Unionized workers at Kellogg’s U.S. cereal plants have rejected a contract offer, voting to continue their strike as the company vowed to hire replacements.
Kellogg and the union had reached a tentative pact last week. But the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Union announced on its website that its members “have overwhelmingly voted to reject the tentative agreement” and quoted union president Anthony Shelton as saying, “The members have spoken. The strike continues.”
Kellogg said on its own website that “The prolonged work stoppage has left us no choice but to hire permanent replacement employees in positions vacated by striking workers.”
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The strike, called Oct. 5, affects all four of Kellogg’s RTE cereal plants, in Omaha, Neb.; Battle Creek, Mich.; Lancaster, Pa.; and Memphis, Tenn.
The major sticking point is the two-tiered wage structure by which newer employees receive lower pay and benefits than established ones.
Kellogg had proposed capping the number of lower-tier workers and giving them a path to the upper tier within six years. Union members saw that as a way to increase the number of lower-tier workers.
