, the Local 364
representative. “It’s a safety is-
sue. People are playing music
and they’re having a good time
out there, but those trucks go by
really fast.”
For striker Jake Willits, the
strike comes as something of a
break. Willits says he and some
of his co-workers have been
working non-stop for months,
sometimes seven days a week
and up to 13 hours a day. It’s an
exhausting schedule, but at least
the union contract makes it lu-
crative: Saturday work pays
time-and-a-half, double time af-
ter eight hours, and Sunday
work pays double time. Those
shift premiums—which are
meant to discourage overwork,
are among the union rights the
company wants to eliminate.
“If we’re sacrificing time
with our family, we want to be
“At the end of the day, we spend more time here than with our family,” says
striking Nabisco worker Donna Marks. “Why should we be ashamed to make
a decent wage?”
compensated,” Willits said.
Members of other unions at
the Nabisco plant have been
honoring the strike picket line,
including Operating Engineers
Local 701, Teamsters Local
206, and IBEW Local 48. Mem-
bers of Machinists Lodge 63
who maintain the equipment
also left, taking their tools with
them when they left the plant.
At press time, the company
hasn’t tried to bring in strike re-
placements, and production has
stopped cold. The employee
parking lot is empty except for
the cars of managers and hired
security. With production halted,
the familiar smell is gone from
the neighborhood, and Nabisco
products may start disappearing
from store shelves. What will be
the first to go? Workers say the
Portland plant is the only one to
make Nabisco’s Chicken in a
Biskit crackers, as well as the
Oreo mix that’s used to create
McDonald’s Oreo “McFlurry”
soft serve ice cream.
On Aug. 14, sidewalks filled
to overflowing as supporters
turned out for a rally spearheaded
by retired letter carrier and long-
time union activist Jamie Par-
tridge. Organized by the Portland
chapter of Democratic Socialists
of America, and backed by Port-
land Jobs with Justice and the
Northwest Oregon Labor Coun-
cil, the rally drew support from
multiple unions and several
elected officials, including Ore-
gon House Speaker Tina Kotek
and labor legislator Dacia Gray-
ber. A staffperson from U.S. Sen.
Jeff Merkley’s office brought
bottled water and a statement of
support from the senator.
On week two of the strike,
BCTGM strike benefits of $105
a week began. Local 364 presi-
dent Jesus Martinez said he’s
hopeful that if the strike drags
on, the tight labor market may
help keep strikers going with
temporary jobs.
UNION SOLIDARITY:
THEIR FIGHT IS OUR FIGHT
Portland Nabisco strikers welcome
visits and appreciate any kind of
help. Lots of local union members
have been coming by with water or
food or just dropping by to offer
moral support. You’ll find the pick-
eters there at all hours of the day at
100 NE Columbia Blvd. The second
community rally will take place
10 am to noon Saturday Aug. 21.