The Hammer: Power, Inequality, and the Struggle for the Soul of Labor Highlight

Typically, the BCTGM’s negotiations at Nabisco ended with contracts that continued the benefits of the previous contracts: pension, good health care, maybe a small raise. Mondelez was determined to get rid of the pension. From 2016 to 2018, negotiations went nowhere. In May 2018, Mondelez declared an impasse and announced that it would freeze contributions to the multi-employer pension that Nabisco workers belonged to, and begin offering 401(k)s instead. The company dangled a $15,000 cash bonus in front of workers if they would agree to a contract giving up their pensions and accepting worse health insurance. The union angrily refused. They knew the same thing that Mondelez’s own advisors did: a pension meant that the investment risk was on the company, and the benefits for the workers were guaranteed, while a 401(k) meant the opposite.