Kellogg’s head of labor relations and supply chain human resources has been terminated after a recording surfaced in which he referred to bargainers for striking employees as “terrorists,” according to news reports.
The recording, obtained by The Intercept, is of a meeting in late April of CUE, a trade group formed in 1977 by the National Association of Manufacturers as the “Council on Union-Free Environment.” Ken Hurley, Kellogg’s chief of labor relations and supply chain human resources, complains that union bargainers in a recently concluded strike against Kellogg “were behaving more like terrorists than partners.”
Hurley said that the unions had been “intoxicated” by previous strikes against Mondelēz International and Frito-Lay. He also complained about “an anti-Kellogg public release” when President Biden issued a statement in support of the strikers.
Kellogg CEO Steve Cahillane reacted by issuing a statement to The Intercept: “We are just learning about these statements, as they were not authorized by Kellogg. We are embarrassed as a company – the comments and the tone in which they were delivered do not reflect the values of our organization or our position.” Hurley was fired on May 1, according to reports.
Kellogg confirmed to Food Processing that Hurley no longer works there but declined to comment on reasons for his departure.
