Bakery Workers Union Issues Statement In Response To Mondelez Leadership Transition

KENSINGTON, Md., Aug. 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM), which represents thousands of members at Mondelez International, maker of Nabisco snack products, today issued the following statement in response to Mondelez International's recent announcement that Mr. Dirk Van de Put will succeed Irene Rosenfeld as CEO:

On behalf of dedicated BCTGM workers across the country, we welcome this transition and believe it presents an opportunity for Mondelez to acknowledge that a significant source of its success has, historically, been an alliance with loyal employees.

It is our hope that with new leadership comes new perspective, and that the company will shift its focus back to the very workers who helped build the company into the successful producer of America's most beloved brands. We hope Mondelez will renew its commitment to its workforce by making a substantive investment in new plants and equipment in the US in order to expand its manufacturing footprint in America, and subsequently create new middle-class American jobs.

Consistent with this view, BCTGM believes that this leadership transition can bring with it a return to a constructive, positive collective bargaining relationship with the Union that has the largest representational reach within Mondelez's U.S production sector, predicated on two basic principles: (1) loyalty as a two-way street between employer and employee and; (2) employees valued as a source of strength – not a disposable commodity.

Our optimism will not, however, deter us from a steadfast commitment to defend BCTGM members' jobs, standards of living and retirement security for as long as the company's current position to disregard their decades of service, abandon their communities and put them out of work and move that same work to Mexico continues. The National contract between Nabisco's parent company, Mondelez International and over 2,000 workers represented by the BCTGM, expired on February 29, 2016. BCTGM continues to be resolute in its commitment to securing a quality contract for its members – one that is in the very best interests of all members and their families today and in the future.

Contacts: 
Ron Baker, BCTGM Strategic Campaign Coordinator 
(703) 508-2637
[email protected]   

Jonathan Morgan or Alex Hinson, Perry Street Communications
(214) 965-9955
[email protected]
[email protected]   

SOURCE Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union