March 31, 2014
By Neal Tepel
Kensington, MD – The U.S. government charged the Kellogg Company with multiple and serious violations of federal law stemming from its October 22, 2013 lockout of more than 220 workers at the company’s Memphis cereal production facility.
In filing a Complaint against Kellogg based on charges by Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) Local 252G, the local representing the locked out members, the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) determined that the company’s conduct in the supplemental contract negotiations in Memphis that led to the lockout was in clear violation of the federal law governing labor and management relations in the U.S.
In the March 27 Complaint, the Board’s General Counsel validated the charges filed by BCTGM Local 252G. The Complaint outlines that, during the course of the negotiations that led to the lockout, the company violated the law by demanding to negotiate on subjects that are not legally proper for negotiations. Kellogg locked out all bargaining-unit employees and refused to bargain in good faith.
Commenting on the NLRB ruling, BCTGM International Union President David B. Durkee stated, “For more than five months, the locked out workers in Memphis have been victimized by a $14 billion multinational corporation so consumed by greed that it was willing to break U.S. law in order to get what it wanted from its workers. All these workers have ever wanted, since the day they were locked out is to return to the jobs they have performed skillfully and with deep dedication for many, many years in order that they can provide for their families."
“The BCTGM urges the Kellogg Company to finally accept its responsibility for breaking the law and end this tragic lockout. This horrendous injustice has gone on far too long,” concluded Durkee.
*The BCTGM represents more than 4,000 Kellogg employees throughout North America.
