WEBVTT - Striketober 1: The Kellogg's Strike 0:00:04.200 --> 0:00:09.320 Ah, excellent, Chris, that's good. That's good. That's the kind 0:00:09.360 --> 0:00:12.080 of a tonal grunting that people have come to express 0:00:12.119 --> 0:00:16.200 respect from the introductions of my podcast. I was hoping 0:00:16.239 --> 0:00:18.560 it wouldn't be that, but then it was so bad 0:00:18.640 --> 0:00:24.599 that it was great thrill. That's our brand now, it 0:00:24.680 --> 0:00:28.160 can't be anything else. We've We've established it. Look, nobody 0:00:28.160 --> 0:00:31.160 else is doing that. The Cometown guys, I assume aren't 0:00:31.240 --> 0:00:34.559 a tonally grunting to start their podcast. I don't know, actually, 0:00:34.600 --> 0:00:39.640 but I assume not. I guess this is just how 0:00:39.680 --> 0:00:42.680 we are at It could happen here is a podcast. 0:00:43.360 --> 0:00:46.479 You don't sound like you believe it enthusiastically, Chris, with 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:55.480 feeling this is a podcast is happening here? That yeah, excellent, 0:00:55.680 --> 0:00:57.240 That's how we do it. Okay, what are we talking 0:00:57.280 --> 0:01:00.400 about today? Well, one of the things that has happened here, 0:01:00.680 --> 0:01:04.360 as we have discussed briefly in previous episodes, is a 0:01:04.440 --> 0:01:08.759 bunch of strikes, and with us today to talk about 0:01:09.200 --> 0:01:13.160 one of these strikes, specifically the Collogg strike. Is Mel Buwer, 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:17.440 an independent researcher, educator, and freelance journalist based in Omaha, Nebraska, 0:01:17.520 --> 0:01:21.479 where this particular strike is taking place. Who has done 0:01:21.640 --> 0:01:25.200 done a lot of journalism previously on the local Protestant 0:01:25.280 --> 0:01:28.480 uprising the street and is also researching and writing a 0:01:28.520 --> 0:01:35.240 book on alternative media. Hi. Hello, we'll welcome to the show. 0:01:36.560 --> 0:01:39.600 Strikes Strikes apparently is what's up? It is? It is Strictober. 0:01:40.240 --> 0:01:47.080 We're doing strikes strike wave baby. Ye. So this this 0:01:47.200 --> 0:01:50.240 specific strike, UM, why don't can you can you walk 0:01:50.320 --> 0:01:53.520 us through a bit about how we got to the 0:01:53.560 --> 0:01:57.960 point where this Kellogg's factory is on strike? Um? Well, 0:01:58.040 --> 0:02:02.480 first off, it's four plants. It's all for American kellogg 0:02:02.600 --> 0:02:06.880 Cereal plants have gone on strike. Um. The workers and 0:02:06.920 --> 0:02:10.880 these plans are represented by the bakery, confectionery tobacco workers 0:02:10.880 --> 0:02:14.600 in Grain Miller's International Union. I do love that bakeries 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:20.720 and tobacco workers are in the same union. Yeah that's yeah. Yeah. 0:02:20.800 --> 0:02:26.200 So UM, their contract was up for renegotiation in actually 0:02:26.880 --> 0:02:31.400 UM and UM due to a series of weird things happening, 0:02:31.560 --> 0:02:36.800 they pushed the negotiations to UM. They renegotiate their contract 0:02:36.840 --> 0:02:43.239 every five years, UM and at stake. This year UM 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:48.160 was a sort of pushing back against a recently introduced 0:02:48.160 --> 0:02:51.959 to tier employment system that they company sort of strong 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:57.840 armed the union into which essentially is not it's not 0:02:57.880 --> 0:03:03.080 a good deal for anyone. UM. In they pushed in 0:03:03.200 --> 0:03:06.400 this sort of two tier system where one tier is 0:03:06.440 --> 0:03:11.000 a lower transitional tier and one tier is a legacy 0:03:11.120 --> 0:03:14.399 or full time employee tier. UM. And what it is 0:03:14.400 --> 0:03:16.640 is that, you know, it amounts to a difference of 0:03:17.080 --> 0:03:25.480 twelve bucks an hour and less benefits. UM. Yes, yes, UM. 0:03:25.560 --> 0:03:28.800 Dan Osborne recently did an interview with Max Salvarez at 0:03:28.800 --> 0:03:31.080 Working People podcast and he really kind of talked about 0:03:31.120 --> 0:03:34.680 exactly what was going on there. UM. And you know, 0:03:34.720 --> 0:03:37.040 there's fourteen hundred people who work in four plants. There's 0:03:37.040 --> 0:03:41.640 about four employees at the Omaha plant, which has been 0:03:41.640 --> 0:03:45.960 around for decades. And UM, Essentially, what this tier system 0:03:46.000 --> 0:03:50.840 does is it's capped at of their union