Biden ‘deeply troubled’ by Kellogg’s hiring workers to replace striking union members

President wades into labour battle, calling hiring plan ‘an existential attack’ on union members and families

President Joe Biden has stepped into the ongoing strike among Kellogg’s workers who have entered a third month on picket lines after voting to reject the latest agreement on a new contract with the company, which is hiring permanent replacements for striking union members.

“Collective bargaining is an essential tool to protect the rights of workers that should be free from threats and intimidation from employers,” the president said in a statement from the White House on 10 December.

“That’s why I am deeply troubled by reports of Kellogg’s plans to permanently replace striking workers from the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International during their ongoing collective bargaining negotiations,” he said.

The president called the company hiring replacements “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,” he added. “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.”

Roughly 1,400 workers at four Kellogg’s cereal plants have extended a strike that started in early October.

Striking employees in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nebraska and Tennessee produce products like Rice Krispies, Raisin Bran, Froot Loops, Corn Flakes and Frosted Flakes.

Work stoppages have “left us no choice but to hire permanent replacement employees in positions vacated by striking workers,” Kellogg’s said in a statement on 7 December.

The company has stressed that “there is no further bargaining scheduled and we have no plans to meet” with the union.

Job postings for those positions explicitly mention the strike.

“The unions representing Kellogg employees in these plants are on strike, and we are looking for employees to permanently replace them, joining hundreds of Kellogg salaried employees, hourly employees, and contractors to keep the lines running,” according to a job listing on the company’s website.

A previous job listing on the job site Indeed.com said the company is “looking for employees to cross the picket line” to “join hundreds of Kellogg salaried employees, hourly employees, and contractors to keep the lines running during the strike.”

“While these are temporary positions at this time, they could lead to permanent opportunities in the future,” the listing said.

In a statement to The Independent, Kellogg’s spokesperson Kris Bahner said the company has “made every effort to reach a fair agreement, including making six comprehensive offers to the union throughout negotiations, all which have included wage and benefits increases for every employee on top of an industry-leading compensation package.”

“Because we have an obligation to our customers and consumers to continue to provide the cereals that they know and love – as well as to the thousands of people we employ – we are hiring permanent replacement employees in positions vacated by striking workers, as is permitted by law,” she added.

“Interest in the roles has been strong at all four plants, as expected. We expect some of the new hires to start with the company very soon,” she said.

Mr Biden, who expressed support for Amazon workers in Alabama who campaigned to form the first union within the retail giant earlier this year, has repeatedly characterised himself as “the most pro-union president.”

“Unions built the middle class of this country,” he said in his statement on Friday. “My unyielding support for unions includes support for collective bargaining, and I will aggressively defend both.”

He is urging “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,” he said.

His remarks also follow the first successful union election at a corporate-owned Starbucks coffeeshop in Buffalo, New York, as workers there call on the company to recognise the newly formed union and work with them to draw a union-backed contract.