Nabisco workers make gains in five-week strike

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Detroit/Seattle Workers' Voice mailing list
September 26, 2021

Nabisco workers make gains in five-week strike

by Tim Hall, Detroit Workers' Voice

A majority of 1000 Nabisco workers voted to end their five-week strike September 18th despite a strong push by workers at the Portland, Oregon, plant to continue striking. The strike had closed all Nabisco bakeries and distribution facilities in the United States. Nabisco is the maker of Oreos and Ritz Crackers.

The four-year contract was approved by a 75% to 25% vote, but opposed largely by the Portland workers. The Portland workers, who had initiated the strike in August, had refused to disband their picket lines when the national leadership of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union reached a tentative agreement with management. Nabisco had not had a strike in many years, so for 25% of the workforce to rebel against the union leadership was significant.

The strike also involved workers in Colorado, Virginia, Illinois and Georgia. In Portland, workers from other unions in the Portland bakery, including Teamsters, machinists and electricians, had joined the strike. They added support and solidarity but had no voice in the outcome.

. . . .

The strike succeeded in forcing Nabisco to drop its plan to shift the whole workforce onto an inferior health plan. This was a major issue. Additionally the workers got modest raises for four years, a $5000 settlement bonus and a doubling of the percentage of worker contributions to the 401k matched by management from 25% to 50%. The workers demanded, but did not get, restoration of their pension, stolen from them by management three years ago. ...

A few weeks ago workers at Frito-Lay waged a determined strike against another producer of snacks, which was also demanding oppressive amounts of overtime. Capitalist always claim that bigger profits will “trickle down” to benefit the workers. Instead, it seems that increased profits only whet the appetites of the exploiting capitalists to increase their pressure of the workers in pursuit of the highest possible profits.

These two small but determined strikes raise hopes that this spirit of defiance will spread as part of a broad workers' strike movement. <>

Full text at https://www.communistvoice.org/DSWV-210926.html.