Nabisco plant in Fair Lawn NJ closes, hundreds unemployed northjersey.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from northjersey.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Going into the second day of the first strike outside Topeka s Frito-Lay plant in nearly 50 years, a local relief fund had been set up to cover some union members utility bills, as area businesses showed support for those on the front line.
Members of Local 218 of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers & Grain Millers Union went on strike Monday after about 400 members voted down over the weekend a recent contract offer from Frito-Lay. The strike will last for an indefinite amount of time, and workers participating in the boycott are going without pay until it concludes.
Given some union members may struggle financially during that time, a local relief fund organized by 785 Magazine aims to raise enough money to cover each union member s water bill for the month of July.
Executives from the state s labor federation turned out Wednesday for the third picket outside Topeka s Frito-Lay plant this year.
The protest, which drew executives from Kansas AFL-CIO and other local labor leaders, is likely the last picket union members at Topeka s Frito-Lay plant will hold before taking a vote on whether to accept or reject a recent contract proposal made by the company.
If the contract offer doesn t pass, local union members may vote to strike. We re here to support them, said John Nave, executive vice president of Kansas AFL-CIO. These brothers and sisters out here have been dedicated to a company over the years that hasn t treated them well at all. . They carry that company on their backs, and they deserve to be treated fairly at the negotiation table.
Frito-Lay was scheduled to renegotiate union contract in September
Benaka said Frito-Lay made a last, best final offer to the union Wednesday that fell short of members expectations. He cited inadequate pay raises, noted the company wanted to increase the union s contract term from three years to four and said Frito-Lay indicated it would yank retroactive raises if union members didn t agree to the most recent proposal.
Frito-Lay was originally scheduled to renegotiate its contract with the union in September, so any raises agreed to now were expected to be retroactive through that month.
In an emailed statement Thursday afternoon, Frito-Lay indicated it was committed to reaching an agreement.