Kellogg Co. has announced its intention to hire strikebreakers in the ongoing labor dispute that has affected all four of its U.S. cereal plants.
Now in its seventh week, the strike has forced Kellogg to run its plants with managers, other salaried personnel and “temporary replacement workers.” On a web page dedicated to the strike, Kellogg states that “we are left with no choice” but to “now where appropriate, hire permanent replacements.”
The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union said on its own web page that it offered to restart negotiations on Dec. 6. The major sticking point is Kellogg’s desire for a two-tier wage structure, with new employees receiving lower pay and benefits than older ones. Kellogg said its latest offer was to impose the lower pay scale for the first four years of service.