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It's International Food Workers Week--Support Organizing That Centers Those Who Feed Us
There's a long history of over-exploiting and under paying the people who do the vital, yet too often unseen, work that keeps grocery stores stocked with food.
Nov 23, 2021
Every year, the Food Chain Workers Alliance marks International Food Workers Week in November. As peoples' thoughts turn to holiday feasts, it's a time to recognize the labor that people working from field to factory contribute to feeding the world. What started as an awareness campaign in 2012 by organized food and farmworkers leveraging end-of-year holidays around the need to raise the minimum wage and improve working conditions from farm to table, the campaign has become more relevant than ever in 2021.
Too often, workers' calls for justice and all of our calls for a fair food system are met with false solutions.
Corporate greed has long been at the root of human rights violations in workplaces along the supply chain. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, big food companies that control much of the U.S. food supply and its infrastructure have posted record profits. Meanwhile, food and farmworkers were deemed "essential"--even as they struggled to get basic protections and fair pay at work. What we have witnessed throughout the pandemic is nothing new. There's a long history of over-exploiting and under paying the people who do the vital, yet too often unseen, work that keeps grocery stores stocked with food. But there's an equally long history of resistance led by those same people.
So often in the grocery store, those stories of resistance are made invisible. What we know of the struggles for human rights and dignity gets boiled down to an ethical label on a bar of chocolate or a tub of yogurt, and a simple question, "buy this, or buy that?" Over the years, my organization, Fair World Project, has produced many resources to help answer and expand on that question. But as the stories of #FoodWorkersRising this International Food Workers Week remind us, there are so many more ways we can build towards a fairer food system too.
In our "For a Better World" podcast, I have the honor of speaking to worker organizers, as well as others working to transform the food system. Right now, in the dairy barns of upstate New York, there's a years-long struggle going on for safe working conditions and for dignity. Workers tending the cows whose milk goes to Chobani have been calling on the yogurt maker to meet with them and negotiate. Organizing with the Workers Center of Central New York, these workers have moved legislative mountains, winning historic protections for union organizing and wage protections that too many farmworkers nationwide lack.
Now is a critical time in their campaign for justice. Instead of meeting with workers, Chobani has gone its own way, working with Fair Trade USA to develop a "fair trade dairy" label--without the participation or support of the workers it claims to benefit. In the words of organizer Crispin Hernandez, "We've spoken with workers on several of the farms participating in this program and without fail they are all confused about the program--how it works, who's running it, what their rights and benefits are, and how to get more information. Meanwhile working conditions and housing issues have not changed. We haven't seen any benefit to workers."
Too often, workers' calls for justice and all of our calls for a fair food system are met with false solutions like this label that try to rebrand the exploitative status quo as ethical. But there is another way.
Throughout the fall, we have seen wave upon wave of national strikes and labor actions as workers at national brands like Nabisco, Kellogg's and Hello Fresh joined thousands of others to stand up for fair pay and better working conditions. When actor Danny DeVito tweeted "No Contract, No Snacks," he set an example for what we can all do, regardless of our jobs. Our power and our participation in the food system doesn't start and stop in the grocery aisle. This International Food Workers' Week, we can amplify the demands of worker-led campaigns who are sharing their calls for action at #FoodWorkersRising2021. Together, we can support a food system grounded in justice that nourishes us all.
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Nabisco Strike Ends After Union Members Approve New Contract
"Congratulations to these brave workers on their wins," said one labor writer. "May their determination and grit be an inspiration for workers everywhere."
Sep 19, 2021
A strike that started last month in Portland, Oregon and spread to other Nabisco bakeries and distribution centers across the United States ended Saturday after unionized workers voted "overwhelmingly" in favor of a new collective bargaining agreement.
Though some Portland employees opposed ratifying the four-year contract, calling for better terms, it ultimately garnered the necessary support from workers there and at facilities in Aurora, Colorado; Richmond, Virginia; Chicago, Illinois; and Norcross, Georgia.
Anthony Shelton, president of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM), confirmed the agreement with Nabisco's parent company, Mondelez International, in a statement Saturday.
"This has been a long and difficult fight for our striking members, their families, and our union," Shelton said. "Throughout the strike, our members displayed tremendous courage, grit, and determination."
