SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at the White House in Washington, D.C., on August 5, 2021. (Photo: Win McNamee/AFP via Getty Images)
'An Existential Attack on the Union': Biden Blasts Kellogg's Plan to Replace Striking Workers
"Such action undermines the critical role collective bargaining plays in providing workers a voice and the opportunity to improve their lives while contributing fully to their employer's success."
Dec 10, 2021
U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday joined the growing chorus of labor rights advocates and workers who have condemned an attempt by Kellogg Company to hire permanent replacements for unionized workers who remain on strike after rejecting a proposed contract earlier this week.
"I am deeply troubled by reports of Kellogg's plans to permanently replace striking workers."
"Collective bargaining is an essential tool to protect the rights of workers that should be free from threats and intimidation from employers," Biden said in a statement. "That's why I am deeply troubled by reports of Kellogg's plans to permanently replace striking workers."
Kellogg's workers who belong to the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) have been on strike since early October, when they walked out of cereal factories in Battle Creek, Michigan; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Omaha, Nebraska; and Memphis, Tennessee.
"After 19 negotiation sessions in 2021, and still no deal reached, we will continue to focus on moving forward to operate our business," Kellogg North America president Chris Hood said in a Tuesday statement announcing the plan to replace about 1,400 hourly employees.
The president said Friday that "permanently replacing striking workers is an existential attack on the union and its members' jobs and livelihoods. I have long opposed permanent striker replacements and I strongly support legislation that would ban that practice."
Biden, who famously pledged last year to "be the most pro-union president you've ever seen," continued:
And such action undermines the critical role collective bargaining plays in providing workers a voice and the opportunity to improve their lives while contributing fully to their employer's success.
Unions built the middle class of this country. My unyielding support for unions includes support for collective bargaining, and I will aggressively defend both.
I urge employers and unions to commit fully to the challenging task of working out their differences at the bargaining table in a manner that fairly advances both parties' interests.
Both BCTGM and the progressive media organization More Perfect Union welcomed the president's interjection, with the latter saying that "Biden is right to wade into an ongoing labor dispute and use the power of the presidency to stand up for working people, as we have been urging him to do."
Though Biden did not mention by name the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, he has endorsed the House-approved legislation--a sweeping pro-union measure that would prohibit companies like Kellogg's from permanently replacing workers who are on strike.
The PRO Act is among the bills that have prompted progressives within and beyond Congress to call for abolishing the filibuster so Democrats can get their agenda through the evenly split Senate.
In the absence of federal legislative action, some supporters of Kellogg's workers have taken matters into their own hands--flooding the company with fake applications.
Despite the grassroots advocacy against the hiring of so-called "scabs," Kris Bahner, a spokesperson for the company, told Insider on Friday that the online hiring process was "fully operational" and new hires were expected to start "very soon."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday joined the growing chorus of labor rights advocates and workers who have condemned an attempt by Kellogg Company to hire permanent replacements for unionized workers who remain on strike after rejecting a proposed contract earlier this week.
"I am deeply troubled by reports of Kellogg's plans to permanently replace striking workers."
"Collective bargaining is an essential tool to protect the rights of workers that should be free from threats and intimidation from employers," Biden said in a statement. "That's why I am deeply troubled by reports of Kellogg's plans to permanently replace striking workers."
Kellogg's workers who belong to the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) have been on strike since early October, when they walked out of cereal factories in Battle Creek, Michigan; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Omaha, Nebraska; and Memphis, Tennessee.
"After 19 negotiation sessions in 2021, and still no deal reached, we will continue to focus on moving forward to operate our business," Kellogg North America president Chris Hood said in a Tuesday statement announcing the plan to replace about 1,400 hourly employees.
The president said Friday that "permanently replacing striking workers is an existential attack on the union and its members' jobs and livelihoods. I have long opposed permanent striker replacements and I strongly support legislation that would ban that practice."
Biden, who famously pledged last year to "be the most pro-union president you've ever seen," continued:
And such action undermines the critical role collective bargaining plays in providing workers a voice and the opportunity to improve their lives while contributing fully to their employer's success.
Unions built the middle class of this country. My unyielding support for unions includes support for collective bargaining, and I will aggressively defend both.
I urge employers and unions to commit fully to the challenging task of working out their differences at the bargaining table in a manner that fairly advances both parties' interests.
Both BCTGM and the progressive media organization More Perfect Union welcomed the president's interjection, with the latter saying that "Biden is right to wade into an ongoing labor dispute and use the power of the presidency to stand up for working people, as we have been urging him to do."
Though Biden did not mention by name the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, he has endorsed the House-approved legislation--a sweeping pro-union measure that would prohibit companies like Kellogg's from permanently replacing workers who are on strike.
The PRO Act is among the bills that have prompted progressives within and beyond Congress to call for abolishing the filibuster so Democrats can get their agenda through the evenly split Senate.
In the absence of federal legislative action, some supporters of Kellogg's workers have taken matters into their own hands--flooding the company with fake applications.
Despite the grassroots advocacy against the hiring of so-called "scabs," Kris Bahner, a spokesperson for the company, told Insider on Friday that the online hiring process was "fully operational" and new hires were expected to start "very soon."
From Your Site Articles
U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday joined the growing chorus of labor rights advocates and workers who have condemned an attempt by Kellogg Company to hire permanent replacements for unionized workers who remain on strike after rejecting a proposed contract earlier this week.
"I am deeply troubled by reports of Kellogg's plans to permanently replace striking workers."
"Collective bargaining is an essential tool to protect the rights of workers that should be free from threats and intimidation from employers," Biden said in a statement. "That's why I am deeply troubled by reports of Kellogg's plans to permanently replace striking workers."
Kellogg's workers who belong to the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) have been on strike since early October, when they walked out of cereal factories in Battle Creek, Michigan; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Omaha, Nebraska; and Memphis, Tennessee.
"After 19 negotiation sessions in 2021, and still no deal reached, we will continue to focus on moving forward to operate our business," Kellogg North America president Chris Hood said in a Tuesday statement announcing the plan to replace about 1,400 hourly employees.
The president said Friday that "permanently replacing striking workers is an existential attack on the union and its members' jobs and livelihoods. I have long opposed permanent striker replacements and I strongly support legislation that would ban that practice."
Biden, who famously pledged last year to "be the most pro-union president you've ever seen," continued:
And such action undermines the critical role collective bargaining plays in providing workers a voice and the opportunity to improve their lives while contributing fully to their employer's success.
Unions built the middle class of this country. My unyielding support for unions includes support for collective bargaining, and I will aggressively defend both.
I urge employers and unions to commit fully to the challenging task of working out their differences at the bargaining table in a manner that fairly advances both parties' interests.
Both BCTGM and the progressive media organization More Perfect Union welcomed the president's interjection, with the latter saying that "Biden is right to wade into an ongoing labor dispute and use the power of the presidency to stand up for working people, as we have been urging him to do."
Though Biden did not mention by name the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, he has endorsed the House-approved legislation--a sweeping pro-union measure that would prohibit companies like Kellogg's from permanently replacing workers who are on strike.
The PRO Act is among the bills that have prompted progressives within and beyond Congress to call for abolishing the filibuster so Democrats can get their agenda through the evenly split Senate.
In the absence of federal legislative action, some supporters of Kellogg's workers have taken matters into their own hands--flooding the company with fake applications.
Despite the grassroots advocacy against the hiring of so-called "scabs," Kris Bahner, a spokesperson for the company, told Insider on Friday that the online hiring process was "fully operational" and new hires were expected to start "very soon."
From Your Site Articles
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.