The weather is getting cooler, the leaves are changing colors, and pumpkin spice is everywhere. That can mean only one thing: Halloween is just around the corner.
When choosing treats to hand out to your neighborhood’s little witches and werewolves, make sure to select union-made snacks to guarantee the highest quality, as well as to show your support for fair labor practices. The best choices come from the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM), United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), and – if you’re looking for healthy snacks like fruit and nuts – the United Farm Workers of America (UFW).
Do your research
As the old saying goes, you can “look for the union label” for snacks made by workers from the BCTGM, UFCW, or UFW. Failing that, there are several lists online, such as this one and this one, that help to identify union-made snacks. Nevertheless, we suggest corroborating any entries with some of your own research.
For instance, on Sept. 7, 2016, 400 BCTGM workers at a Just Born (Peeps, Mike & Ike, Hot Tamales) plant in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, went on strike to protest a plan that would eliminate their pensions and increase their health insurance costs. If supporting labor unions is important to you, you might consider avoiding these products until such issues are resolved.
Also, some products, as noted on the lists above, are manufactured both in the United States and abroad, including some by Hershey, Frito-Lay, and Nabisco. Check the individual packages to see where they were made.
Avoid Mars and Reese’s
Some well-known candy makers, however, don’t use union labor. Mars, Inc., makers of Mars bars, Milky Way, M&M’s, Snickers, Skittles, and Twix, does not employ union workers to make its candy. The same holds true for Reese’s – despite being a subsidiary of Hershey – so think twice before you purchase those peanut butter cups. Tasty as nonunion-made snacks may be, supporting union-made products help to protect and serve the country’s middle class.
The Fourth of July isn’t the only holiday where you can show your patriotic spirit for America. This Halloween, stick to candy made in the U.S. by union labor at responsible companies that work with their employees to ensure fair compensation and working conditions.
