Today (April 28th), the unions of the AFL-CIO observe Workers Memorial Day to remember those who have suffered and died on the job and to renew our efforts for safe workplaces. This year, the struggle continues to create good jobs in this country that are safe and healthy and to ensure the freedom of workers to form unions and, through their unions, to speak out and bargain for respect and a better future. It is time...
BCTGM International President David Durkee and International Secretary Treasurer Steve Bertelli, together with locked out Local 252G Kellogg workers and AFL-CIO representatives, attended the ย Kellogg Company shareholder meeting today in Battle Creek, Mich. The AFL-CIO presented Proposal 5 to the shareholders. 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". President Durkee delivered a statement to the shareholders in support of...
BCTGM members from five states and Canada descended upon ย 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.ย Locked out 252G members, who traveled to Battle Creek to take place in the shareholders meeting and planned events, were introduced by...
I remained hopeful that this situation would resolve soon for many days, but as these days turned to weeks, and these weeks to months, I am starting to wonder why nobody is listening to my plea. It hurts to be ignored. โKara Butterfield, 15, daughter of Jeff Butterfield, Local 252G locked out Kellogg worker This morning outside the W.K. Kellogg Foundation headquarters in Battle Creek, Mich., BCTGM Local 252G members illegally locked out by Kellogg in Memphis,...
According to the 2014ย AFL-CIO Executive PayWatch, released April 15, itโs 331 times better to be a CEO than an average worker. All you need to do is ask BCTGM Local 252G President Kevin Bradshaw, who along with more than 220 other union workers, has been locked out of the Kellogg cereal plant in Memphis, Tenn. since last October. And while the locked union members have not received a paycheck since the illegal lockout began on October 22,...
JESSE NEWMAN for THE WALL STREET JOURNAL April 9, 2014 After an explosion at an Imperial Sugar Co. factory in Georgia killed 14 workers and injured dozens in 2008, U.S. officials promised rules for handling the well-known workplace hazard that caused it: combustible dust. Six years later, there has been little change. Now, as investigators continue to explore the possibility that dust could have caused the collapse of a feed mill in Omaha, Neb., this past January, the...
Kensington, MD, April 5, 2014 โย In yet another major development regarding the Kellogg Companyโs illegal lockout of its Memphis, Tenn. workforce, the five-member National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) headquartered in Washington, D.C. unanimously authorized on April 4th its lawyers to seek an immediate injunction in U.S. Federal Court against the company for its part in the long-running lockout. Workers at the facility are represented by Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) Local 252G. โThis...
Kensington, MD, March 27, 2014 โย Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) issued the following statement in response to the March 27 complaint issued by the Nationalย Labor Relations Boardย (NLRB)ย against the Kellogg Company: Earlier today, the U.S. government charged the Kellogg Company with multiple and serious violations of federal law stemming from its October 22, 2013 lockout of more than 220 workers at the companyโs Memphis cereal production facility. In filing a Complaint against Kellogg...
A series of videos were launched today to tell the story of the actions Kellogg is taking against its workers around the globe. While the CEO of The Kellogg Company, John Bryant, gets a pay raise of $8 million and investors get rich with increasing dividend payments and share buybacks, thousands of Kellogg employees and the communities they live in are left devastated and angry.ย And while the $14 billion global snack food giant prides itself...
โThe opposition from employers and their strong political representatives seems sharp and constant, and in the face of these, it is our declared purpose to maintain our unity and solidarity.โ ย โ From the Declaration of Principles, BCTGM Constitution Looking at these words from the BCTGMโs Declaration of Principles, it is as if those leaders who wrote our Constitution knew exactly what our Union has been up against for the past four years and how we have...
Five powerful and highly-respected United States Senators have asked the Kellogg Company to “act swiftly to find a fair agreement” and end its nearly five-month lockout of more than 220 workers at its Memphis, Tenn. cereal production facility. In a March 6 letter to Kellogg CEO John Bryant, Senators Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Robert Casey, Jr. (Pa.), Cory Booker (N.J.), Robert Menendez (N.J.) and Jeff Merkley (Ore.), reflected on the dedication of Kellogg workers. “Many of these hardworking...
For Immediate Release: March 5, 2014 The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) has joined the growing number of national and international organizations urging the Kellogg Company to end its nearly five-month old lockout of more than 220 workers at its Memphis, Tenn. cereal plant. In a February 27 letter to Kellogg CEO John Bryant, CBC Chair Rep. Marcia L. Fudge (D-Ohio), writes: โMany of the affected workers are second and third generation employees from predominately minority communities, averaging more...
The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) has joined the growing number of national and international organizations urging the Kellogg Company to end its four-month old lockout of more than 220 BCTGM Local 252G members at its Memphis, Tenn. plant. In the letter to Kelloggโs CEO John Bryant, CBC Chair Rep. Marcia L. Fudge (D-Ohio), writes: โMany of the affected workers are second and third generation employees from predominately minority communities, averaging more than 20 years of service to...
The NFL PLayers Association today sent a letter to Kellogg CEO John Bryant backing up the locked out workers in Memphis. "The NFLPA is well aware of the impact on workers and their families when an employer locks out its workers," writes DeMaurice Smith, Executive Director of the NFLPA (NFL Players Association). "The NFLPA calls on you to immediately end the Memphis lockout and allow these hard-working men and women to resume their jobs so that...
Minnesota Congresswoman Betty McCollum wrote to Kellogg's CEO John Bryant on February 19 asking him to "please honor the legacy of the company by ending this lockout and seeking a mutually agreeable resolution of this dispute that respects the hard work of employees." "The Kellogg plan to convert full-time jobs to a casual or part-time workforce will likely reduce pay and benefits drastically for most workers, which will have a negative impact on families as well...