In Memoriam: President David B. Durkee

Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union

March/ April 2020

BCTGM International President

David B. Durkee 1954 – 2020

When a leader’s vision is so strong.

So powerful.

That generations of workers will benefit from his actions.

This person does not leave us.

His spirit lives on in other ways.

It lives on in a stronger Union.

It lives on in safer workplaces.

And it lives on in our commitment to helping workers live longer, safer, happier lives.

Which is why David B. Durkee will live on in our hearts and in our minds.

And why his legacy will continue to thrive within the BCTGM.

Volume 22 Number 2

In Memoriam

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BCTGM International President David B. Durkee died on March 30, after a long and valiant battle with cancer. He was 66.

President Durkee’s tenure as leader of the BCTGM was marked by an unwavering, untiring and relentless commitment to protecting and advancing the rights and standard of living of union members and their families. There was no fight he wouldn’t lead, no adversary he wouldn’t confront, if the best interests of workers and the BCTGM were at risk.

President Durkee was a modest man – especially for a leader of an International Union. He stayed loyal to his roots and often recalled stories of working in the bakery when relating back to present day struggles of union workers.

He was honored to lead this union – his life’s work for 47 years, during which he went from a mixer at the Lewis Brothers Bakery in Evansville, Ind. to a Local 280 officer, to International Representative, International Executive Vice President, Director of Organization, International Secretary-Treasurer and finally, International President. He was the longest serving execcutive officer of the BCTGM. President Durkee will forever remain a model for

all of us to aim higher, with our actions and not just our words.

His devotion to the principles and mission of the labor movement, his love for our membership and his dedication to community and his family were the driving force in his leadership of the BCTGM. There were no gray areas in President Durkee’s fight for justice. His commitment was to fight for the least amongst us. And it was that compassion for working people that made him the great man he was.

Forever a union organizer at heart, President Durkee often quoted Mother Jones. During this troubled time, he would urge us all to: “Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living.”

President Durkee’s memory and spirit will live on in the lessons we all take away from his life. The photos and quotes on these pages represent a small portion of the powerful legacy he leaves behind in the BCTGM.

BCTGM News

Official Publication of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union 10401 Connecticut Avenue, Kensington, Maryland 20895-3961 (301) 933-8600 www.bctgm.org Anthony Shelton, Editor Corrina A. Christensen, Assistant Editor

“I would rather be hated for what I stand up for, than liked for what I don’t stand up for.”

– Reflecting on the Hostess strike of 2012 2

BCTGM General Executive Board President Anthony Shelton • Secretary-Treasurer David Woods Vice Presidents Shad Clark • Roger Miller Ron Piercey • Brad Schmidt • Zachary Townsend BCTGM General Executive Board Members Joyce Alston • John Bethel • Richard Davis Pierre Luc Ducet • Paul LaBuda • Mary Trujillo Earl Lublow • Letitia Malone • Gary Oskoian • Paula Steig Doyle Townson • Jeff Webb • Donald Woods BCTGM News (ISSN 1525-4860) is published bi-monthly by the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union, 10401 Connecticut Avenue, Kensington, MD 20895-3961. Periodicals postage paid at Kensington, MD and at additional mailing offices.

Subscription to new members only. Postmaster: Send address changes to BCTGM News, 10401 Connecticut Avenue, Kensington, MD 20895-3961.

BCTGM News

“We believe in the strength and dignity of hard work and that the basis of addressing inequality must include fair wages, the right to form a union, just treatment and safe working conditions.

This is the standard to which we negotiate every collective bargaining agreement.”

– September 2015

“We will fight for your retirement as long as it takes, with every ounce of energy that we can muster. You EARNED them. You DESERVE them.

Brothers and sisters, you are the front line of this historic fight and each and every one of you is a hero!”

“It is absolutely essential to the future of the middle class that we consistently and fearlessly stand up to corporate greed and illegal and immoral actions that harm the wellbeing of our members and undermine the high standards of BCTGM contracts in every one of our industries.”

– July 2018, Save Our Pensions Rally Columbus, Ohio

January/February 2020

www.bctgm.org

– On the Kellogg lockout, November 2013

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Anthony Shelton Elected as BCTGM INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT On April 16, the BCTGM General Executive Board (GEB) unanimously elected Anthony Shelton as International President, to fulfil the term of International President David B. Durkee who passed away on March 30.

