The city of Omaha, Neb. The strike by 1,400 workers at the cereals plant of Kellogg's could be ending after the company reached a new tentative agreement.
Grain Millers International Union members will vote on a new offer that includes cost-of-living adjustments and a $1.10 per hour raise for all employees on Sunday. The union rejected a previous offer from the company.
All of our employees are valued. They have allowed the company to provide food to Americans for more than 115 years. We are hopeful that our employees will vote to approve the contract.
Most workers at the cereals plants earned an average of $120,000 last year, although union members said they work more than 80 hours a week to earn that, and those wages are only available to long-term workers. New hires are paid less and receive less benefits under the two-tiered pay system.
The pay system has been a sticking point in the negotiations, and the offer from Kellogg didn't change on that part of the contract. The company will allow all workers with at least four years of experience to move up to the higher legacy pay level as part of the contract. The plan wouldn't let other workers move up quickly enough. The company wants to eliminate the 30% cap on the number of workers at each plant.
Employees health care benefits will be preserved in the new agreement.
The strike includes four plants in Battle Creek, Nebraska, Omaha, Nebraska, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which make all of the company's well-known brands of cereals.
The company said late last month that it planned to start hiring replacements for the striking workers, and that it had been trying to keep its plants open.
