Portland, OR – On September 18, more than 1000 members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM), who work for Nabisco across five states, voted in a split decision to accept a new contract offer from Nabisco and end their 39-day strike. The workers had been on strike in Portland, Oregon; Richmond Virginia; Chicago Illinois; Aurora, Colorado and Norcross, Georgia.

The union has not released full details on the new agreement, but one thing that they point to is that there are hourly wage increases each year of the four-year contract. A picture of the agreement was leaked on social media which appears to show a 2.25% raise the first year, followed by 60-cent raises each of the next three years. The union also says that they have preserved their healthcare, won 401k matching, and made gains on some workplace policies.

One of the main issues the workers struck over was forced overtime, where workers often had to work six or seven days of every week and do long unscheduled shifts. It is unclear currently if gains were made on this front in the new contract.

Not all of the striking workers agreed that this new offer was better, or good enough to return to work. In Portland, local union members there say that over 200 of the workers in their area voted against the new contract and to continue striking, saying that the new offer was not much better than the previous one which they had rejected. It is unclear how deep this split opinion runs in other parts of the country but is clear that the decision was a divided one.

#PortlandOR #PeoplesStruggles #strike #Strikes #Bakery #Confectionery #Nabisco #TobaccoWorkers #andGrainMillersInternationalUnionBCTGM