Shelton served as BCTGM International Secretary-Treasurer since December 6, 2019 when he was elected to that position by the BCTGM GEB. Shelton has been a member of the Union since 1973 when he went to work at Holsum Bakery in Chattanooga, Tenn. and became a member of Local 25. He also worked at Colonial Bakery where he served as both a steward and chief shop steward.

Shelton was a Local 25 Trustee and member of the Local 25 Executive Board between 1986 and 1992.

In March 1992, President John DeConcini appointed Shelton as a Southern Region International Representative, a position he held for 23 years.

In September 2015, Shelton was elected by the BCTGM General Executive Board to serve as International Vice President of the Southern Region.

At the 2018 BCTGM Constitutional Convention, delegates elected Shelton to a full four-year term as the Southern Region International Vice President.

“I am honored that the Board has entrusted me to serve as International President and pledge to our members that I will devote all of my time and energy to lead our great Union with the highest degree of integrity and commitment to the principles upon which the BCTGM was built. I will use as guideposts the inspiring legacy of quality, effective and dignified leadership displayed by my esteemed predecessors Brothers John DeConcini, Frank Hurt and David B. Durkee during their time as International President.�

- BCTGM International President Anthony Shelton

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BCTGM News

BCTGM General Executive Board Elects New INTERNATIONAL SECRETARY-TREASURER On April 16, 2020, the General Executive Board (GEB) unanimously elected David Woods to serve as BCTGM International Secretary-Treasurer.

On December 6, 2019, the General Executive Board elected Woods as the Southern Region International Vice President.

Woods became a member of the BCTGM Local 165G (Knoxville, Tenn.) in August 1989 when he went to work at White Lily Foods Co. as a maintenance mechanic. Woods served as the Principal Officer of Local 165G until the Local merged into Local 25 (Chattanooga, Tenn.) in 2004 and he was elected as Assistant Business Agent of the newly

merged Local Union.

In 2007, Woods was elected Business Agent/Financial Secretary of Local 25, a position he served until 2012 when International President Frank Hurt named him as a Southern Region International Representative.

While he was a local union officer, David served as a Trustee of the Chattanooga Central Labor Council and Committee Member of the Knoxville-Oak Ridge Central Labor Council. He has a long and active history serving various roles with the United Way and the Boy Scouts of America.

In 2017, Woods graduated from the Harvard Trade Union Program.

Trade unionism runs in Woods’ blood. His father, Harold Woods, was President of the Tennessee AFLCIO and his mother, Sylvia, was a local and regional leader for the Office and Professional Employees Union.

GEB Elects Zachary Townsend as Southern Region Vice President The GEB elected Zach Townsend to serve as Southern Region International Vice President, to complete the unexpired term of Woods.

Townsend became a member of Local 42 (Atlanta) in 1998 when he began working at Sonoco Products. In 1990, he was elected as a shop steward and several years later, he was elected as Chief Shop Steward, a position he served for more than 15 years.

Townsend served as a member of Local January/February 2020

42’s Executive Board, representing the members of Sonoco Products. In 2008, he was elected as the Vice President of Local 42. In the middle of his term, Townsend stepped in to serve as Local 42 President when an auto accident forced the retirement of the elected Local 42 President. In 2010, Townsend was appointed to Local 42 Business Agent, a position he served until December 2014 when he became Business Manager of Local 42. In May 2018, Townsend was appointed as a Southern Region International Representative. www.bctgm.org

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Investing in the FUTURE of the BCTGM The following BCTGM members have been hired to serve on the International Union staff.

Darrell Copeland

Darrell Copeland became a member of BCTGM Local 42 in July 2008 when he took a production job at Kraft Foods in Atlanta after graduating from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan with a degree in Business Management in April 2008.

As a packing technician and shop steward, Copeland took a leadership role within the plant and frequently planned activities to help promote unity and solidarity.

In May 2017, Copeland was elected as a member of the Local 42 Executive Board and in June 2018 he was hired as a Organizer for the Local, a position he held until being hired by the International Union.

As a Local 42 Organizer, Copeland helped organize a maintenance group at Hostess Brands, and played a vital role in two successful organizing campaigns at Nestle Purina.

Derrik Byrd

Derrick Byrd became a member of BCTGM Local 317T (Greensboro, N.C.) in 2002 after he began working at Lorillard Tobacco in Greensboro.

