FILE PHOTO: The entrance sign to Kellogg Co. is pictured at the Porter Street plant in Battle Creek, Michigan, U.S., December 11, 2021. REUTERS/Emily Elconin
December 16, 2021
(Reuters) -Kellogg Co has agreed on a new contract with the union representing the Froot Loops maker’s striking employees at its U.S. breakfast cereal plants, a local union president said on Thursday.
The agreement could potentially pave the way for the 1,400 employees to return to work two days after Christmas and follows the rejection by workers of a previous deal reached early this month.
The voting down of the deal had prompted Kellogg to say it would permanently replace the striking workers, a move U.S. President Joe Biden called an “existential attack on the union and its members’ jobs and livelihoods.”
Progress has been made on the key issues from the last agreement, including cost of living wage adjustments for all employees and the removal of the term “legacy employee,” the union said.
“Transitional employees have an accelerated, defined path to legacy wages and benefits as compared to the current contract,” Kellogg said.
Dan Osborn, president of the local union in Omaha, said voting on the new deal would be held on Sunday and votes would be counted on Tuesday.
“If ratified we would return to work on Dec. 27,” he said.
But there has been no progress on some fronts, including the cap on the number of lower-tier employees, the union said.
Striking workers have said a two-tier employee system proposed by Kellogg, in which transitional employees get lesser pay and benefits compared with longer-tenured workers, would reduce the union’s power by removing the cap on lower-tier employee numbers.
The workers have been on strike since Oct. 5 after their contracts expired, as negotiations over pay and benefits stalled due to differences between the packaged foods maker and the union.
(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)
Source: One America News Network
