What Workers Could Get.
Battle Creek, MI — Kellogg workers’ nearly two-month strike in Cereal City may be over soon.
In a Wednesday update to members, the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union said it had reached a tentative agreement with The Kellogg Company after additional negotiations in Chicago.
The five-year deal would deliver 3% raises while maintaining current worker health benefits. Cost of living adjustments would be tacked on starting in the second year of the contract, according to an overview provided by The Kellogg Company.
The tentative agreement also addresses another sticking point during negotiations: Kellogg’s two-tiered system of wages, which gives newer workers less pay and fewer benefits. The Kellogg Company said the agreement will allow all workers with at least four years of experience to move up to the higher legacy pay level immediately and additional workers would move up in the later years of the contract.
The union said local representatives will travel back to their respective plants Thursday and organize meetings to distribute details of the potential deal. BCTGM will hold a vote at all plants Sunday, according to an update posted on the union website.
If approved, the deal will end a strike that started Oct. 5 when the company’s contract with union workers expired.
The strike involves approximately 1,400 cereal plant workers at seven plants nationwide, including four in Battle Creek, where The Kellogg Company is headquartered.
It’s unclear how the new deal addresses job security – another point of contention between the company and union, a local union president told News 8 in October.
One month before the strike, the company told Battle Creek employees about 212 jobs at their plant would be cut by the end of 2023 as Kellogg shifts cereal product to other plants.
Workers at Kellogg’s and other companies feel emboldened this year to strike in the hope of obtaining a better offer because of the ongoing worker shortages amid higher demand, The Associated Press reported.