Over the past eighteen years, Byrd has served as a Local 317T shop steward for eight years, Vice President for four years and as a Trustee for four years. In 2019, he was elected as President of Local 317T, a position he proudly served until joining the BCTGM International staff. As a newly elected President of Local 317T, Byrd attended the International Union’s week-long new officer training conference in Maryland in September 2019.

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Jason Thomas

Jason Thomas became a member of BCTGM Local 173 (Oklahoma City, Okla.) in April 1995 when he began working at Rainbo Bakery, which is now owned by Bimbo Bakeries USA. He was elected as a steward in 1996, a position he held throughout his tenure at the bakery. In 2001, Local 173 merged with Local 65 (Tulsa, Okla.). In 2014, Thomas was elected Business Agent / Financial Secretary of Local 65, a position he proudly served until he was hired by the International Union. In January 2019, Thomas returned to college utilizing the BCTGM Power/ Union Plus Free College Programs. He is presently completing his fourth semester and maintains a 4.0 grade point average.

Lisa Gregory

Lisa Gregory became a member of BCTGM Local 58G (Toledo, Ohio) in 2013, when she went to work in the warehousing and supply department at JM Smucker in Toledo. In 2015, Gregory was elected as the Local’s Recording Secretary. After her first term was complete, Gregory was elected as Local 58G Vice President, a position she held until accepting a position with the International Union staff.

For 10 years prior to joining the BCTGM, Gregory was a member of the UAW. BCTGM BCTGM News News

BCTGM Fights to Keep Members As the COVID-19 pandemic SAFE During Pandemic sweeps across the United States and Canada, BCTGM members, deemed “essential workers” by state and federal governments, continue to work to keep North America’s food supply running.

As shoppers fill their carts with cereal, flour, sugar, yogurt, bread and sweet goods, it is BCTGM members who report to work each day to ensure that American and Canadian families can be well fed.

Of greatest importance to all BCTGM local unions is the safety and health of Union members who go to work every day under stressful conditions.

To ensure that BCTGM members are safe on the job, the BCTGM has advocated and fought for temperature testing before shifts, protective masks, social distancing between shifts and in locker rooms, and continuous communication between the

L. 6 member Jeremy Nugent at the Bimbo Bakeries USA plant in Olean, N.Y.

January/February 2020

company and BCTGM local unions.

In addition, local unions have pushed to ensure that members who show symptoms, or who have family members or co-workers who have experienced symptoms, were given paid time off.

Additionally, many BCTGM members are faced with caring for minor children at home as a result of school and daycare closures. The BCTGM has worked with many employers to ensure shift flexibility and to relax normal attendance policies.

Recognizing the sacrifices made by BCTGM workers, many local unions have been able to secure “hazard” pay of $2.00 an hour, including those representing workers at Bimbo Bakeries USA, Kroger, Nabisco/Mondelez, Rich Products, Treehouse Foods, and Frito Lay. Many local unions were able to negotiate daily or weekly bonuses with several employers including General Mills, Ferrero Group, Kellogg Company, Flowers Foods, and Nestle Purina.

Several companies hold weekly conference calls with local unions to keep them up-to-date on what actions are being taken to keep workers safe.

According to BCTGM International President Anthony Shelton, many BCTGM employers have stepped up to do the right thing. “Most of our employers recognize the severity of the situation and have responded accordingly. Some employers did not and we had to lead the way,” said Shelton.

Most employers did not have established pandemic policies so each employer responded to the crisis differently.

Shelton adds that BCTGM Local union officers and shop stewards did a tremendous job ensuring employers took the proper precautions. In addition, local union officers kept in constant communication with the BCTGM International.

www.bctgm.org

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Celebrating

Everyday BCTGM The BCTGM represents thousands of workers at food processing facilities throughout North America who are working around the clock to keep grocery shelves stocked and food on the tables of working families in the United States and Canada.

The food processing sector has been deemed an ‘essential industry’ by federal and state governments in the United States. The importance of BCTGM members’ contribution to the economy could not be more apparent; the work BCTGM members do in industrial

L. 103 Rec. Secy. David Walker is working long hours at the Bimbo Bakery in Gastonia, N.C.

Local 68 member Kennita Jones is a roll mixer at Baltimore’s Schmidt Baking Co..

