Earthgrains reports offer to BCTGM, Teamsters agreements
On Sunday, Sept. 18, Earthgrains Co. said that after a three-day "marathon bargaining session" with the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) talks are on hold with company proposals on the table for Mobile, Ala., and the Southeast region pattern (Fort Payne, Ala.).
The company offered new proposals and asked the union to allow employees to vote on the proposals.
The BCTGM talks have been under way off-and-on since Sept. 7 with the help of a federal mediator. The company asked the union last week to consider a 30-day cooling-off period during which employees would return to work, the company would retroactively reinstate medical benefits, and both sides would continue to negotiate. The offer was turned down.
The strike has cost both the company and union workers dearly. By Earthgrains' estimates, "Striking production workers have forfeited more than $4.5 million in wages since the strike began Aug. 26 in Fort Payne, Ala., where employees have given up more than $1 million in wages."
Union representatives and workers have sent various estimates of the cost of the strike to Earthgrains. Costs may be in the millions of dollars.
Earthgrains has about 3,000 union production employees at 26 bakeries on strike or honoring sympathy picket lines. Another 850 union production employees are reporting to work as scheduled at the affected bakeries. The company claims that more than half of its BCTGM production employees are working at bakeries in Mobile, Ala. (bread line pictured below) ; Atlanta; Memphis; Dallas and Paris, Texas, and Meridian, Miss.
The company says it is serving all markets and is operating all of its distribution and sales operations and that strike is having its greatest impact in California where less than half of customer demand is being met. In the Southeast, where the strike began, the company 90% of customer needs are being met.
Union representatives and workers have questioned such numbers as well as the claim that the company is serving all of its markets during the strike.
The latest bakeries to be impacted by sympathy picket lines are Springfield, Mo. (Sept. 16), Rockford, Ill. (Sept. 13), Grand Junction, Colo. (Sept. 13), and Dubuque, Iowa (Sept. 12). Production continues at all four, as well as at 20 of the 22 other facilities.
Some union agreements
During the BCTGM strike, Earthgrains reports that it has reached two contracts with the Teamstres union and has made additional contract agreements with production workers at several locations.
In California, Earthgrains said Sunday that it reached an agreement for a new five-year contract with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents 735 route sales representatives and other transport employees. This is one of the company's largest bargaining units. Ratification votes on the new contract were held Sunday and if . The contract would succeed the current contract set to expire Sept. 30.
In addition to a Teamster contract in Caloifornia, Earthgrains said it reached a new contract Sept. 1 with BCTGM production workers in Rockford.
The company also reports that it has reached agreements in the past 90 days with production workers at 10 other bakeries and with employees at 12 other locations, such as thrift stores and depots.
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