More than three years after a bitter 40-day strike, Mondelez-Nabisco seems to have decided it wants labor peace.
In votes tallied Feb. 28, members of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) ratified a new five-year national collective bargaining agreement. The deal was recommended by the union bargaining team and covers about 1,000 BCTGM members at Nabisco bakeries in Portland, Chicago, and Richmond, Virginia, as well as distribution centers in Aurora, Colorado; Addison, Illinois; and Norcross, Georgia.
The agreement raises hourly wages $5.25 over five years, starting with an immediate raise of $1.25 on March 1 and followed by annual raises of $1. Most mixers and bake shop processors were making $31.82 an hour, so they’ll make $37.07 an hour by the end of the new contract.
The new agreement also maintains the company’s extraordinary health insurance benefits. Mondelez Nabisco pays the full premium for coverage that includes the worker plus their spouse and children. Workers pay no deductible, and have only a $15 copay for most doctor’s office visits.
The national contract is supplemented by local level agreements. BCTGM Local 364, which represents about 215 employees at Nabisco’s Portland bakery, won a commitment by the company to hold product sales at least once per quarter at the Portland bakery. During the sales, employees can buy up to two cases of heavily discounted Triscuits, Chips Ahoy, or other products they make.
BCTGM Local 364 Business Representative Cameron Taylor said the tone was very friendly when the two sides met for national bargaining Feb. 10-20 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
“It was a total 180 from last time,” Taylor said. “The company came in and wanted to get a deal.”
The new agreement runs through Feb. 28, 2030.
