Kellogg strike: 1,400 grain factory workers join picket lines

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The International Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco and Grain Millers Union said in a press release Tuesday that 1,400 of its members in the company’s hometown of Battle Creek, Mich., As well as ‘in Lancaster, Pa., Omaha and Memphis, hit the picket lines Tuesday morning. The union said workers in these towns produce Rice Krispies, Raisin Bran, Froot Loops, Corn Flakes and Frosted Flakes.

“For more than a year throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, Kellogg workers across the country have worked long, hard hours, day in and day out, to produce Kellogg ready-to-eat cereal for American families said Anthony Shelton, president of the International Union of Bakers, Confectioners, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers.

“Kellogg’s response to these loyal and hardworking employees has been to demand that these workers forgo quality health care, retirement benefits and paid time off. The company continues to threaten to send additional jobs to Mexico if workers do not accept outrageous proposals that take far from protections workers have enjoyed for decades, ”Shelton said.

In a statement, Kellogg spokesman Kris Bahner said the company was “disappointed with the union’s decision to strike.”

“Kellogg Provides Compensation and Benefits to Our United States [ready to eat cereal] employees who are among the best in the industry, ”Bahner said. “Our offering includes salary increases and benefits for our employees, while helping us meet the challenges of the evolving grain industry.

A shortage of available workers much of this year, with record numbers of job vacancies and many more employees leaving their jobs, has driven up wages throughout the economy and made more d employers ready to come to an agreement with the unions. So there have been fewer strikes this year. The Labor Department reported nine strikes of 1,000 or more workers through the end of August, up from 17 in the same period of 2019, before the pandemic.

Kellogg had a total of 31,000 employees at the start of this year, according to a company file, which means less than 5% of its workers globally are on the picket line. The company lists factories in California, Georgia, Kansas; Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and New Jersey in addition to those hit.

Although the union is concerned about the transfer of American jobs to Mexico, many of its foreign employees are working to supply products to foreign markets. The company achieved 40% of its sales outside of North America in 2020.

For the first half of this year, Kellogg reported that excluding currency adjustments and special items, sales were up 2% from a year ago and profits were down 3%.

The company’s overall sales have been stable for an extended period, increasing only 6% in total over a five-year period, from 2016 to 2020.

The pandemic has given freshness to these cereals

But Kellogg has been lagging behind the grain industry at large in sales, especially recently. At the start of the pandemic, people rushed to stock up on breakfast cereals, leading to shortages in some brands. The sharp increase in grain sales marked a dramatic turnaround: in 2019, industry-wide grain sales fell 0.6%, following a 1.4% decline in 2018, data shows by Nielsen. In 2020, sales jumped almost 9%.

Before the pandemic, ready-to-eat cereals were overlooked by many consumers looking for fresh ingredients or having breakfast on the go. But restrictions designed to curb the spread of Covid-19 have led more people to eat breakfast at home and stock up on familiar, long-shelf products.

– Danielle Wiener-Bronner of CNN Business contributed to this report.

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