Organizers From Across BAC Are Ready to “Fight Like Hell and Organize”

Late to bed, early to rise, fight like hell and organize.” That’s the rallying cry behind BAC’s ongoing efforts to improve wages and benefits for Union members. And when organizers from across North America gathered together with International Union leaders in Chicago in mid-August, they got the tools to make those efforts a success.

Following CDC guidelines, 30 BAC members teamed with International Union leadership for a crash course on sharpening their organizing skills. The meeting included strategic research and labor law specialists, as well as presenters from the AFL-CIO. The event was held in conjunction with Administrative District Council 1 of Illinois, which has been historically aggressive in its organizing efforts to improve the lives of BAC members.

Led by BAC Director of Organizing Steve Nelms, ADC President Mike Volpentesta, Secretary-Treasurer Ruben Collazo Jr., Lead Organizer Juan Cuellar, and their staff, the meeting group engaged in field activities that included picketing and public awareness campaigns. They also joined brothers and sisters from the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco and Grain Milling Union (BCTGM), which was striking against Nabisco/ Modelez’s efforts to take its manufacturing offshore. Since BAC joined them on the picket line, the strike has ended, with BCTGM members winning a contract that protected their jobs and working conditions.

BAC Secretary-Treasurer Bob Arnold said, “Bringing in ideas from BAC organizers and field representatives from around the country is a great step toward unifying the effort to help grow our Union and give the unorganized a chance to improve the quality of life for themselves and their families.”

BAC Secretary-Treasurer Bob Arnold speaks at the Chicago meeting.