OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Kellogg Co. has filed a lawsuit against its local union in Omaha. It's complaining that striking workers are blocking entrances to its cereal plant and intimidating replacement workers who are entering the plant.
Dan Osborn, president of the BCTGM Local 50G which represent Omaha workers, gave this statement in response:
"The current legal action filed by Kellogg Company does not deprive or take away any of our rights. There have been absolutely no citations issued by local law enforcement regarding the way we have been handling this legal work stoppage.
Our members, many who have spent one-third of their lives in service of Kellogg Company, are feeling betrayed and are bewildered by the company’s decision to suspend insurance, pay their temporary workers more than they were paying them and the sheer amount of money they are spending to keep us out.
We are currently working on getting counselors out to our lines and finding other sources of counseling for our members to deal with their mental health as this has moved into the second month."
The company based in Battle Creek, Michigan, asked a judge to order the Omaha chapter of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union to stop interfering with its business while workers picket outside the plant.
The workers in Omaha and at Kellogg’s three other U.S. cereal plants in Battle Creek; Lancaster, Pennsylvania and Memphis, Tennessee, have been on strike since Oct. 5.
Two days of contract talks earlier this month failed to produce an agreement.
Download our apps today for all of our latest coverage.
Get the latest news and weather delivered straight to your inbox.
