25 Apr BCTGM Descends on Kellogg Company Shareholders Meeting
BCTGM members from five states and Canada descended upon the Kellogg Company annual shareholders meeting Battle Creek, Mich. to protest the company’s illegal lockout of more than 220 Local 252G Memphis, Tenn. cereal workers.
Hundreds of union members, labor leaders, and community activists joined the BCTGM outside the W.K. Kellogg Auditorium for a rally. Locked out 252G members, who traveled to Battle Creek to take place in the shareholders meeting and planned events, were introduced by BCTGM Local 252G President Kevin Bradshaw. They were joined by BCTGM members from Locals 3G (Battle Creek), 19 (Cleveland, Ohio), 50G (Omaha, Neb.), 66G (Battle Creek), 154G (London, Ontario), 253 (Cincinnati), 374G (Lancaster, Pa.), 81 (Traverse City, Mich.) and 70 (Grand Rapids, Mich).
BCTGM International President David Durkee addressed the crowd shortly before the shareholders meeting. Durkee reflected on the dedication and solidarity of the locked out Memphis Kellogg workers, noting that nearly 30 percent of the workers have 30 or more years of seniority at the production facility. He also explained the plight of several of the Kellogg workers who are being forced by Kellogg to survive without health insurance and whom have extraordinary medical issues.
President Durkee, International Secretary Treasurer Steve Bertelli, Bradshaw and a number of locked out Kellogg workers, attended the shareholders meeting.
The AFL-CIO presented Proposal 5 to the Kellogg shareholder meeting. The proposal, put forward by Brandon Rees of the AFL-CIO Office of Investment, would require the Kellogg Company to submit a “human rights risk assessment”.
Check out what President Durkee had to say to the Kellogg Shareholders!