Union workers broaden Earthgrains strike to five bakeries
Strike and picket lines are continuing to expand in the in Southeastern U.S. as "solidarity strikes" have spread to a total of five plants in the Earthgrains Co. labor dispute with the the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM).. According to the union, more than 1,200 union members are now on strike in Ft. Payne and Mobile, AL; Memphis and Chattanooga, TN and Atlanta, GA.
At noon on Saturday, August 26, a reported 694 workers continue to picket at plant that started the strike, in Ft. Payne, ALA, the company's largest production facility. BCTGM Local 611 represents about 74% of the plant's more than 900 employees. (See related article, Earthgrains continues despite Alabama strike ). Smith's Bakery, also owned by Earthgrains and based in Mobile, AL, also joined the strike.
On Tuesday, Aug. 29, nearly 100 workers at Earthgrains' Memphis, TN, bakery unanimously voted Monday to join the Ft. Payne workers in a sister strike. Frank Logan, president and business manager of Teamsters Local 515 in Chattanooga, TN, pledged his local's "total and complete support."
Approximately 200 more workers in Decatur, GA, also joined the strike. Earthgrains was cited as saying this has not affected production and it regrets the strike, having negotiated with the union's Decatur Local 42 for two months.
More union members in Earthgrains' plants throughout the U.S. are expected to join the strike as the conflict broadens, following a brakdown of negotiations last week.
Earthgrains, headquartered in St. Louis, MO, is the second largest U.S. baker (behind Interstate Bakeries) with more than $2 billion in sales. A reported 6,400 BCTGM union members are employed in 46 of the company's 65 plants.
BCTGM union Local 611 (BCTGM) represents employees in a reported 45 of Earthgrains' 65 U.S. plants and claims unfair labor practices.
The strike is spreading, and could affect as many as 6,400 union workers at Earthgrains plants. Coverage continues.
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Edited by Bob Sperber