BUFFALO, NY (WKBW) — While many of us are getting ready to pass the turkey and gravy at Thanksgiving Day tables Thursday, striking Milk-Bone workers in Buffalo will be out in the cold, walking the picket line calling for fair wages and affordable healthcare.
The Milk-Bone employees walked off the job on October 28 after failing to reach a new contract agreement with Milk-Bone's parent company J.M. Smucker, after their contract expired in September.
I spent some time with the striking workers on Wednesday.
“We're just regular Buffalo people, you know. We're factory workers. We're just trying to make a living,” said Joe Mahoney.
“They haven't responded. We've been sitting out here for a month with not a peep from them," Mike Zogaria said.
Zogaria has worked at the plant for 20 years and is also a union negotiator. Mahoney has worked there for the last 16 years.
The workers are represented by the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM Local 36G).
“What is it like for you to have to walk the line?” I questioned.
“Very difficult. I mean, this is kind of like our home away from home here, and we put a lot of effort and pride in this building, our output and production over the years, and it's kind of difficult. They call it a family company, and we're kind of not feeling like family,” Mahoney replied.
You may not realize it, but more than 165 workers make a wide variety of Milk-Bone pet products at the Buffalo plant. They're calling for fair wages and lower health care costs. The union told me the main issue is affordable health insurance.
“The negotiating was going well. We thought we had a good contract, but we just, we can't make it happen with the health care the way it is,” Zogaria responded.
“When you have a great percentage of your wage being put towards your healthcare, it's a very difficult thing. It's a strain on your family, strain on the community as a whole, and it also takes away from your actual purchasing power as an individual,” Mahoney explained.
Workers noted that Smucker’s is a “multi-billion-dollar corporation," and right on its website it states it earned more than $8 billion this year with its "well-known" brands including Milk-Bone.
“We're not trying to get rich, and we're not trying to gouge the company. We just want to make a decent living,” said Mahoney.
“I feel like it's a family-based company that does not really care about our families at this moment and to be this close, we were close to a contract. I thought we were on the right track,” Zogaria shared.
Striking workers have been without pay for a month, so the union has set up this GoFundMe page and a strike fund.
You can help these workers by coming down and supporting their picket, bringing them food and drinks and even wood for their fire.
I reached out to Smucker's for comment on the ongoing strike and contract impasse. I was sent me the following statement:
"We have maintained open lines of communication with the BCTGM throughout this process. After receiving confirmation that our latest offer was voted down, we have not received further feedback from the union to allow us to continue negotiations. To confirm, we have not received any request from the BCTGM to resume negotiations, however remain willing to negotiate in hopes that we can come to a mutually acceptable agreement."
