March 10--"Hey Irene! Stop being greedy! Keep our jobs in the city!"
That was one of several chants protesting upcoming job cuts aimed at Mondelez International CEO Irene Rosenfeld on Thursday outside the Four Seasons Hotel Chicago, where Rosenfeld was inside, speaking at a conference on innovation. Mondelez, which owns the longtime Nabisco plant on Chicago's Southwest Side, plans to lay off about half of its 1,200 or so employees at the facility.
Some employees who've already received layoff notices were among the dozens of protesters, organized by the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union Local 300. They marched in a tight loop on the sidewalk, chanting and wielding strongly worded signs. The demonstration lasted about an hour.
"Mondelez is taking our jobs to Mexico and they're going to leave us without any work," said Tony Briseno, 33, who lives in southwest suburban Justice. "We have families and kids and we need to care of them."
Briseno, who's worked at the plant for more than four years, is one of 277 employees who will be laid off later this month. More layoffs are expected to follow as Mondelez shifts some operations, including the production of Oreo cookies, to a new facility in Salinas, Mexico.
The factory jobs -- with the robust union wages and benefits -- are expected to be difficult for many of the workers to replace.
This week, Mondelez is in ongoing labor contract negotiations with the baker's union.
Cynthia Ruiz, who turns 67 on Saturday, has worked at the bakery for 43 years. Because of her seniority, Ruiz said it's unlikely she'll be laid off.
"I'm fighting for those that are," Ruiz said. When the layoff warning notices were handed out in January, she said, "full-grown men cried because they're losing their jobs."
Inside the Four Seasons Hotel, the Economist's Innovation Forum was underway, featuring executive speakers from companies such as LinkedIn, Motorola Mobility and Airbnb. In her remarks, Rosenfeld did not mention the protesters outside.
gtrotter@tribpub.com