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HEROES

bread bakeries, flour mills, sugar, cereal, yogurt, snack foods and other production facilities is essential to the health and well-being of North American families.

Our union members are everyday working heroes and we want to thank every union member who is hard at work producing products in manufacturing facilities like Bimbo Bakeries USA, Kellogg/Keebler, Nabisco, General Mills, Cargill, Ardent Mills, Dannon, Quaker Oats amongst others, to rapidly restock grocery store shelves and replenish the supply of foods.

L. 334 member Bob Holbrook works in the canning department at B&M Beans in Portland, Maine.

Local 58G member Todd Buchholz and union workers at The Hometown Food Company in Toledo, Ohio make Hungry Jack pancakes, Martha White muffins, Pillsbury cakes and frosting and White Lily flour.

BCTGM News

Keeping our canine companions happy at home during the quarantine is L. 36G members Mike Zogaria (left) and Eric Schaefer (right) who make Milkbone dog biscuits in Buffalo, N.Y.

L. 6 member Luanne Durkin and her fellow union members are working safely in Blue Anchor, N.J. to keep Kellogg Waffles stocked in grocery stores.

L. 253 member Joe Fritz and fellow Kellogg/Keebler workers Cincinnati, Oh. are working around the clock to produce crackers and cookies to keep Americans happy snacking at home.

L. 36G member Tim Borowski is a cereal maintenance mechanic working hard at the Buffalo, N.Y. plant to help keep General Mills cereals on American breakfast tables.

January/February 2020

L. 42 member Xavier Westin is a palitizer operator at Sonoco Products in Forest Park, Ga. where union members make packaging products for refrigerated biscuits made by Treehouse Foods.

L. 334 member Spomenka Krsmanovic inspects cans of Underwood Products at the B&M Beans plant in Portland, Maine.

Cans of L. 334 made Baked Beans and Deviled Meat have been in high demand.

www.bctgm.org

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Pa. Bakery REOPENS with BCTGM Local 6 (Philadelphia) members began baking bread again Easter weekend at the former Stroehmann Brothers Bakery in Hazelton, Pa. to support the surge in demand for bread caused by the COVID-19 health crisis.

as the exclusive bargaining agent for all employees.

Citing the importance of the health and safety of its workforce, BIMBO Bakeries USA implemented additional safety measures at the Hazelton bakery, above the recommended CDC guidelines already in place at all BIMBO facilities. Added measures include:

Local 6 represented workers at the bakery until the bakery was closed last fall. The company recalled all of the former workers and voluntarily recognized Local 6

• Increased social distance practices by staggering start times to limit the number of workers in common areas (time clocks, break rooms, locker

Chf. Steward John Tate

Ricky Michaels Jason Michalik

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BCTGM News

BCTGM Local 6 Workers rooms); creating single chair tables in the break rooms; and, marking the floor in areas where workers may congregate to signify proper 6-foot distancing.

• Increased frequency of sanitation processes in all areas of the bakery, with special attention to sanitizing common touch surfaces.

• Increased direct communication with workers on the plant floor to ensure they have the information needed to keep themselves and co-workers safe.

The company has established a dedicated COVID-19 Response Team that is monitoring BIMBO facilities throughout the nation and continuously supporting workers during the health crisis.

Workers at the Hazelton bakery will be producing both bread and buns under various labels owned by BIMBO Bakeries USA. Among the bread and roll brands owned by the company include Sara Lee, Oroweat, Mrs. Baird’s, Tia Rosa and Dempster’s.

Dawn Gillot

Cindy Wolchesky

Thomas Hynson

January/February 2020

www.bctgm.org

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Danone Workers in Pennsylvania In late February, more than 150 Vote UNION YES! workers at Danone North America’s yogurt and plant-based powder facility in DuBois, Pa. voted overwhelmingly to join BCTGM Local 19 (Cleveland, OH).

France-based Danone is one of the largest food & beverage companies in the world. Danone’s largest subsidiary in the United States is Dannon Yogurt, producer of Dannon, Oikos, Danimals, Activia, and YoCream. The BCTGM represents workers at Dannon facilities in Minster, Ohio and West Jordan, Utah.

Danone prides itself on its positive relationship with trade unions, especially in Europe, and this philosophy has been carried over to operations in North America. In 2017, Danone acquired Whitewave Foods for $12.5 billion, which included the DuBois plant and 10 other manufacturing facilities.

