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Roughly 1,400 workers who make Corn Flakes, Froot Loops, Frosted Flakes, Raisin Bran, and Rice Krispies walked off the job on Tuesday to demand a fair contract, bringing all of the Kellogg Company's U.S. cereal factories to a halt in one of the nation's latest strikes.
Anthony Shelton, president of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM), on Tuesday expressed the union's "unwavering solidarity with our courageous brothers and sisters who are on strike against the Kellogg Company" in four cities: Local 3G in Battle Creek, Michigan, where the company is headquartered; Local 50G in Omaha, Nebraska; Local 374G in Lancaster, Pennsylvania; and Local 252G in Memphis, Tennessee.
\u201cLocal to any of these?\nGo show your support! \ud83d\udce2\ud83e\udea7\ud83c\udf55\n#KelloggStrike\u201d— BCTGM International (@BCTGM International) 1633459898
"For more than a year throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, Kellogg workers around the country have been working long, hard hours, day in and day out, to produce Kellogg ready-to-eat cereals for American families," Shelton said in a statement.
"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."
Daniel Osborn, president of Local 50G in Omaha, told the Associated Press that as the coronavirus knocked people out of work, remaining employees were often forced to put in 12-hour shifts, seven days a week.
"Kellogg's response to these loyal, hardworking employees," Shelton said, "has been to demand these workers give up quality healthcare, retirement benefits, and holiday and vacation pay."
According to Shelton, "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."
Last month, the Kellogg Company announced its plan to slash more than 200 jobs at its Battle Creek plant over the next two years.
\u201cAn issue that hasn't been noted in Kellogg's strike coverage so far, the company announced just a few weeks ago plans to cut 212 jobs at the Battle Creek, Michigan facility. https://t.co/rGaoEyLC1k\u201d— Michael Sainato (@Michael Sainato) 1633529669
Kellogg is also trying to institute a two-tier employment system in which "new hires will make less money, have higher health insurance payments, and will not earn a pension," according to the union, which characterized the company's proposal as a divide-and-conquer strategy that asks "the current workforce to sell out the next generation of Kellogg workers."
"Kellogg is making these demands," Shelton continued, "as they rake in record profits, without regard for the well-being of the hardworking men and women who make the products that have created the company's massive profits."
Shelton added that BCTGM is "proud of our Kellogg members for taking a strong stand against this company's greed and we will support them for as long as it takes to force Kellogg to negotiate a fair contract that rewards them for their hard work and dedication and protects the future of all Kellogg workers."
Citing Osborn, AP reported that the Kellogg Company, which said it is "implementing contingency plans," is expected 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."
While BCTGM has not officially called for a boycott, a union spokesperson reportedly toldHuffPost labor reporter Dave Jamieson that "supporters and consumers could certainly support the Kellogg workers and their fight for a fair contract by choosing NOT to buy Kellogg cereals while the strike is ongoing."
On Twitter, the union shared a link where supporters can contribute to strike funds.
\u201cKellogg Locals are still working on establishing their strike funds. At the moment we have 2 of the four linked here: https://t.co/IqPUwHAtS5\n\nWill update as others go up!\n\n#KelloggStrike #1u\u201d— BCTGM International (@BCTGM International) 1633482329
The strike against Kellogg started just one day after nearly 99% of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), a 60,000-member union of film and television production crews, voted to go on strike if studios don't agree to a fair deal for the industry's lowest-paid workers.
Both actions could be early signs of a potential surge in worker organizing, as AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler noted.
\u201c\u2022 2,000 @CWADistrict1 hospital workers\n\u2022 1,000 @MineWorkers at Warrior Met\n\u2022 1,400 @BCTGM Kellogg workers\n\nAnd hundreds\u2014if not thousands\u2014more working people across the country who are stepping up for the respect & dignity they deserve. #Striketober #1u\nhttps://t.co/ionrmSBEwr\u201d— Liz Shuler (@Liz Shuler) 1633456486
The Guardianreported last week that "tens of thousands of workers around the U.S. could go on strike in the coming weeks in what would be the largest wave of labor unrest since a series of teacher strikes in 2018 and 2019, which won major victories and gave the American labor movement a significant boost."
Kellogg's workers aren't the first BCTGM members to strike during the pandemic.
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In July, aound 600 workers at a Frito-Lay plant in Topeka, Kansas walked off the job to fight against forced overtime hours, low pay, and other conditions that BCTGM Local 218 members deemed unacceptable.
