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

Students spoke with the local president and vice president of the union, who, despite being in the fourth week of the strike, were filled with vitality and prepared to negotiate with Kellogg’s on the upcoming Tuesday, November 2.

Kellogg’s workers have been picketing 24/7, taking on four-hour shifts throughout the day in front of the entrance to the Kellogg’s plant.

Despite the grueling nature of this strike, it barely compares to conditions Kellogg’s workers have been forced to endure: 12-hour shifts, six days a week, and unequal pay for part-time employees. This third point is especially important, as many of the striking workers, who have been at Kellogg’s for decades, expressed that they were doing this for the younger generation, who are paid as much as $12-per-hour less than their counterparts.

After dropping off the food at the union hall, Bi-Co SDS went down to the Kellogg’s plant to talk with striking workers and get a feeling of things on the ground. Workers were in good spirits and felt optimistic about the upcoming negotiations in Washington, DC. Nearly every car that passed honked in solidarity, and workers described how they had received lots of high-profile visitors, including the U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh and Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman.

Kellogg's attempt to bring in scabs to break the strike had ended in failure. Apparently some of the scabs had gotten into a fight on the floor of the plant, resulting in the largest Kellogg’s plant in the U.S. being shut down the next day.

To students who support the strike and want to be in solidarity, the workers had a few things to say. First: only boycott Kellogg’s cereal products. Other Kellogg’s products are made by different workers who are not currently striking, so boycotting these products isn’t especially productive. Second: “Don’t forget the people on the ground. Don’t forget about the little guy.”

One worker said: “We’re the ones who keep everything going down here. Whatever you go on to do, don’t forget where you came from, don’t forget about the people who keep the whole thing running.”

#LancasterPA #StudentMovement #PeoplesStruggles #Strikes #Kelloggs #BiCoSDS #BCTGM374G

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

Memphis, TN – At midnight on Tuesday, October 5, workers at Kellogg’s factories across the United States went on strike. Union workers in Memphis say the company made an unacceptable offer at contract time.

Rob Eafan, a member of the local union’s leadership, said of the contract, “The company wants to have a permanent two-tier wage system, with reduced wages and benefits for our new employees. The bottom line: it’s all about corporate greed. The company made record profits throughout this pandemic while working us record hours,” he said. “And they had record bonuses of 158%.”

The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Local 252G in Memphis has attracted huge support from the community. The union membership in Memphis is predominantly Black and Chicano. Hundreds of passersby honked their car horns in solidarity, bus drivers raised their fists when they passed by the striking workers, even politicians could not stay away from the picket line.

Shelby County Commissioner Reginald Milton, representing the heavily-Black and working-class neighborhoods of Orange Mound and South Memphis, showed up to stand on the picket line. “The reality is, the workers are the backbone of this country,” said Milton. “These are people who get up early in the morning and go to bed late at night, making sure all the things we need are delivered, made and produced for our family. These people deserve a fair wage.”

The Kellogg’s strike is a part of a wave of labor unrest, coming after strikes by workers at Nabisco and Frito-Lay earlier this year. The George Floyd uprising of 2020 has inspired an unprecedented wave of militant actions in the labor movement, the movements of oppressed nationalities, the movement for women’s rights, the right to vote, and many other people’s movements. The labor movement is rising – and class struggle is being waged on the shop floor.

#MemphisTN #PeoplesStruggles #Strikes #Bakery #Confectionery #Kelloggs #TobaccoWorkersAndGrainMillersLocal252G

Maracay City, Venezuela – In the worker-controlled Venezuelan Kellogg factory, you see the workers working diligently to make corn flake and sugary cereals in a new package displaying the Venezuelan flag and the words “Together for Venezuela.” They are wearing black caps with red letters that say, “Kellogg made in socialism.”

In May of 2018, the Kellogg bosses told the factory workers that they had the weekend off due to maintenance. When the workers arrived the following working day, they were shocked to see a large sign on the factory, “We closed operations in Venezuela.” The bosses didn’t notify them, in person, of the closure or that hundreds would lose their jobs. The workers also found out that the Kellogg had placed very little severance in their accounts, which didn’t fulfill their union contracts.

“There was no reason for the company to close and leave because all the raw materials were produced in Venezuela, the corn and sugar, etc. The company even left a year’s worth of raw materials within the factory. They closed because of political reasons and not supporting the Maduro’ government. But they committed one mistake: Kellogg left the working class well trained,” says Orlando Contreras, the president of the factory’s union.

The workers and the union hit the ground running to organize so the factory could stay open and the workers wouldn’t lose their jobs.

“The participation of the union was immediate after the factory closed. We called all the workers to tell them what was happening. Then, we made contact with the Confederation of Workers and the state government to receive support in figuring out the steps to reopen the company. The Ministry of Labor helped the workers with contacting the rest of the governmental agencies, the Attorney General and the Defense of the People agency, to gain control of the company,” said Orlando.

A longtime worker and the new factory president Milton Torres says, “It was through the union and the union workers that it was possible to take over the factory. They knew how all the machines worked and how to make quality products.”

“Thanks to us being trained and well-organized, all of us workers reopened the factory and put it into production. We took over the factory to protect the rights of the workers. We enforce the food policies inside our homeland of Simone Bolivar and Chavez. Now, Kellogg’s company here is a socialist enterprise. The basic principles of our socialist enterprise are to dignify the work of our working class, increase the levels of production, guarantee that the equipment is highly maintained, produce good quality products, in a fair price and to be a self-sustainable company to contribute to the economic development of the country,” says Orlando Contreras, beaming with pride.

The workers have increased the production from two cereal types to four. Two week ago, they also contacted the Ministry of Labor to visit the factory and support the workers by increasing sales. The workers asked the Ministry of Labor to prioritize selling their “Socialist Kellogg” cereal and increase the number of places their cereal is sold, since it is all produced in Venezuela, unlike the other imported cereal brands. With more sales, they can increase the production and worker salaries and benefits.

After the takeover, the workers now have an important voice in the company, which they never had before.

“The new ‘Socialist Kellogg’ President Milton Torres and the administration consult with us workers to make important decisions. If the company is doing well, they ask the workers which benefits they want to improve and prioritize. There are currently in discussions around creating a collective board with the union leaders and the administration of the factory,” says Orlando.

Not everyone was happy with this new “Socialist Kellogg,” the staff takeover, or the use of the Kellogg symbol. Kellogg is currently suing the Venezuelan government and the new factory President Milton Torres for $72 million for continuing to use the Kellogg symbol and for using their property.

“If Kellogg returns, we will give the factory back, as long as they keep the same salaries and rights of the workers,” says Orlando.

This worker takeover is an inspiration to the world on how workers and their unions can fight to stop store closings, organize for the rights of the workers, improve their salaries, working conditions and benefits.

#MaracayCityVenezuela #MaracayCity #Venezuela #PeoplesStruggles #BolivarianSocialism #BolivarianRepublicOfVenezuela #Kelloggs #Americas