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.
By Brian Williams May 31, 2021
On the picket line at the Frito-Lay plant in Topeka, Kansas, May 12, members of Local 218 of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Union expressed anger over an injury to one of the temporary workers bosses recently brought into the plant. The picket, the third organized in the past three months, is part of the fight by workers there for a new contract.
The temp worker fell off while operating a forklift that then “rolled up onto her leg,” local union President Brent Hall told WIBW-TV. “This is something we let [Frito-Lay] do, we let them bring in a temporary company because they were skilled drivers, let them drive the forklifts and then, hear somebody don’t know what they’re doing.
While one unionization attempt by Denver marijuana cultivation workers has died, two more have since sprouted at dispensaries within the same company. And those efforts are still alive.
In February, workers for a growing operation owned by TweedLeaf, a network of marijuana stores and production operations, voted in favor of certifying with the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco, and Grain Millers Union Local 26 (BCTGM) chapter, and filed for approval with the National Labor Relations Board. If their campaign had been successful, the TweedLeaf workers would have been the first to unionize in Colorado s marijuana industry.
That attempt ended quickly, though, after the cultivation workers NLRB application was voluntarily withdrawn the next month. But the BCTGM group then filed two more certification applications on behalf of employees at TweedLeaf s two Denver stores, according to NLRB case files. TweedLeaf CEO John Kaweske confirms the unionization bids at two TweedLeaf locations a
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.