Cedar Rapids, IA – Over 120 workers from the Ingredion plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa have been on strike for 22 days after rejecting the bosses “last, best and final offer” on August 1. The striking workers are members of the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers union (BCTGM).

Ingredion produces starches and sweeteners mostly for industry. The plant was purchased by Ingredion in 2015 and that’s when the union says everything began to go downhill.

According to the union, the bosses offer would give them 4.5 to 7.3% raises over the length of the contract which they say is not enough. The offer would also open the workers up to forced overtime and potential 12-hour shifts. It would diminish health benefits and reduce vacation time. It also would allow for more untrained temps to do the work of the union members, which they is not safe.

As a result, on August 1 the workers voted unanimously to reject the bosses offer, let the contract expire, and go on strike, which is where they remain 22 days later.

Chad Kvidahl is a control room operator who runs two industrial driers, which are part of the starch-making process. Kvidahl said, “First of all it is about the loss of jobs. I don’t want to see five guys lose their gigs. Second is the pay freeze. Inflation is high enough and we were essential a little over a year ago, and now they have record profits and now they are cutting back on the pay.”

He added, “Running those industrial driers…I am seven years in and I am kind of what would be considered a novice level. There are guys I work with who are 20 years in and they would be considered like the masters of the craft. And that is what passes on the knowledge and the training currently. It’s been 17 days and the only thing they have put out are some company trucks of bad product, and one guy in an ambulance last night.”

“It shouldn’t be this hard considering we were the number one producer of industrial starch for Ingredion. We’re their number one – per person, per pound, we are number one in the nation. It shouldn’t be this hard just to keep what we have,” stated Kvidahl.

The union and employer are expected to meet this week. Until then, the strike continues.

#CedarRapidsIA #PeoplesStruggles #Bakery #Confectionary #TobaccoWorkersAndGrainMillersUnionBCTGM

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

The union has not released full details on the new agreement, but one thing that they point to is that there are hourly wage increases each year of the four-year contract. A picture of the agreement was leaked on social media which appears to show a 2.25% raise the first year, followed by 60-cent raises each of the next three years. The union also says that they have preserved their healthcare, won 401k matching, and made gains on some workplace policies.

One of the main issues the workers struck over was forced overtime, where workers often had to work six or seven days of every week and do long unscheduled shifts. It is unclear currently if gains were made on this front in the new contract.

Not all of the striking workers agreed that this new offer was better, or good enough to return to work. In Portland, local union members there say that over 200 of the workers in their area voted against the new contract and to continue striking, saying that the new offer was not much better than the previous one which they had rejected. It is unclear how deep this split opinion runs in other parts of the country but is clear that the decision was a divided one.

#PortlandOR #PeoplesStruggles #strike #Strikes #Bakery #Confectionery #Nabisco #TobaccoWorkers #andGrainMillersInternationalUnionBCTGM

One of the main issues the workers struck over was forced overtime. They were being forced to work what they called “suicide shifts” where they were required to work as much as 84 hours a week, often with as little as eight hours turnaround time between double or even triple shifts which the workers say meant they had no time to see family, do chores around the house, or get a full night’s sleep.

In the new contract they won a guarantee of at least one full day off every week, and end to the suicide shifts, as well as a 60-hour cap on forced hours. They also won raises of 4%.

This progress came as a direct result of the Frito Lay workers going on a 20-day strike. The vast majority of the workers honored the picket lines, which forced management to go back to the table and make major movement – even after previous offers in which they refused to do so.

#TopekaKS #strike #Strikes #FritoLay #Bakery #Confectionery #TobaccoWorkersAndGrainMillersInternationalUnionBCTGM