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.

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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.

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