User:Patrickstrange97/2021 Kellogg's strike

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The threat to move work to Mexico doesn’t sit well with Osborn, who is president of the local Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers' International Union in Omaha, Nebraska.

“A lot of Americans probably don’t have too much issue with the Nike or Under Armor hats being made elsewhere or even our vehicles, but when they start manufacturing our food down where they are out of the FDA control and OSHA control, I have a huge problem with that,” Osborn said.

Osborn said the transitional program was introduced six years ago, when the union and company agreed on its last contract. He said he and other members resisted the new, lower tier but feared Kellogg’s would close the Memphis plant and nearly 300 workers would lose their jobs if they didn’t accept it. Now he believes the company is using it as a wedge to divide the workers. They have been doing this since the last contract by offering new employees significantly less pay for the same job. These two-tier systems can create discord within unions since workers are not rewarded equally for the same work. If a cap on transitional positions were removed, then eventually transitional employees would comprise the bulk of the membership. They may feel that legacy members did not look out for them, and so they might be reluctant to fight for legacy members in subsequent contract talks. However, workers are still unified, with almost all agreeing to strike and continuing the movement until they all agree upon a new contract.

On December 2, Kellogg's management and the BCTGM leadership announced a tentative agreement for a five-year contract which would have raised wages by 3% for longtime workers and create standard wage rates for all transitional employees, starting at $22.76 when they are hired and receiving a $.90 raise each year for their first 6 years. The agreement would also give all transitional employees a promotion to legacy if they had worked for the company for 4 years, and would have included enhanced dental and vision benefits for all workers. Transitional employees would also gain additional vacation time base of their tenure with the company. However, the contract would have also preserved the two-tiered wage system favored by company management, the removal of which was the primary objective of the union.

Kellogg stated that there is no further bargaining scheduled and they have no plans to meet with union members. Given that the strike will continue, Kellogg will focus on executing the next phase of their contingency plan, which is to continue to utilize third party employees, and to start hiring new workers. "While certainly not the result we had hoped for, we must take the necessary steps to ensure business continuity," said Hood, President of Kellogg North America. "We have an obligation to our customers and consumers to continue to provide the cereals that they know and love."