Battle Creek, MI – Kellogg’s workers are continuing the fight after a rejection of a proposed contract last week. At the Battle Creek headquarters, there is determination to hold the line despite the company’s plan to permanently replace 1400 workers.

Jason Rose, a mechanic who has worked at Kellogg’s for 15 years, said the company is going to have a difficult time filling all the positions. In Battle Creek, the plant’s downward trend in working conditions is well known. “They had a hard enough time hiring people in the first place,” said Rose.

The strikers are asking to abolish the two-tier system of hiring, in which the company brings in “transitional” workers with no benefits and a low wage while offering false promises of advancing to a higher position. The company has not been fulfilling a “one-for-one” policy of moving workers with the most seniority up after someone retires.

The veteran workers want equal rights for all, including the 30% who are employed at the whim of the company.

Recent moves by Kellogg’s have increased public support for the strike, including boycotts and a campaign to overwhelm the company with fake applications. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is expected to visit December 17 for a rally, and the workers said any promotion of their cause is welcome.

Byron Rettinger, one of the men on strike, said he is excited for the former presidential candidate’s visit and hopes the event will receive national coverage. He said the renewed focus on labor issues is promising. “I would love to see a strong labor movement in the U.S.,” he said.

One positive aspect of the strike, said Rettinger, is the ability for the workers to spend time with their families – something not afforded to them by the company. Kellogg’s worked its employees seven days a week, with little room for days off, and often gave just two-minutes notice before clocking out they would be working another shift.

Rettinger was able to spend an anniversary with his wife for the first time in years.

Mike Rolfe, another employee, said he is not surprised by the recent moves but remains optimistic. “We are in for a fight and knew we were going to be,” said Rolfe.

The Bernie Sanders rally will take place Friday, December 17, at 3 p.m. at Festival Market Square in downtown Battle Creek.

#BattleCreekMI #PeoplesStruggles #Strikes #Kelloggs

Battle Creek, MI – Over 200 striking workers and supporters rallied outside the Kellogg’s headquarters in downtown Battle Creek on October 27. As Kellogg’s corporate bosses looked down from their offices, striking workers and their families listened to energetic speeches.

“This worker exploitation by big corporations must stop now!” shouted Trevor Bidelman, the president and business agent for the union waging the strike, the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco workers, and Grain Millers Union (BCTGM) Local 3-G.

Bidelman called for solidarity between the 20 or more unions gathered, as the strike heads towards its fourth week, “My fight must become your fight, and your fight must become my fight. This time the bully on the playground is getting surrounded by his classmates. Everyone together is what it takes to fight a bully. When we, as organized labor, stand up and fight together, there is nothing we cannot achieve!”

Donnie Millbrooks, a mechanic at the Kellogg’s Memphis plant, and a veteran member of BCTGM Local 252G, drove up to Michigan with a crew of strikers from Tennessee. In an interview, Millbrooks gave his assessment, “I see the strike going good. It is time, and everyone needs the support. It is big. It is more than just us.”

Millbrooks explained about the strike, “We are hoping to get a contract, but one that is good for everyone. The main issue is the two-tier wage system. The bottom tier, a person comes in doing the same job and he is making $17 an hour and I am making $35. I don’t pay for my insurance, and he does pay for insurance. If his child has to go to the doctor, he has to pay 80/20 and mine is only going to be $5. It is not fair. He should have the same benefits.”

During the 2019 United Auto Workers strike that lasted 40 days, the main victory was for so-called temporary workers, with between three and eight years on the job. Similarly, this strike is set to help “transitional workers” on the lower tier, not the “legacy workers” like Millbrook. The union veterans are striking to leave a legacy of fairness and respect that the big bosses do not want.

Asked about the upcoming union negotiation with Kellogg’s management, Millbrook doubled down, “Hopefully it will not last past the next week, but if it lasts longer, we are here to stay.”

Continuing the rally, Roger Miller, a BCTGM vice president, announced to loud cheers that U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh was joining the union picket line in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and pledging that the Biden administration hears the union workers and stands with them.

After the rally, strikers rushed to form a huge picket line, crossing the street to Kellogg’s headquarters. The police were quickly called out to push the picket back across the street. Strikers moved back into the street where they stood their ground, taunting and waving their signs. Negotiations resume November 2.

#BattleCreekMI #PeoplesStruggles #strike #Strikes #Kelloggs

Battle Creek, MI – Workers on strike at the Kellogg’s plant in Battle Creek walked the picket line Thursday, October 7. They discussed two major issues leading to the strike. The first, a proposed two-tier payment system, where lower seniority employees have significantly lower pay and worse benefits. The second issue workers cited was overwork during the COVID-19 pandemic, with many employees working seven days a week with no days off, for months on end.

One worker explained he worked 3700 hours in a single year, or more than 70 yours per week without a vacation. His motivation to strike is so he can spend more time with his eight-year-old child at home. Another picket line worker explained that Kellogg’s is saying they will move about one-third of the jobs to a plant in Mexico.

The Battle Creek workers, members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers' International Union Local 3-G joined other union members in Memphis, Tennessee; Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Omaha, Nebraska in walking off the job at 1 a.m. Wednesday to begin the strike.

For many in Battle Creek, the Kellogg’s plant is considered one of the best places for working-class people to earn a living. Hundreds of local people express their support by honking while driving past the union pickets at both gates of the Kellogg’s plant. A Schneider driver who arrived at the plant entered the facility, but said that once he realized there was a strike, he refused to make his delivery.

#BattleCreekMI #PeoplesStruggles #Strikes #Bakery #Confectionery #TobaccoWorkersAndGrainMillersInternationalUnionBCTGM #Kelloggs