workforce. And 0:03:50.880 --> 0:03:54.880 the whole idea is as these full time employees retire 0:03:55.160 --> 0:03:58.280 or quit, than these transitional employees will sort of be 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:02.600 funneled into the full time tier. Right over the last 0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:06.560 five years, that hasn't really happened really at all. UM. 0:04:06.600 --> 0:04:08.920 It was a bad deal from the start according to 0:04:08.960 --> 0:04:11.560 many of the workers who sort of felt like they 0:04:11.760 --> 0:04:14.040 you know, they were backed into a wall because Kellogg's 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:16.440 was threatening to close the Memphis plant if they didn't 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:22.080 ratify this negotiated contract. So rather than experience, you know, 0:04:23.040 --> 0:04:27.560 five layoffs in Memphis, they just agreed to it. So 0:04:27.760 --> 0:04:32.920 they knew going to the negotiating table in that they 0:04:32.960 --> 0:04:36.719 were going to try and sort of walk that back 0:04:37.760 --> 0:04:41.520 because these workers all work in the same plant, same 0:04:41.600 --> 0:04:45.279 days for a second third shift. Transitional workers are working 0:04:45.680 --> 0:04:48.320 side by side with these full time employees, working the 0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:51.160 same hours, which can amount to seven days a week 0:04:51.480 --> 0:04:54.839 twelve the sixteen hours a day on mandatory over time, 0:04:55.160 --> 0:04:57.960 and they are making twelve dollars an hour less and 0:04:58.000 --> 0:05:01.040 they are not getting the benefits that these full time 0:05:01.040 --> 0:05:04.000 employees are getting. So really, these full time employees are 0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:06.920 kind of going to bat for the transitional employees. Um, 0:05:07.080 --> 0:05:10.760 Kelloggs wants to remove the cap which the union negotiated, 0:05:10.960 --> 0:05:13.839 which is at of their workforce. They wanted to do that, 0:05:14.000 --> 0:05:16.200 do away with that so that they can continue hiring 0:05:16.640 --> 0:05:20.840 more transitional workers, and they want to funk with the 0:05:20.880 --> 0:05:27.320 insurance benefits. So, uh, the union tried to negotiate this. 0:05:27.760 --> 0:05:31.720 I think according to the local union president, Kelloggs negotiators 0:05:31.720 --> 0:05:34.760 were at the negotiating table for ten hours, and they 0:05:34.839 --> 0:05:38.360 negotiated eight hours a day, five days a week for 0:05:38.440 --> 0:05:42.360 two weeks, ten hours there at the table. So they 0:05:42.360 --> 0:05:45.920 weren't interested in negotiating a contract. They had laid out 0:05:45.920 --> 0:05:49.040 their their terms and they essentially told the union to 0:05:49.080 --> 0:05:52.320 go kick rocks. And so the union said, you know, 0:05:52.440 --> 0:05:55.960 we have we have until October five and then our 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:58.479 contract is up, and if we haven't ratified a new contract, 0:05:58.480 --> 0:06:01.640 then we're going out on strike. And that's ultimately what happened. 0:06:02.120 --> 0:06:04.560 So they've been on strike for this will be their 0:06:04.600 --> 0:06:08.440 fourteenth day today. I think the fight against the two 0:06:08.480 --> 0:06:10.800 tier system, I think is an interesting part of this 0:06:10.839 --> 0:06:13.360 because that's been a huge part of a lot of 0:06:13.400 --> 0:06:16.320 the different strikes you been seeing. This is with John 0:06:16.360 --> 0:06:19.840 Deer strikes, is part of the Kaiser strikes. And yeah, 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:23.640 I'm wondering what you think specifically about the fact that 0:06:23.720 --> 0:06:26.560 this is like this is the moment that people have 0:06:26.560 --> 0:06:29.200 decided to like push back against against two or even 0:06:29.279 --> 0:06:32.200 three tier systems they were introduced in the last really 0:06:32.279 --> 0:06:36.480 like ten or fifteen years. For the most part, Well, 0:06:36.520 --> 0:06:38.159 I think it's just, you know, it's a divide and 0:06:38.160 --> 0:06:41.039 conquer strategy for Kellogg's or for these other companies, And 0:06:41.120 --> 0:06:46.400 ultimately what it looks like is it destabilizes well established unions, 0:06:46.480 --> 0:06:51.640 especially at Kellogg's. UM and UM, it pits workers against 0:06:51.640 --> 0:06:55.279 each other, you know, UM, particularly at