Rolling Stone Magazine Supports Striking Kellogg’s Union Workers
In a 2,000 word piece, Rolling Stone excoriates the "Froot Loop lords" at Kellogg's for the treatment of their workers.
Union workers have been on strike since October 5 at Kellogg plants in Battle Creek, Michigan, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Memphis, Tennessee, and Ohaha, Nebraska. The labor dispute has gotten national news coverage and the rock and roll world is taking sides. Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine performed a song he has written for the cause on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, and now Rolling Stone has written an article showing solidarity.
Journalist Stephen Rodrick traveled to Omaha to talk with members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers’ Union that are walking the picket lines. One of the key issues here, just like in Battle Creek and the other two plants is work-life balance. As overused a phrase as that may be, it is a legitimate concern when you're being forced into 72 to 84-hour workweeks due to mandatory overtime. Kellogg officials say that number is closer to 52-56 hours a week, and that 90% of overtime is voluntary. (Voluntold, anyone?)
You sign on at a place like Kellogg’s, and you know they basically own your life. You decide it is OK because you do it to support your family and give them a good life. But it has to be a relationship where you’re valued, and the company doesn’t look to squeeze out every last drop of profit at your expense.
-Daniel Osborn, Omaha BCTGM President to Rolling Stone
The other major issue is what is being called a "caste system;" two-tiers of employees with a wide discrepancy in wages for the same work performed. Locally, Battle Creek's BCTGM local 3-G continues to walk the picket lines outside the Kellogg's plant and say they will last "one day longer."
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The former summer home of cereal tycoon W.K. Kellogg