At the time, Whitewave was the largest, non-dairy company in the United States producing brands such as Silk, So Delicious, Horizon Organic, Earthbound Farm and Alpro.

The company was also predominately nonunion.

Soon after the acquisition, the BCTGM, working with the International Union of Food Workers (IUF), of which the BCTGM is an important affiliate, expressed concern to Danone about the Americanstyle anti-union position maintained by management in the former Whitewave facilities.

In 2018, Danone executives, along with representatives of the BCTGM and the IUF met in New York City to discuss challenges facing workers in the nonunion plants. Danone pledged to abide by all U.S. labor laws and agreed not to conduct any type of anti-union campaign.

BCTGM organizers set up a union office in a trailer outside the DuBois, Pa. plant to answer questions and provide information to workers.

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L. 19 organizers Jim Franklin (left) and Stan LaBuda (right).

When several DuBois workers reached out to BCTGM International Director of Organization John Price in mid-2019 complaining of favoritism, scheduling issues and inadequate benefits, the Union launched an organizing campaign. A team of International staff organizers was led by Price and East-Central Region International Vice President Roger Miller.

The organizers also included Local 19 President and International General Executive Board member Paul LaBuda, Business Agents Stan LaBuda and Jim Franklin.

Union organizers spent significant time educating workers on their legal rights to join a union, as well as the union benefits covering workers at the BCTGMrepresented Dannon plants.

With a majority of the workers at the DuBois facility having signed union authorization cards, Local 19 approached Danone to request union access to the facility and to schedule a union election two weeks following the communication with the workers.

Due to wintry conditions of February in western Pennsylvania, a trailer was rented by Local 19 and placed near the employee entrance. Workers who wanted information or to talk to organizers from the International Union or Local 19 could visit the makeshift union office before or after their shift. Also part of the agreement, when employees asked company BCTGM News

supervisors or management about the union, they were directed to talk directly to union officials to ensure that the information was accurate.

On February 29, the workers at the DuBois facility voted 97-33 in favor of joining the BCTGM. According to Price, the overwhelming victory shows that when an employer allows a free and fair election without retaliation and fear, workers will always choose to join a union.

“The reason so few workers in the United States

belong to a union is that employers almost always run anti-union campaigns by firing workers, threatening workers with retaliation if they support the union, intimidate union activists and spread lies about unions as they control all communication to the workforce,” said Price.

“Danone played fair in allowing workers the freedom to decide if they wanted to form a union. And when workers have the true facts about what unions do for working families, the decision is easy,” said Price.

Coronavirus Shows North America the Truth: Unions Protect Worker Health

By John Price, BCTGM International Director of Organization

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uring the coronavirus pandemic, workers in hospitals, grocery stores, food manufacturing facilities, warehouses, transportation and elsewhere have been accurately deemed “essential employees”.

What defines essential workers: Those who put their own well-being on the line to provide healthcare, food and infrastructure. These are true heroes!

BCTGM members across North America are making sure store shelves are fully stocked with bread and buns, flour, sugar, baking mixes, sweet goods, yogurt and candy.

Unfair working conditions have always existed, but the coronavirus pandemic has placed the struggles of workers in the world’s spotlight as we witness the harsh realities of those who are most vulnerable to risk, injury, and death.

And what has become very clear is the difference between working in a unionized food production facility versus a non-union facility.

Unionized workplaces have negotiated hazard pay, bonuses, paid time off, relaxed attendance policies and strict health and safety guidelines to ensure that union members can remain safe at work during these trying times.

No worker should have to risk death to earn a paycheck, and no one should be forced to stay silent while observing co-workers exposed to lethal danger.

Workers have a real voice at work only when bosses are legally required to bargain collectively with their union. Helping more workers become union members should be a key part of America’s rebuilding January/February 2020

of the economy after the COVID-19 health crisis eases.

All levels of government should be making it easier for workers to organize and join unions, especially the workers who have served on the front lines of this pandemic, like food manufacturing workers.

More and more non-union food workers are reaching out to the BCTGM as we speak, wanting the protections of a BCTGM contract.

