CHICAGO – Hundreds of union employees at Nabisco bakeries, the producers of Oreo cookies and other popular snack brands, are on strike this week protesting Nabisco’s parent company, Mondelez International.
Employees at Nabisco bakeries in Portland, OR; Richmond, VA; and Chicago, in addition to employees at sales distribution facilities in Colorado and Illinois, are pushing back against concessions in contract negotiations and calling for an end to the outsourcing of jobs to Mexico, according to a report from the Associated Press (AP). The company has been negotiating a new four-year contract since the expiration of the previous one in May, which covers union employees at six Mondelez sites. The union membership has not yet voted on a contract.
Mondelez issued a statement about the strike today, saying the company is disappointed by the local union’s decisions to continue striking and will continue to “bargain in good faith” with union leadership around the country. The contracts presented during negotiations three weeks ago focused on narrowing the issues and setting up the US bakeries for future investment and long-term success, and they were rejected by union leadership, according to the company.
The discussion revolving around outsourcing jobs to Mexico stems from the closure of two US bakeries in New Jersey and Georgia that were announced in February and have since been completed. Mondelez said that no jobs from the closed plants had been moved to Mexico, and that it was focusing its US biscuit operations on East Coast bakeries in the Midwest and on the West Coast, including all three bakeries on strike.
The AP reported that the union claimed the contract proposals included a new alternative work schedule for employees and no premium pay for working on weekends, but Mondelez said that was a misinterpretation. The company said it wants to move some workers on high-demand lines to alternative schedules alternating three-to-four days a week in addition to revising overtime rules.
Mondelez said it has activated its business continuity plan and is committed to supplying its snacks to retailers and customers.
