Biff_Poindexter
Diamond Member
Kellogg's says it will permanently replace striking workers after offer is rejected
Workers voted down a five-year offer from the cereal maker that included 3% raises and cost-of-living adjustments.
www.cbsnews.com
"Kellogg's employees have rejected a contract proposal offering 3% annual raises, with 1,400 workers at the company's four U.S. cereal plants choosing to remain on strike. The Union said on Tuesday that an overwhelming majority of workers voted down the five-year offer, which also would have also provided cost-of-living adjustments in the later years of the deal and preserved the workers' current health care benefits. One sticking point in the negotiations has been the company's two-tiered system of wages that gives newer workers at the plants less pay and fewer benefits -- as many as 30% receive those lower wages.
Victor Chen, a sociologist at Virginia Commonwealth University who studies labor, said; "A union depends on the solidarity of its members," Chen said. "When you have two-tiered systems — which have become popular in corporate America — you're weakening that solidarity. It turns workers against each other." Kellogg's said it will now move forward with plans to start hiring permanent replacements for the striking workers. The company has already been using salaried employees and outside workers to keep the plants operating during the strike."
First of all, when you are a worker, you need to humble yourself and not be greedy..Of course there should be a two-tier system if not a 50 tier system...What point is it to pay someone who only been on the job a short time the same wages as someone who has been on the job for 10 or so years....and a 3% raise was more than enough -- but these laborers rejected it...
About time a company finally had the balls to stand up to these workers and started fighting back....And when they bring in replacements and hire them -- it definitely should be for less than the wages they were currently paying...that would be a quick and effective way to cut down on labor costs...I wouldn't hire those strikers when they come crawling back either.....good luck finding a job who will pay you over 3% more than what you were making...and these folks were wanting better healthcare coverage and a pension too?? Yea, right....