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, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers' International Union (BCTGM), with locations in Atlanta, Georgia; Fair Lawn, New Jersey; Portland, Oregon; Richmond, Virginia; and Chicago, Illinois. 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, 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. As a replacement, the company instituted a 401(k) program, though the union was seeking the reinstitution of the pension plan.
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. Despite this, a local union at one of the American facilities filed a Trade Adjustment Assistance petition with the United States Department of Labor. 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". 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." As a result of the concerns, the union was seeking safeguards against potential outsourcing to the Mexican plants.
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. These longer shifts were implemented by the company in order to keep up with an increased demand for snacks during the COVID-19 pandemic. 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. 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. 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. Additionally, Nabisco's parent company nearly doubled their profits in the most recent fiscal quarter of 2021. Speaking of this, one union representative stated, "This company made record profits throughout the pandemic and then they come to the table and they want concessions. It’s absolutely a slap in the face."
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. The strike action came approximately a month after the 2021 Frito-Lay strike, which also involved members of the BCTGM. Both strikes occurred during a large growth in the snack industry caused by the pandemic. This also marked the first strike action at Nabisco in 52 years, with the last incident lasting 56 days in 1969, and occurred amidst a nationwide labor shortage.
Course of the strike The strike began at the Portland facility on August 10 with a walkout that involved about 200 workers. On that day, they began picketing outside of the plant. Other union workers at the Portland plant, such as electricians and machinists, agreed to not cross the picket line in solidarity with Local 364. On August 13, the company erected a fence around the property, causing the picket line to move closer to the nearby thoroughfare in what one union representative claimed was "definitely an intimidation thing". The following Saturday, August 14, a rally was held outside the plant that was attended by hundreds of supporters, including Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan, Oregon State Representative Rachel Prusak, and Oregon AFL–CIO President Graham Trainor. Members of other local unions also attended in support of the strike. In addition, members of other bakery unions began organizing a boycott of Nabisco products in solidarity with the BCTGM strikers. In another show of inter-union support, members of Railroad Workers United refused to deliver baking supplies to the Portland facility when they saw the workers on strike. This came after a striking baker at the Portland facility stopped a Union Pacific supply train bound for the facility and explained to the union-member train engineer that they were on strike, after which the train reversed course. A spokesman for Union Pacific later stated that they were not servicing the facility due to the strike.
Strike spreads to other locations Shortly after the Portland strike began, local unions at other Nabisco facilities began preparing for additional strike action. On August 12, BCTGM Local 26 in Aurora began their own strike, with the local union further claiming that Nabisco had violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by trying to negotiate directly with employees at the facility. On August 16, about 400 members of Local 358 in Richmond also went on strike. That same day, Mondelez issued a press release where they stated that they were dedicated to continuing to bargain "in good faith" with the union. August 19 saw Local 1, representing workers at a production facility in Chicago, also join in striking against Nabisco, picketing the facility in the city's Marquette Park neighborhood. The strike action also affected a distribution facility in nearby Addison, Illinois. With the strike action at the Chicago plant, WBUR-FM reported that "all major U.S. bakeries" that produce Nabisco products were on strike. Also following the start of strike action in Chicago, it was reported that over 1,000 workers were now involved in the strike. On August 23, Local 42 at a distribution center in Norcross, Georgia (near Atlanta) also joined the strike. With the Norcross action, all Nabisco bakeries and distribution facilities in the United States were now involved in the strike. As the strike spread, many supermarkets began to stock up on Nabisco products, predicting a shortage as the strike continued.
Politicians and celebrities voice their support On August 18, actor Danny DeVito tweeted a statement in support of the striking BCTGM members and the boycott of Nabisco products. Following the tweet, DeVito's Twitter account was temporarily unverified, which was reported on by several sources. Twitter later stated that the incident was unrelated to the tweet and was due to issues regarding his account information. Additional support has been shown by actress Susan Sarandon, former United States Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. On August 24, members of the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Caucus of the Oregon Legislative Assembly sent a letter to Mondelez International that urged the company to negotiate for a new contract with the strikers. Oregon State Senator Lew Frederick, who is a member of the BIPOC Caucus, represents the area of the state that is home to the Nabisco plant. The caucus was joined by both of Oregon's Senators (Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden) and U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer, who also sent letters to Mondelez CEO Dirk Van de Put in support of the strikers. In addition, Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives Tina Kotek stated her intent to join with strikers on the picket line as a show of support. Similarly, on September 1, U.S. Representative Jesús "Chuy" García expressed his intent to join with picketers in Chicago, while Portland commissioners Jo Ann Hardesty and Carmen Rubio did so on September 4.
Continued strike action