The reality is, the more workers join unions now, their protections on the job will be that much better when the next crisis hits. And that will benefit all working people throughout North America.

www.bctgm.org

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Nabisco/Mondelēz Local Unions RATIFY NEW AGREEMENT After fighting for a new contract for more than four years, BCTGM members at six Nabisco/ Mondelēz facilities in the United States voted in favor of a one-year collective bargaining agreement. A longer term deal will be negotiated over the next year.

Rallies and protests were held at the company’s annual shareholder meetings; the BCTGM International launched a “Check the Label” campaign directed at consumers to only buy Nabisco branded products made in the USA; the AFL-CIO sanctioned a boycott of Made in Mexico Nabisco products; and laid off BCTGM members from the Chicago plant travelled across the country educating labor unions, The one-year contract includes a 2.25% raise, a communities, university students and members of the process for dealing with outstanding grievances and clergy of actions by Nabisco/Mondelēz. arbitrations, and a $1,000 signing bonus.

The increasing pressure put on the company by Nearly 2,000 Nabisco/Mondelēz workers are these actions created an opening for a resumption of represented by the BCTGM. Union members are negotiations. employed by Mondelēz at In January 2020, the Nabisco production facilities local unions representing the in Richmond, Va., Portland, Nabisco/Mondelēz facilities Ore., Fair Lawn, N.J., Chicago agreed to take steps toward and Atlanta and a distribution negotiating a settlement. Over center in Denver. The contract a period of two months, the between the union and International Union, with Nabisco/Mondelēz expired on support and guidance from February 29, 2016. BCTGM the Local Unions involved, members make Oreo’s, Chip’s negotiated a short-term, one year Ahoy, Ritz, Animal Crackers, agreement. The 12-month deal Trisket, Graham Crackers, allows the Local Unions to deal among other brands. with the backlog of grievances The original contract and arbitrations and begin expired February 29, 2016 preparations for negotiations on and efforts to negotiate a new a longer term contract. In late collective bargaining agreement April, BCTGM members voted grew contentious when the to accept the agreement. company forced layoffs at International President – International President Anthony Shelton its Chicago facility, moved Anthony Shelton said it was production to a new facility in Mexico and threatened important for the union members to determine how to exit the B&C Pension Fund. to move forward. “Our members have been steadfast The “Nabisco 600 Campaign” was launched to during this fight and they deserve a lot of credit for aid BCTGM Local unions, with the support of the their resolve. And they decided that the best way AFL-CIO and the entire labor movement, to fight back forward was to accept the settlement and get back to against the company’s actions. work negotiating a long-term deal,” said Shelton.

“Our members have been steadfast during this fight and they deserve a lot of credit for their resolve. And they decided that the best way forward was to accept the settlement and get back to work negotiating a long-term deal.”

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BCTGM News

Free College Benefit The BCTGM Power/Union Plus Bachelor’s Degree Completion Program offers union members and their extended family members the opportunity to complete a bachelor’s degree at a significantly reduced cost, completely online. Now, anyone who enrolls before May 18 – including furloughed, unemployed or laid-off union members – can complete their entire degree free of charge, with no out-of-pocket costs for tuition, fees or e-books.

The two current degree completion programs are teacher education and business administration. Students must have their associate’s degree or 60 credits in either field to enroll.

Summer classes begin May 18, 2020. Students may enroll part time, but continuous enrollment is required. Students must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and the financial aid process.

Visit bachelorsdegree.unionplus.org or call 888-897-9671 to learn more.

January/February 2020

www.bctgm.org

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Printed in the U.S.A.

On April 16, 2020, the BCTGM International General Executive Board unanimously and enthusiastically voted to rename the BCTGM International Scholarship Program to the David B. Durkee Memorial Scholarship Program. The program will be a tribute to the legacy of President Durkee and the high value he placed on learning and education.

“I am heartened by the fact that new generations have taken up the fight to end injustice and inequality in all its ugly forms.

It is genuinely recognized that we are living in a time of great injustice. Income inequality is rising. The middle class is shrinking. Voting rights are being tossed aside. Women’s rights are under attack. The environment is being desecrated. The poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer. Which means we can either sit back and accept the corporate agenda of low wages, no regulations, and no rights. Or we can fight back. Just as Dr. Martin Luther King did.”

– BCTGM Internatonal President David B. Durkee, January 20, 2014, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Commemorative Service at Cane Creek Baptist Church, Memphis, Tenn.