2021 Nabisco strike

The 2021 Nabisco strike was a labor strike involving workers for the American snack manufacturer Nabisco, a subsidiary of Mondelez International. The strike began at a Nabisco facility in Portland, Oregon on August 10 and over the next few days spread to several more Nabisco facilities throughout the United States.

The strike was caused due to disagreements between Nabisco and the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers' International Union concerning new labor contracts after the previous ones had expired in mid-2021. In particular, the company was seeking changes in scheduling and overtime pay as well as the introduction of a new healthcare plan. The labor union was opposed to these changes and additionally wanted safeguards against possible outsourcing to Nabisco plants in Mexico. As a result of an impasse between the union and company, members of the local union at the Nabisco plant in Portland performed a walkout on August 10, initiating the strike. Over the next several days, other local unions at Nabisco facilities throughout the United States also joined in striking against the company, and by August 23, it had affected every bakery and distribution facility in the country. The strike is Nabisco's first since a 56-day strike in 1969.

On September 15, the union and company announced that they had reached a tentative agreement that would end the strike, with voting amongst union members to commence in the following days. On September 18, union members voted to accept the agreement, thus ending the strike. Terms of the contract included pay raises, increased contributions to the workers' 401(k) accounts, and a $5,000 bonus.

Background

Nabisco and the BCTGM

Nabisco is a subsidiary of the American confectionary company Mondelez International that is well known for its various brands of snack foods, such as Oreo, Chips Ahoy!, and Ritz Crackers, among others. Going into 2021, the company operated several production facilities in the United States whose workers were unionized with the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacoo Workers and Grain Millers' International Union (BCTGM), with locations in Atlanta, Georgia; Fair Lawn, New Jersey; Portland, Oregon; Richmond, Virginia; and Chicago, Illinois.[1][2] However, by mid-2021, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the company closed their Atlanta and Fair Lawn facilities, which resulted in the loss of about 1,000 union jobs.

Contract negotiations

In May 2021,[3][4] the labor contracts between Nabisco and the BCTGM expired without replacement contracts in place. Discussions between the union and company were at a standstill, with the company pushing for concessions in the next contract. In particular, in 2018, Nabisco stated that they would stop offering pension benefits, which was a major point of contention with the union.[5] As a replacement, the company instituted a 401(k) program, though the union was seeking the reinstitution of the pension plan.[3][6]

Some employees at the three plants also expressed concerns that their jobs could be outsourced to Nabisco plants in Mexico that had recently opened, though Nabisco has claimed that the plant closures in Atlanta and Fair Lawn did not result in those jobs being outsourced to the Mexican plants.[5][7] Despite this, a local union at one of the American facilities filed a Trade Adjustment Assistance petition with the United States Department of Labor.[8] In an interview with Vice in August, one employee stated, "There’s a constant threat of if you don’t agree to concessions, we'll leave".[5] Speaking about this issue, a union representative stated, "There’s no animosity on our part towards the Mexican workers. Our animosity is towards the company. The Mexican workers are just getting exploited."[1] As a result of the concerns, the union was seeking safeguards against potential outsourcing to the Mexican plants.[7]

Other points of contention between the company and union included the company pushing for mandatory weekend work, changing 8-hour shifts to 12-hour shifts without overtime pay, and creating a healthcare plan that would include two-tiers, which would increase costs for new hires. Around the time the contracts had expired, several employees stated that it was not uncommon for workers to work 6 to 7 days per week for 12- to 16-hour shifts during the pandemic.[5] These longer shifts were implemented by the company in order to keep up with an increased demand for snacks during the COVID-19 pandemic.[9] According to a representative for BCTGM Local 364 (representing the workers in Portland), the existing pay system included time-and-a-half pay for overtime and any work on Saturday and double pay for any work on Sunday, but the new system proposed by Nabisco would see a flat pay rate, regardless of days, until the worker reached 40 hours for a week.[7] One worker at the Portland facility estimated that these changes could result in some workers making approximately $10,000 less per year than with the existing system.[7][10] Nabisco was pushing for these changes during a time when the company was reporting increased revenue, with a revenue increase of about 12 percent compared to the previous year.[5]

