17 Dec IUF Sends Petition to Kellogg: End the Lockout of BCTGM Members
In its first hour online, the IUF’s petition to Kellogg CEO John Bryant demanding an end to the lockout of BCTGM members at the Kellogg cereal plant in Memphis, Tenn. was signed by more than 3,500 members and activists from 125 countries.
The IUF is an global federation of trade unions that represents workers employed in the agriculture, food and beverage and tobacco industries. The BCTGM is one ofย 336 trade unions from 120 countries that belong to the IUF, which represents more than 12 million workers. It is based in Geneva, Switzerland.
The IUF’s petition to Kellogg CEO Bryant states:
Transnational cereal maker Kellogg’s has locked out 220 members of the IUF-affiliated BCTGM since October 22 at its factory in Memphis, Tennessee in an effort to force union acceptance of a plan to radically increase the use of casual workers. With this plan all newly employed workers would be employed as casuals with no guaranteed hours at significantly lower pay and benefits, effectively transforming over time the entire employment structure at the facility. The company calls this “The New Workforce of the Future.”
Kellogg’s organized this assault while the Master Agreement of 2012, which limits casual work, is still in force. The union insists that casual work must be negotiated within the framework of the agreement – and their members are watching the end of year festivities approach from the street side of the factory gate.
To add to the pressure, BCTGM members at the company’s plant in London, Ontario (Canada) were suddenly informed on December 11 that their plant would close sometime in 2014, with the loss of some 500 union jobs. Some of the production will go to Memphis, where the company hopes to manufacture the product with precarious labour.
ย SIGN THE PETITION
Click here to add your name to this list of union members, activists and supporters around the globe demanding an end to the lockout of BCTGM Local 252G members in Memphis.
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