WE ARE PART OF THE
Inter-Union Wet/Dry Corn Milling Council History
"The Inter Union Wet Corn Milling Council was officially formed in Chicago, Illinois, at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in November of 1965.
The Council was formed by 13 Local Unions representing members of the Oil Chemical & Atomic Workers International Union, the American Federation of Grain Millers, and the Allied Industrial Workers of America.
The 13 Locals consisted of: Argo, Pekin, Kansas City, Corpus Christi, American Maize, National, Union, and Keever from the O.C.A.W., Clinton, Penick-Ford, Hubinger, and Moffett from the A.F.G.M., and Staley from the A.I.W.
The one most single factor that caused the formation of the Council was the need to exchange information by the various Locals pertaining to wages and fringe benefits.
As the Council began to meet on a regular basis to develop programs, it became apparent that the objectives of long-range planning should include such items as: a comparison of job classifications, common expiration dates of contracts, and the formulation of bargaining policies.
The formation of the Council resulted from many years of attempts by various individuals and groups to hold meetings, exchange ideas, and contract data. This became necessary because the companies in bargaining sessions would almost always refer to what other groups had in their Agreements, therein indicating that we already had more and better benefits and wages than was contained in other contracts.
As Union members began to realize the need for exchanging information, another problem therein resulted. International Unions had some fears of meeting with one another because of the possibility of "raiding." They would be reluctant to let each other know the internal workings of their Internationals and the Locals they represented. Quite often, Internationals would make attempts of taking memberships from other Internationals. It took many years of meetings and assurances that the reason to get together was not for the purpose of "raiding," but to exchange information that would better enable us to negotiate with our respective companies.
A Corn Council was formed on September 11, 1953 composed of seven Local Unions from three Internationals. This Council then started meeting on a regular basis to exchange information and ideas, and began setting up bargaining programs. It proved to be quite successful in negotiating contracts with their respective companies."
-Excerpt from HISTORY OF THE INTER-UNION WET CORN MILLING COUNCIL UNITED STATES & CANADA.
Now the Council, after 4 decades of growth, change, mergers, and new focuses, has become the Inter-Union Wet/Dry Corn Milling Council, the leader in the industry represented by its International and Local Unions for the purposes of sharing information that is vital to bargaining fair collective bargaining agreements, as well as defending our contractual terms through the grievance process.
The Council meets bi-annually. The current International Unions that have affiliate Locals are as follows: The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM), The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union (USW), the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), Retail and Wholesale Canadian Auto Workers (CAW-TCA), Canadian National Trade Union (CNTU) .
The Council would be glad to receive requests from International and Local Unions to attend our meetings to see if they are interested in becoming affiliate members of this Council.
The Companies represented by our affiliates include A.D.M., ACH, Aventine, Bunge, Cardinal Ontario, Casco, Corn Products, Cynex Harvest, GPC, National Starch, Penford Products, Roquette America, Tate & Lyle, and others.