Prelude to strike action

By August 10, Local 364 had been negotiating with Mondelez for about three weeks. On that day, with a breakdown in negotiations, workers at the facility performed a walkout, initiating strike action against the company.[15] The strike action came approximately a month after the 2021 Frito-Lay strike,[12] which also involved members of the BCTGM.[16][10] Both strikes occurred during a large growth in the snack industry caused by the pandemic.[17] This also marked the first strike action at Nabisco in 52 years, with the last incident lasting 56 days in 1969,[18]

Continued strike action

On August 23, representatives for both the union and company met to discuss negotiations, during which time the company stated that they were standing by their initial offer.[42] The following day, Cheddar News reported that Nabisco was bringing in replacement workers.[19] A later article from Cheddar published on August 27 stated that, while Mondelez's stock price had dropped approximately 2.4 percent for the month, the production facilities were still operating with nonunion strikebreakers.[57] The Portland-based alternative newspaper Willamette Week also reported on the use of strikebreakers at the Portland facility in an August 26 article, stating that workers were being bused in daily.[42] When asked by the newspaper about the use of nonunion workers during the strike, Mondelez did not respond.[42] However, several days into the strike, Mondelez stated that they would be initiating a contingency plan to keep their facilities operational during the course of the strike, seemingly alluding to the use of nonunion workers.[23][34] A representative for Local 1 in Chicago said that Mondelez was bringing in "retirees and managers" to operate the facilities there, but that "[t]hey barely have enough people to run one line".[34] Around the same time that replacement workers were allegedly being used at the Portland facility, Willamette Week reported that strikers had been joined by various leftist protesters, many of whom had been involved in protests during the 2020–2021 United States racial unrest. Among other things, these protesters blockaded parking lots where suspected replacement workers boarded vehicles that took them to the facility and set off car alarms at hotels where the replacement workers were reportedly staying.[25] The blockade in particular led to a brief altercation with company-hired security guards and led to police being called on the protesters.[58]

On August 31, Nabisco sent a cease and desist letter to the bakers union at the Portland facility warning legal action for continued interference in their operations, and several days later on September 2, officers from the Portland Police Bureau removed strikers from near the train tracks where they had been protesting.[59] According to some strikers, this came after Nabisco hired a surveying company to confirm that the strip of land near the railroad tracks that the strikers had been protesting in was owned by the company.[59] On September 2, Nabisco submitted a contract offer to the union that was rejected and later expired on September 7.[20] Terms of the proposed contract would have included a $5,000 bonus for each worker,[60] as well as increases in both annual wages and 401(k) matches.[61] On September 8, Nabisco announced a collaboration with The Pokémon Company with the release of limited edition Pokémon-themed Oreos.[62]

Also on September 2, AFL–CIO President Liz Shuler met with picketing strikers in Richmond to voice the AFL–CIO's continued support for the strike.[66][67] The following day, at a consumer conference, Van de Put stated that production levels at Nabisco were "not to the same level" as before the strike and that another round of discussions between the company and union were scheduled for the following week.[68] These would be the first direct discussions between the two groups since July.[61] Through mid-September, protesters in Portland began to speak about an increased level of violence from the security guards, who were from the Michigan-based security firm Huffmaster.[60][58][69] Reporters from local television station KATU

place	United States * Aurora, Colorado * Norcross, Georgia * Addison, Illinois * Chicago, Illinois * Portland, Oregon * Richmond, Virginia
title	2021 Nabisco strike
side2	Nabisco
side1	Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers' International Union * Local 1 (Addison and Chicago) * Local 26 (Aurora) * Local 42 (Norcross) * Local 358 (Richmond) * Local 364 (Portland)
date	August 10 – September 18, 2021
causes	Disagreements over terms of new labor contracts
goals	* Guarantees against outsourcing * Blocking changes to current scheduling and overtime systems * Blocking changes to the company's healthcare plan
methods	* Boycott * Picketing * Strike action * Walkout
result	* $5,000 bonus * Annual pay raises * Increased 401(k) contributions

2021 Nabisco strike

Background

Nabisco and the BCTGM

Contract negotiations

Prelude to strike action

Course of the strike

Strike spreads to other locations

Politicians and celebrities voice their support

Continued strike action

End of the strike

See also

Further reading

External links

References