Kellogg union members voted in favor of a new five-year contract. This is the end of an 11-week strike. About 1,400 workers have been on strike since October 5, sparking boycotts of the cereal company’s products as it threatened to permanently replace the striking workers.
According to the union, the new contract contains no concessions from the workers and no permanent two-tier employment system allowing Kellog to offer lower wages and benefits to new employees – one of the primary sticking points for striking workers. The agreement also They boasted about wage increasesThe cost-of living increases in the first year.
Tuesday’s praises came from the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union, (BCTGMM).
“Our striking members at Kellogg’s ready-to-eat cereal production facilities courageously stood their ground and sacrificed so much in order to achieve a fair contract. This agreement makes gains and does not include any concessions,” said BCTGM International President Anthony Shelton in a statement. “From picket line to picket line, Kellogg’s union members stood strong and undeterred in this fight, inspiring generations of workers across the globe.”
American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations’ (AFL-CIO), President Liz Shuler thanked workers for fighting for the contract’s gains. BCTGM has been affiliated with AFL-CIO.
“The decision to strike is never an easy one. It takes an incredible amount of courage & tenacity. But strikes work,” Schuler wrote on Twitter. “There is no tool more powerful than our ability to withhold our labor. And there is power in a union.”
Two-tiered system allows company to offer lower wages to new hires and insufficient benefits, which is a problem for workers. There is little opportunity for upward mobility. The system was implemented in 2015: The contract with workersThe company had also promised that employees at the second tier would have room to grow.
Jarod Facundo reported on the fact that the company appears to be restricting the number of employees who can experience growth in wages or positions. The American Prospect, 15 employees have retired at the company’s Battle Creek, Michigan, plant since the adoption of the 2015 contract, but only one employee has moved up to a “legacy” status with higher pay.
The new contract offers a way out of the lower tierAccording to HuffPost’s Dave Jamieson, by automatically advancing workers who have been at the company for 4 years and then capping other advances at 3 percent of the workforce each year. This is better than the original contract offered by the company, which didn’t expand opportunities for growth, but it does not succeed in eliminating the system of a two-tiered workforce for the same jobs.
Trevor Bidelman was president of BCTGM Local 3G which represents workers in Battle Creek. HuffPost that he believed that Kellogg’s threat to permanently replace striking workers was a way of forcing the union’s hand on the issue and that the contract was still not in a place that some members would have preferred it to be. He praised the strikers for their hard work. Bidelman said, “The replacement threat was really the biggest piece” in turning out workers to vote for the contract.
Yes, but Legality of Kellogg’s threat could be questionable, it appeared to have worked for the company as a tacticWorkers must approve the new contract. The public has been placing increasing pressure on the company to approve the new contract. an online campaignto slow down its job applications system to prevent it hiring replacements.
The workers’ strike had also garnered the support of lawmakers like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), who traveled to Battle Creek on Friday to rally with striking workers. “You’re sending a message not just to Kellogg’s, but to every corporate CEO in this country,” Sanders said in a speech. “You’re saying that in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, you’ve got to give workers a fair shake.”
Sanders condemned the two-tiered system of divisive division and suggested that the company should offer a fair contract. saying “If you love America, you love the workers.”
