Kellog’s US Employers Decide to go on Strike

Employees at Kellogg’s Company’s U.S. cereal plants have stopped all the work and decided to strike on Tuesday. Nearly 1,400 workers went on strike, but it wasn’t clear how the strike affected the supply.The strike includes plants in Omaha, Nebraska, Battle Creek, Michigan; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; and Memphis, Tennessee. The Union and the Battle Creek-based company have been at an impasse at the bargaining table for more than a year. The dispute involves an assortment of pay and benefits issues such as the loss of premium health care, holiday and vacation pay and reduced retirement benefits.

Anthony Shelton, president of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union said that the company continues to threaten to send additional jobs to Mexico if workers do not accept outrageous proposals that take away protections that workers have had for decades. The threat to move work to Mexico doesn’t sit well with Osborn.

Daniel Osborn, president of the local union in Omaha said that many Americans don’t have issues with the Nike or Under Armor hats being made elsewhere or even vehicles. When the company starts manufacturing the food down where they are out of the FDA control and OSHA control, members have a huge problem with that. Kellogg’s workers aren’t the first food workers to strike during the pandemic.

The company contends that its offer is fair and would increase wages and benefits for its employees that it said made an average of $120,000 a year last year.Osborn said he expects the company to try to bring non-union workers into the plants at some point this week to try to resume operations and maintain the supply of its products.