Battle Creek Kellogg workers opting for contract repurchase are part of ‘Strike Topper’
Nearly 1,400 union workers at four Kellogg factories, including Battle Creek, have been on strike since last week – and they are part of a growing national movement, as supporters like the US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.) has christened “Knitting Tober.”
“After years of being understaffed and taken for granted — and twice as much during the pandemic — workers are beginning to approve strikes across the country,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter Thursday.
She noted that bakery, confectionery, tobacco workers and Grain Miller International Union (BCTGM) workers went on strike against Kellogg in protest of job cuts and two-part pay system, as well as more than 10,000 UAW workers striking against John Deere and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Staff (IATSE) planning to strike.
There have been at least 175 strikes this year.
So what’s behind Striketober? Reporter Ahiza García-Hodges sums it up for NBC News: “After 19 months of balancing their health and safety by working on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, many low-wage workers have had enough. They demand higher wages, meal and rest breaks, better benefits and shorter shifts. From health care to Hollywood, nearly 100,000 U.S. workers are either on strike or preparing to strike to improve working conditions. ”
| ￣￣￣￣￣ |
| Do not |
| Cross |
| den |
| picket line |
| ＿＿＿＿＿ |
(__ /) ||
(•••) ||
/ Zu#striketober– AFL-CIO
#Striketober (@AFLCIO) October 14, 2021
The BCTGM union representing workers at the Kellogg factories in Battle Creek, Memphis, Omaha and Lancaster, Pa. Says that after employees dragged long hours through the pandemic, the company now demands workers “give up high-quality health care, pensions and vacation and vacation pay. The company continues to threaten to send additional jobs to Mexico if workers do not accept scandalous proposals that remove the protection that workers have enjoyed for decades. ”
In September, Kellogg announced that it planned to lay off 212 jobs at the Battle Creek plant over the next two years.
“While this is the right thing to do for the company, any decision that affects people is incredibly difficult,” Kellogg spokesman Kris Bahner said in a written statement. “We are committed to helping our talented and dedicated employees, and we are dedicated to working with them and their union to ensure they have outplacement assistance, resources and support through this transition.”
The American rep. Andy Levin (D-Bloomfield Twp.) Is among those who have expressed solidarity with striking workers across the country.
“Former union organizer here,” he said tweeted on Thursday. “It is safe to say that I am happy to see the strike unfold around the country. There is nothing more beautiful than workers who use the power of solidarity to stand together and demand higher wages, better benefits and safer working conditions. ”
Originally released October 15, 2021 on Michigan Advance. It is shared here with permission.
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