\u201cThe Nabisco strike is over! Congratulations to these brave workers on their wins, may their determination and grit be an inspiration for workers everywhere\u201d— Kim Kelly (@Kim Kelly) 1632006722
Cameron Taylor, a business agent at BCTGM Local 364 in Portland, toldThe Oregonian on Saturday that about 75% of all members approved of the agreement with the snack giant, known for Oreo and Chips Ahoy! cookies, as well as Ritz and other crackers.
"What my members wanted was to hold on to their benefits," Taylor said, referencing that the deal scraps a new healthcare proposal and allows most workers to maintain their regular overtime schedule. He noted that "what the company did get was a weekend crew."
While BCTGM Local 364 vice president Michael Burlingham told the Portland Mercury that he was "not surprised" by the vote "but it's disappointing nonetheless," both he and Taylor still framed the development as an improvement in conditions for workers.
The strike "sent a message to all corporations that workers are not going to get pushed around, even if these corporations are multi-billion corporations," said Taylor. "I think the strike was a success, we couldn't accept what the company was stuck on... and we got them to move off of it."
After the votes were counted, Darlene Carpenter, a business agent for the union's Local 358 in Virginia, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch, "I'm ecstatic."
"This is a major win," Carpenter said, noting that workers will get a raise each year of the contract, higher company match to 401(k) contributions, and a $5,000 ratification bonus. "We have been like David, who took down Goliath, because people stood up for their beliefs."
Carpenter signaled that workers at her location are equally happy about the outcome, adding that "I just got off the phone with one of the workers and she started crying because she was so ecstatic."
Glen Walter, Mondelez's executive vice president and president of its North America operations, said that the company was "pleased" to reach an agreement that will "provide our union-represented colleagues with good wages and competitive benefits, while also positioning our U.S. bakeries and sales distribution facilities for future growth and success."
Amid the celebrations, Shelton acknowledged that the "striking members made enormous sacrifices in order to achieve a quality contract that preserves our union's high standards for wages, hours, and benefits for current and future Nabisco workers."
"Their sacrifice will benefit all BCTGM members and working people around the country for years to come," he continued. "Those brothers and sisters who walked the picket lines day in and day out are true BCTGM heroes."
The union leader also expressed gratitude for "the outpouring of fraternal support and solidarity we received from across the labor movement in the U.S. and around the world."
\u201cCongratulations to @BCTGM Nabisco workers, who have won a contract that reflects the fair wages, hours & benefits they deserve.\n\nOver the course of the strike, they made it clear: There is power in a union & we won\u2019t back down. Good contract, good snacks. https://t.co/PIQURavQT1\u201d— Liz Shuler (@Liz Shuler) 1632002256
"We offer our deepest gratitude to AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler for directing the full resources and power of the AFL-CIO at the federal, state, and local levels in support of our striking members and our union," he said. "This support was critical to the success of the strike."
"The BCTGM has shown, once again, that this union will do whatever it takes, make any sacrifice, take on any employer or adversary," Shelton added, "in order to preserve the rights and jobs of our members and the standard of living of BCTGM families."
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'No Contracts, No Snacks': Nabisco Workers on Strike Across US
"If Nabisco can rake in billions of dollars in corporate profits, they can afford to treat their workers with dignity and respect."
Aug 20, 2021
Employees at Nabisco's flagship plant in Chicago walked off the job Thursday, joining workers at three of the leading snack maker's other U.S. plants who are demanding better working conditions, an end to foreign outsourcing, and the withdrawal of a company plan that would scrap the company's current guaranteed overtime pay system.
"They don't care about frontline workers. They only care about the almighty dollar. We're tired of getting stepped on and treated like trash. We've had enough."
--Rusty Lewis, Nabisco worker
The strike began August 10 when around 200 members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers' (BCTGM) International Union Local 364 walked out of a Nabisco factory in Portland, Oregon that makes Oreo and Chips Ahoy! cookies, as well as Ritz, Premium saltines, and other crackers.
Workers at Nabisco plants in Aurora, Colorado and Richmond, Virginia followed suit, saying they planned to strike until Nabisco's parent company, multinational confectionery corporation Mondelez International, agrees to negotiate a new contract. The most recent agreement expired in May.
