Members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union Local 6 voted to strike on September 2 after unanimously rejecting the company’s most recent contract offer.
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Members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) Local 6 at Just Born Inc.in Bethlehem went out on strike after rejecting the company’s last offer.
Union members voted to strike September 2 after rejecting a contract offer that the union said proposed eliminating workers’ pensions, boosting employees’ health care costs and providing unsatisfactory pay increases. And the company has benefited from their skills and dedication through soaring profits. Wages, health insurance and pensions are among employees’ concerns. Workers now make between $20 and $25 an hour.
“The primary barrier to an agreement is the company’s proposal to have future hires participate in a healthy 401K rather than the unsustainable multi-employer pension plan”, company spokesman Matt Pye said in a statement.
Workers told the Morning Call that Halloween candy production had been completed before they joined the picket line, but that the strike could cause delays in Easter candy orders.
150 of them walked out Wednesday morning. Besides marshmallow Peeps, the company is known for its non-chocolate candy products Mike and Ike, Teenee Beanee jelly beans and Hot Tamales.
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The company was founded in Brooklyn, NY in 1923 before it relocated to Pennsylvania in 1932 during the Great Depression.