In August, hundreds of BCTGM members working at Nabisco plants in multiple states went on strike to demand better working conditions and to protest the foreign outsourcing plans of Mondelez International, the snack maker's parent company.
Both strikes ended with workers ratifying new collective bargaining agreements.
A strike that started last month in Portland, Oregon and spread to other Nabisco bakeries and distribution centers across the United States ended Saturday after unionized workers voted "overwhelmingly" in favor of a new collective bargaining agreement.
Though some Portland employees opposed ratifying the four-year contract, calling for better terms, it ultimately garnered the necessary support from workers there and at facilities in Aurora, Colorado; Richmond, Virginia; Chicago, Illinois; and Norcross, Georgia.
Anthony Shelton, president of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM), confirmed the agreement with Nabisco's parent company, Mondelez International, in a statement Saturday.
"This has been a long and difficult fight for our striking members, their families, and our union," Shelton said. "Throughout the strike, our members displayed tremendous courage, grit, and determination."
\u201cThe Nabisco strike is over! Congratulations to these brave workers on their wins, may their determination and grit be an inspiration for workers everywhere\u201d— Kim Kelly (@Kim Kelly) 1632006722
Cameron Taylor, a business agent at BCTGM Local 364 in Portland, toldThe Oregonian on Saturday that about 75% of all members approved of the agreement with the snack giant, known for Oreo and Chips Ahoy! cookies, as well as Ritz and other crackers.
"What my members wanted was to hold on to their benefits," Taylor said, referencing that the deal scraps a new healthcare proposal and allows most workers to maintain their regular overtime schedule. He noted that "what the company did get was a weekend crew."
While BCTGM Local 364 vice president Michael Burlingham told the Portland Mercury that he was "not surprised" by the vote "but it's disappointing nonetheless," both he and Taylor still framed the development as an improvement in conditions for workers.
The strike "sent a message to all corporations that workers are not going to get pushed around, even if these corporations are multi-billion corporations," said Taylor. "I think the strike was a success, we couldn't accept what the company was stuck on... and we got them to move off of it."
After the votes were counted, Darlene Carpenter, a business agent for the union's Local 358 in Virginia, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch, "I'm ecstatic."
"This is a major win," Carpenter said, noting that workers will get a raise each year of the contract, higher company match to 401(k) contributions, and a $5,000 ratification bonus. "We have been like David, who took down Goliath, because people stood up for their beliefs."
Carpenter signaled that workers at her location are equally happy about the outcome, adding that "I just got off the phone with one of the workers and she started crying because she was so ecstatic."
Glen Walter, Mondelez's executive vice president and president of its North America operations, said that the company was "pleased" to reach an agreement that will "provide our union-represented colleagues with good wages and competitive benefits, while also positioning our U.S. bakeries and sales distribution facilities for future growth and success."
Amid the celebrations, Shelton acknowledged that the "striking members made enormous sacrifices in order to achieve a quality contract that preserves our union's high standards for wages, hours, and benefits for current and future Nabisco workers."
"Their sacrifice will benefit all BCTGM members and working people around the country for years to come," he continued. "Those brothers and sisters who walked the picket lines day in and day out are true BCTGM heroes."
The union leader also expressed gratitude for "the outpouring of fraternal support and solidarity we received from across the labor movement in the U.S. and around the world."
\u201cCongratulations to @BCTGM Nabisco workers, who have won a contract that reflects the fair wages, hours & benefits they deserve.\n\nOver the course of the strike, they made it clear: There is power in a union & we won\u2019t back down. Good contract, good snacks. https://t.co/PIQURavQT1\u201d— Liz Shuler (@Liz Shuler) 1632002256
"We offer our deepest gratitude to AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler for directing the full resources and power of the AFL-CIO at the federal, state, and local levels in support of our striking members and our union," he said. "This support was critical to the success of the strike."
"The BCTGM has shown, once again, that this union will do whatever it takes, make any sacrifice, take on any employer or adversary," Shelton added, "in order to preserve the rights and jobs of our members and the standard of living of BCTGM families."
Employees at Nabisco's flagship plant in Chicago walked off the job Thursday, joining workers at three of the leading snack maker's other U.S. plants who are demanding better working conditions, an end to foreign outsourcing, and the withdrawal of a company plan that would scrap the company's current guaranteed overtime pay system.
"They don't care about frontline workers. They only care about the almighty dollar. We're tired of getting stepped on and treated like trash. We've had enough."
--Rusty Lewis, Nabisco worker
The strike began August 10 when around 200 members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers' (BCTGM) International Union Local 364 walked out of a Nabisco factory in Portland, Oregon that makes Oreo and Chips Ahoy! cookies, as well as Ritz, Premium saltines, and other crackers.