With U.S. snack consumption rising during the pandemic, Mondelez's 2020 revenue increased to $26.6 billion, according to Chicago Business Journal, with profits of $3.6 billion and a 6% annual increase in share price. Dirk Van de Put, Mondelez's new CEO, could earn more than $17 million in compensation, plus a $38 million one-time windfall, this year.
Meanwhile, Nabisco workers have been forced to work 12 to 16 hour shifts, six to seven days a week, during the pandemic, while the company seeks to eliminate overtime pay by altering employee schedules so that weekend shifts become part of the 40-hour work week. Workers are also rejecting a Mondelez proposal to create different employee health plans under which new hires would pay more, including deductibles--which do not exist under the current system.
\u201cChicago @nabisco plant ON STRIKE! Support the #NabiscoStrike and American Jobs! \n@SenatorDurbin @SenDuckworth \nhttps://t.co/P6xFtpQkRt\u201d— BCTGM International (@BCTGM International) 1629407212
Nabisco workers stress that they are not asking for more pay or benefits.
"This fight is about maintaining what we already have," Mike Burlingham, vice president of BCTGM Local 364 in Portland, toldToday. "During the pandemic, we all were putting in a lot of hours, demand was higher, people were at home, and the snack food industry did phenomenally well. Mondelez made record profits and they want to thank us by closing two of the U.S. bakeries and telling the rest of us we have to take concessions, what kind of thanks is that?"
"We make them a lot of money," added Burlingham. "It's very disheartening. How is that supposed to make us feel?"
Workers say the proposed changes are the latest in a long line of affronts that began in 2016 when Mondelez laid off 600 workers while shutting down half of Nabisco's Chicago production lines and relocating operations to Mexico. In 2018, the company eliminated the pensions of thousands of workers and retirees, and this year over 1,000 jobs were lost when plants in Georgia and New Jersey were shuttered.
\u201c\u201cNo Oreos, no Chips Ahoy, no nothing!\u201d\n\nLove the \ud83d\udd25 of these strikers! Besides joining strike lines in PDX, Richmond, VA and Aurora, Colorado, solidarity can be shown through not buying outsourced Mondelez/Nabisco products. #1u\u201d— Read Reviving The Strike by Joe Burns \ud83e\udee1 (@Read Reviving The Strike by Joe Burns \ud83e\udee1) 1629249075
"They couldn't care less about us," striker Donna Marks, who has worked 17 years at the Portland plant, said of Mondelez in an interview with nwLaborPress.
"I used to enjoy this job, it used to be like a family to me," Marks told Willamette Week. "Now, they want us to work more and pay us less, and everything that we have, we have because we negotiated. They want to take away what we fought for with no negotiation. They act as if they gave us something."
Rusty Lewis, a striking worker at Nabisco's Aurora distribution center, told Motherboard that workplace conditions have been deteriorating during his 25-year tenure.
"It's gotten worse. It's gotten horrible. Horrible hours," he said. "They don't care about frontline workers. They only care about the almighty dollar. We're tired of getting stepped on and treated like trash. We've had enough."
Mondelez said in a statement that its goal "has been--and continues to be--to bargain in good faith with the BCTGM leadership across our U.S. bakeries and sales distribution facilities to reach new contracts that continue to provide our employees with good wages and competitive benefits, including quality, affordable healthcare, and [a] company-sponsored Enhanced Thrift Investment 401(k) Plan, while also taking steps to modernize some contract aspects which were written several decades ago."
The strike has drawn solidarity and support from BCTGM workers at Frito-Lay's Topeka, Kansas factory--who ended their nearly seven-week strike on Wednesday--as well as from other unions, activists, politicians, and celebrities.
\u201cWe are not going to let @MDLZ exploit its workers. Enough is enough! \n\nNo contract\ud83d\udcc4 \u2022 No snacks \ud83c\udf6a\u201d— Nina Turner (@Nina Turner) 1629462834
"I stand in solidarity with BCTGM workers in Oregon, Colorado, and Virginia who are on strike for a fair contract and for decent working conditions," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) tweeted Wednesday. "If Nabisco can rake in billions of dollars in corporate profits, they can afford to treat their workers with dignity and respect."
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