Union Members Reject Kellogg’s Contract, Company To Start Hiring Permanent Replacements

    Workers at the 4 plants that make Kellogg’s cereals have overwhelmingly rejected a new contract that would have given them 3% raises, so the strike that began Oct. 5 will continue.

     The tentative deal was announced last week, the roughly 1,400 workers voted on Sunday, and the union representing them released the results of the vote on Tuesday.

      The proposed contract included a 3% pay raise, cost-of-living pay increases in the later years of the deal, and a continuation of health benefits for workers.

    Kellogg’s says the union created “unrealistic expectations,” but Dan Osborn, president of the union local at the plant in Omaha, says the deal was voted down because it didn’t provide enough security for the future.

      Osborn says a key factor for many workers may have been that Kellogg’s kept the existing 2-tier pay and benefits system that isn’t as generous to newer workers – explaining that “we don’t want to leave anybody behind.”

       After the vote was announced, Kellogg’s said it will now move forward with plans to start hiring permanent replacement workers.