The strike was caused due to disagreements between Nabisco and the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers' International Union concerning new labor contracts after the previous ones had expired in mid-2021.

Nabisco is a subsidiary of the American confectionary company Mondelez International that is well known for its various brands of snack foods, such as Oreo, Chips Ahoy!, and Ritz Crackers, among others.

[1][4][5] However, by mid-2021, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the company closed their Atlanta and Fair Lawn facilities, which resulted in the loss of about 1,000 union jobs.

[1][11] Despite this, a local union at one of the American facilities filed a Trade Adjustment Assistance petition with the United States Department of Labor.

[23] Other union workers at the Portland plant, such as electricians and machinists, agreed to not cross the picket line in solidarity with Local 364.

[6] On August 13, the company erected a fence around the property, causing the picket line to move closer to the nearby thoroughfare in what one union representative claimed was "definitely an intimidation thing".

[24] In addition, members of other bakery unions began organizing a boycott of Nabisco products in solidarity with the BCTGM strikers.

[44][45] On August 18, actor Danny DeVito tweeted a statement in support of the striking BCTGM members and the boycott of Nabisco products.

[35][38][51] On August 24, members of the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Caucus of the Oregon Legislative Assembly sent a letter to Mondelez International that urged the company to negotiate for a new contract with the strikers.

[52] The caucus was joined by both of Oregon's Senators (Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden) and U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer, who also sent letters to Mondelez CEO Dirk Van de Put in support of the strikers.

[53] In addition, Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives Tina Kotek stated her intent to join with strikers on the picket line as a show of support.

[14] A later article from Cheddar published on August 27 stated that, while Mondelez's stock price had dropped approximately 2.4 percent for the month, the production facilities were still operating with nonunion strikebreakers.

[57] The Portland-based alternative newspaper Willamette Week also reported on the use of strikebreakers at the Portland facility in an August 26 article, stating that workers were being bused in daily.

[6][34] A representative for Local 1 in Chicago said that Mondelez was bringing in "retirees and managers" to operate the facilities there, but that "[t]hey barely have enough people to run one line".

[62] The announcement was widely reported on in light of the boycott against Nabisco products,[63] with articles published in Kotaku and AsiaOne questioning the ethicality of purchasing them.

[65] Also on September 2, AFL–CIO President Liz Shuler met with picketing strikers in Richmond to voice the AFL–CIO's continued support for the strike.

[60][58][69] Reporters from local television station KATU reported increased incidents of confrontations between protesters and security guards hired by Nabisco,[70][71] and on September 14, a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters who had been protesting with the striking workers filed a federal lawsuit against Huffmaster, claiming that one of the guards had committed assault and battery on him.

[72] That same day, members of the National Women's Soccer League team Portland Thorns FC joined the picket line in support of the striking workers.

[75] While the details of the agreement were not made public at that time, BCTGM President Anthony Shelton stated that the proposed contract would be presented for a vote by union members in the next few days.

[76] On September 18, the union announced that the contract had been ratified by its members, with the strikers to return to their jobs that week, thus ending the strike.

[78] Despite this, some workers at the Portland facility expressed dissatisfaction with some of the terms of the agreement, including provisions that they stated would lead to broader alternative scheduling.