More Than Just a Picket Line: Stories from the Nabisco Strike

—guest post by Kasey Zimmer-Stucky, AFSCME Local 328 lead unit steward, executive board and 2019 bargaining team member—

Emotional, frustrated, isolated, divided. Those are the most common feelings associated with the last year and a half. I haven’t felt a sense of true community in a long time. But today I was reminded that true community still exists. I attended the rally for the Nabisco workers who have been on strike since August 10, and I saw what I’ve been missing. People — strangers, friends, family, community members — coming together to fight for what is right. What is just. What is fair. What is deserved.

From the moment I stepped out of my car and started walking to the picket line, I got tears in my eyes. Tears that would come in waves throughout the morning. The energy that comes from events like these, where people are fighting to keep food on the table and to keep their families healthy. There’s nothing like it. It’s powerful and electric. I left the rally hours ago and am still overcome with emotion when I think about how brave these workers are. Because nobody strikes because they want to. They strike because they have to.

Nabisco workers on the picket line, holding signs. Black person in foreground holds a homemade sign that says “Nabisco took my pension, now they want to take my pay!”

The striking workers lost their health insurance on day 19 of the strike. One woman spoke about her daughter who is immunocompromised and was admitted to the hospital last night. She admitted that she’s exhausted from showing up, every day, to fight for the health of her family. How she’s working two side jobs because she still needs a paycheck. How easy it would be for her to cross that picket line and go back to work. How badly she wants someone else to take her place on the line, just for one day, but she knows that this fight isn’t just about her. It’s about her coworkers, their families and, ultimately, every other laborer in the state. This strike isn’t about maintaining the status quo and it isn’t about greed. This is about lifting people up and treating people with respect.

Workers stand on picket line while one gives a speech. Middle ground figure holds a handmade sign that reads, “Strike, Nabisco, BCTGM Local 364.”

These workers were forced to work 30 - 60 days in a row, without a day off. They were forced to work mandatory overtime, without overtime pay. They worked without a contract and now they are on strike because they refuse to accept anymore take-backs from a corporation that has seen record profits.

The reason I’m sharing this with you is twofold. One, because people on the picket line need your help. They need you to send a message by boycotting Nabisco, they need you to stand with them on the line in solidarity, they need you to donate to their strike fund to help keep their basic needs met.

The other reason is because in February 2022, AFSCME Local 328 will begin negotiating a new contract with OHSU. Having been across the bargaining table from management three years ago, I can tell you with almost 100% certainty that come next year, OHSU will not offer you more pay to ensure you can continue to afford to live in the city in which you work, OHSU will not offer you more sick time to use when you need it, OHSU will not give you more vacation time to spend with your loved ones and OHSU will certainly not offer you more retirement benefits so that you can feel financially secure in your final phase of life. OHSU’s executive leadership will tell you that OHSU has been hurt financially by the pandemic and has been more than generous to its employees. But is that really true? OHSU has asked more of you than it ever has this past year and a half, yet continues to act as though you shouldn’t be rewarded or just protected from burnout.

Contract negotiations are emotional. They can leave us feeling frustrated, isolated and divided. As our union gears up for our own fight, we all need to remember what it feels like to be part of something that effects real change. So I challenge you to take an hour out of your week and stand on the line with the Nabisco workers. Talk to them. Tell them that what they’re doing is hard and that you support them. Soak up the sense of community, camaraderie and unity that we’ve all been missing. And if you walk away and aren’t moved nearly to tears, I challenge you to go back and ask them why they’re out there. Because as one striking worker said, voice shaking as he held back tears, “Everybody has a reason.”

Crowd of workers on picket line with signs, all facing to the right as they listen to someone.,

How You Can Help the Nabisco Workers

Stop by the picket line any time — workers are there every day, all day. Bring them food and drinks. Workers said that seeing the community show up for them keeps them feeling strong. Visit the Bakers Local 364 Facebook page for more information.
Donate to the workers’ strike fund.
Boycott Nabisco products.
Share information with people you know.