Kellogg strike finally ends after workers approved new labor contract

Update (Dec. 23, 2021): The Kellogg worker strike is set to end after more than two months, with the roughly 1,400 workers set to return Monday. The workers voted to ratify a new labor contract last weekend. That decision was announced Tuesday.

“We are pleased that we have reached an agreement that brings our cereal employees back to work,” Kellogg’s CEO Steve Cahillane said in a statement. “We look forward to their return and continuing to produce our beloved cereal brands for our customers and consumers.”

According to the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) International Union, which was negotiating on behalf of the workers, highlights of the new contract include:

• No permanent two-tier system
• A clear path to regular full-time employment
• Plant closing moratorium through October 2026
• A significant increase in the pension multiplier
• Maintenance of cost of living raises

“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,” BCTGM International President Anthony Shelton said in a blog post. “This agreement makes gains and does not include any concessions.”

Update (Dec, 17, 2021): Just over a week after the roughly 1,400 Kellogg Company workers who went on strike back in October rejected a deal that would have ended the strike, Kellogg’s provided a new offer Thursday. The new offer includes cost-of-living adjustments and a $1.10 per hour raise for all employees. The raise amount is less than the last offer. However, the last offer would have only provided cost-of-living adjustments to some employees.

“We value all of our employees. They have enabled Kellogg to provide food to Americans for more than 115 years,” Kellogg Company CEO Steve Cahillane said in a news release. “We are hopeful our employees will vote to ratify this contract and return to work.”

Members of the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union will vote on the new offer Sunday. Results of the vote are expected by Tuesday.

Update (Dec. 8, 2021): The roughly 1,400 Kellogg Company workers who went on strike back in October rejected a deal Tuesday that would have ended the strike. The deal, announced last week, would have provided 3% raises and cost of living adjustments, while preserving the workers’ current health care benefits.

“The members have spoken. The strike continues,” Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International President Anthony Shelton said in a union blog post. “The International Union will continue to provide full support to our striking Kellogg’s members.”

Kellogg’s said it will now move forward with plans to start hiring permanent replacements for those on strike. The company has already been using salaried employees and outside workers to keep the plants running during the strike.

“While certainly not the result we had hoped for, we must take the necessary steps to ensure business continuity,” Kellogg North America Chris Hood said in a statement. “We have an obligation to our customers and consumers to continue to provide the cereals that they know and love.”

Update (Dec. 2, 2021): The union negotiating on behalf of the roughly 1,400 Kellogg Company workers who went on strike back in October announced a tentative agreement with Kellogg Thursday. According to a statement from the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM), the agreement will be voted on Sunday.

“I want to thank and commend all of the members of the bargaining committee for their many, many hours of extremely hard work to reach this tentative agreement,” BCTGM International President Anthony Shelton said in the statement. “As always in our Union, the members will have the final say on the contract.”

Included in the five-year-agreement are 3% raises and cost of living adjustments in the second through the fifth years. The deal also maintains the workers’ current health benefits.

The tentative agreement also addresses Kellogg’s two-tiered system of wages, which gives newer workers less pay and fewer benefits. Kellogg said the agreement will allow all workers with at least four years of experience to move up to the higher pay level immediately.

Update (Nov. 23, 2021): Kellogg Company announced Tuesday it will begin hiring replacements for the roughly 1,400 workers who went on strike last month. The announcement comes a day after the company failed to reach an agreement with the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM).

“We recognize the hardship that this prolonged strike represents for our employees,” the company said in a statement. “After 15 negotiations sessions in 2021 – and no proposals put to membership for a vote – we are left with no choice but to best serve the short- and long-term interests of our customers and consumers by moving to the next phase of our contingency plans.”

Negotiations aren’t scheduled to resume until the week of Dec. 6.

Original Story (Nov. 5, 2021): Roughly 1,400 workers at multiple Kellogg Company’s cereal plants in the United States went on strike Tuesday. The affected plants are located in Omaha, Nebraska; Battle Creek, Michigan; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; and Memphis, Tennessee.

The Kellogg strike is supported by the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM). The union posted a statement from its president to the union’s blog Tuesday.

“The BCTGM International Union stands in unwavering Solidarity with our courageous Brothers and Sisters who are on strike against the Kellogg Company,” BCTGM President Anthony Shelton said in the post. “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.”

Before the strike, BCTGM and Kellogg had been bargaining for more than a year over things like health care, holiday and vacation pay and reduced retirement benefits.

“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,” Shelton said. “Kellogg is making these demands 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.”

Kellogg insists its offer is fair and would increase wages and benefits for its employees. According to the company, employees made an average of $120,000 a year last year.

“We are disappointed by the union’s decision to strike,” Kellogg spokesperson Kris Bahner said in a statement. “Kellogg provides compensation and benefits for our U.S. ready to eat cereal employees that are among the industry’s best.”

It wasn’t immediately clear how large an effect the strike would have on Kellogg cereal production. The company acknowledged that it is “implementing contingency plans” to limit supply disruptions for consumers.

The Kellogg strike follows two other major walkouts over the summer. More than 600 workers at a Frito-Lay plant in Topeka, Kansas, walked off the job to protest working conditions during the pandemic, and workers at Nabisco plants in five states went on strike to protest plans by Nabisco’s parent company to move some work to Mexico.