FILE PHOTO: A sign is held up in the crowd as U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks and expresses his support for striking Kellogg workers from the Porter Street plant at the Battle Creek Farmers Market in Battle Creek, Michigan, U.S., December 17, 2021. REUTERS/Emily Elconin
December 21, 2021
By Praveen Paramasivam
(Reuters) -A majority of workers at Kellogg Co’s breakfast cereal plants voted in favor of a new contract that offers better terms for transitional employees as well as wage increases, the Froot Loops maker said on Tuesday.
The new five-year deal ends months-long stalemate between Kellogg and its factory workers in Michigan, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Tennessee that had prompted the company to warn of permanently replacing striking workers, drawing criticism from President Joe Biden.
“The new, five-year contract furthers our employees’ leading wages and benefits, with immediate, across the board wage increases and enhanced benefits for all,” Kellogg said in a statement.
A union leader said last week they could return to work two days after Christmas, if an agreement was reached.
Around 1,400 workers have been on a strike since Oct. 5 after their contracts expired, as negotiations over payment and benefits stalled amid a tightening labor market.
The company had said the latest deal offered its lower-tier workers, known as transitional employees, “an accelerated, defined path to legacy wages and benefits as compared to the current contract”.
Shares of the company were down 3% in late morning trading.
(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)