Workers at Nabisco plants in Aurora, Colorado and Richmond, Virginia followed suit, saying they planned to strike until Nabisco's parent company, multinational confectionery corporation Mondelez International, agrees to negotiate a new contract. The most recent agreement expired in May.
With U.S. snack consumption rising during the pandemic, Mondelez's 2020 revenue increased to $26.6 billion, according to Chicago Business Journal, with profits of $3.6 billion and a 6% annual increase in share price. Dirk Van de Put, Mondelez's new CEO, could earn more than $17 million in compensation, plus a $38 million one-time windfall, this year.
Meanwhile, Nabisco workers have been forced to work 12 to 16 hour shifts, six to seven days a week, during the pandemic, while the company seeks to eliminate overtime pay by altering employee schedules so that weekend shifts become part of the 40-hour work week. Workers are also rejecting a Mondelez proposal to create different employee health plans under which new hires would pay more, including deductibles--which do not exist under the current system.
\u201cChicago @nabisco plant ON STRIKE! Support the #NabiscoStrike and American Jobs! \n@SenatorDurbin @SenDuckworth \nhttps://t.co/P6xFtpQkRt\u201d— BCTGM International (@BCTGM International) 1629407212
Nabisco workers stress that they are not asking for more pay or benefits.
"This fight is about maintaining what we already have," Mike Burlingham, vice president of BCTGM Local 364 in Portland, toldToday. "During the pandemic, we all were putting in a lot of hours, demand was higher, people were at home, and the snack food industry did phenomenally well. Mondelez made record profits and they want to thank us by closing two of the U.S. bakeries and telling the rest of us we have to take concessions, what kind of thanks is that?"
"We make them a lot of money," added Burlingham. "It's very disheartening. How is that supposed to make us feel?"
Workers say the proposed changes are the latest in a long line of affronts that began in 2016 when Mondelez laid off 600 workers while shutting down half of Nabisco's Chicago production lines and relocating operations to Mexico. In 2018, the company eliminated the pensions of thousands of workers and retirees, and this year over 1,000 jobs were lost when plants in Georgia and New Jersey were shuttered.
\u201c\u201cNo Oreos, no Chips Ahoy, no nothing!\u201d\n\nLove the \ud83d\udd25 of these strikers! Besides joining strike lines in PDX, Richmond, VA and Aurora, Colorado, solidarity can be shown through not buying outsourced Mondelez/Nabisco products. #1u\u201d— Read Reviving The Strike by Joe Burns \ud83e\udee1 (@Read Reviving The Strike by Joe Burns \ud83e\udee1) 1629249075
"They couldn't care less about us," striker Donna Marks, who has worked 17 years at the Portland plant, said of Mondelez in an interview with nwLaborPress.
"I used to enjoy this job, it used to be like a family to me," Marks told Willamette Week. "Now, they want us to work more and pay us less, and everything that we have, we have because we negotiated. They want to take away what we fought for with no negotiation. They act as if they gave us something."
Rusty Lewis, a striking worker at Nabisco's Aurora distribution center, told Motherboard that workplace conditions have been deteriorating during his 25-year tenure.
"It's gotten worse. It's gotten horrible. Horrible hours," he said. "They don't care about frontline workers. They only care about the almighty dollar. We're tired of getting stepped on and treated like trash. We've had enough."
Mondelez said in a statement that its goal "has been--and continues to be--to bargain in good faith with the BCTGM leadership across our U.S. bakeries and sales distribution facilities to reach new contracts that continue to provide our employees with good wages and competitive benefits, including quality, affordable healthcare, and [a] company-sponsored Enhanced Thrift Investment 401(k) Plan, while also taking steps to modernize some contract aspects which were written several decades ago."
The strike has drawn solidarity and support from BCTGM workers at Frito-Lay's Topeka, Kansas factory--who ended their nearly seven-week strike on Wednesday--as well as from other unions, activists, politicians, and celebrities.
\u201cWe are not going to let @MDLZ exploit its workers. Enough is enough! \n\nNo contract\ud83d\udcc4 \u2022 No snacks \ud83c\udf6a\u201d— Nina Turner (@Nina Turner) 1629462834
"I stand in solidarity with BCTGM workers in Oregon, Colorado, and Virginia who are on strike for a fair contract and for decent working conditions," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) tweeted Wednesday. "If Nabisco can rake in billions of dollars in corporate profits, they can afford to treat their workers with dignity and respect."