Kellogg's. If they're 0:06:55.320 --> 0:06:59.320 able to remove this cap on this tier system, UM, 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:01.480 what they're so actually doing is they're creating a more 0:07:01.520 --> 0:07:06.600 precarious workplace for these workers. UM. The turnover rate and 0:07:06.640 --> 0:07:11.960 the lower tier at the Omaha plant is right around UM. 0:07:12.000 --> 0:07:15.560 And you know, prior to you didn't really see a 0:07:15.560 --> 0:07:17.760 whole lot of people leaving the Kellogg's plant. You know, 0:07:17.800 --> 0:07:21.920 these were These are workers who are spending their entire 0:07:22.000 --> 0:07:25.680 careers at this plant. Their parents work their their grandparents 0:07:25.720 --> 0:07:30.080 work there. You know. UM, they because they're all getting 0:07:30.080 --> 0:07:32.880 paid around the same amount of money, there isn't this 0:07:32.960 --> 0:07:36.000 tension on the line, so they're they're working with each other, 0:07:36.000 --> 0:07:42.280 they're helping each other, right, UM. And with this tier system, 0:07:42.360 --> 0:07:45.400 what they're doing is they're throwing these newer workers into 0:07:45.880 --> 0:07:51.200 uh pretty uh insane factory conditions, UM and making it 0:07:51.280 --> 0:07:54.400 really difficult for them to uh I feel like they 0:07:54.400 --> 0:07:57.320 have any reason to stay there. Right. A lot of 0:07:57.320 --> 0:08:00.600 these people will you know, put in. Some of these 0:08:00.600 --> 0:08:04.280 workers were transitional workers who weren't officially hired by the company. 0:08:04.320 --> 0:08:07.320 You know, there aren't full time employees. They aren't receiving 0:08:07.400 --> 0:08:11.160 benefits like the full time employees are. For five years. 0:08:11.240 --> 0:08:14.560 They worked this every day, seven days a week, three 0:08:14.600 --> 0:08:17.600 months on end. Right. Uh, they have this really you 0:08:17.640 --> 0:08:22.080 know punitive attendance based points system that discourages you calling 0:08:22.080 --> 0:08:25.160 in sick. There's injuries that happened in the factory all 0:08:25.200 --> 0:08:27.440 the time. You know. I went out to the line 0:08:27.480 --> 0:08:31.560 and wrote a piece for the Real News about this, 0:08:31.680 --> 0:08:34.840 and pretty much every person I talked to showed me 0:08:35.120 --> 0:08:39.720 scars from accidents that happened, injuries in the plant. Um. 0:08:39.800 --> 0:08:43.560 The union president himself got his hand stuck in a 0:08:44.360 --> 0:08:47.360 like a mill and broke all the fingers in his hand. 0:08:47.360 --> 0:08:51.160 He had to have ten surgeries on his hand. You know. Um, 0:08:51.200 --> 0:08:54.200 there was an accident at the plant two or three 0:08:54.240 --> 0:08:57.720 weeks ago where a transitional employee got both arms stuck 0:08:57.720 --> 0:09:01.679 in a conveyor belt. You know. Um. The thing is 0:09:01.679 --> 0:09:05.640 is these folks super proud of the work that they do, 0:09:06.160 --> 0:09:11.280 Like absolutely take this work extremely seriously. You know, they're 0:09:11.280 --> 0:09:15.080 not even asking for changes to their overtime. They are 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:18.560 not asking for, you know, anything that you know, for 0:09:18.800 --> 0:09:21.440 me on the outside, i'd be fighting for more humane 0:09:21.440 --> 0:09:25.680 working conditions. But to them, you know, it's it's not 0:09:25.760 --> 0:09:28.280 like it's a point of pride, but they feel that 0:09:28.320 --> 0:09:34.000 they have put blood, sweat, tears, uh, you know, fractured relationships, 0:09:34.360 --> 0:09:37.199 time that they could be spending with their children into 0:09:37.240 --> 0:09:41.920 this factory, and Kelloggs is essentially fucking them over. You know. 0:09:42.480 --> 0:09:45.160 They see it as we have sacrificed for this company 0:09:45.200 --> 0:09:48.040 for years and years and years um and we are 0:09:48.080 --> 0:09:51.920 asking for equal pay for all and for everyone to 0:09:51.960 --> 0:09:54.760 have the same health care so that we can do 0:09:54.800 --> 0:10:00.160 this job, you know, and Kelloggs is saying no, absolutely know. 0:10:00.600 --> 0:10:03.280 I think the union president said that some of the 0:10:03.320 --> 0:10:08.720 negotiators called those demands outlandish during negotiations, which I think 0:10:08.840 --> 0:10:12.679 is just incredible, you know, just corporate greed. Yeah. I 0:10:12.679 --> 0:10:14.679 think the other part of the story is that, like 0:10:15.760 --> 0:10:18.720 I mean, it's kind of a weird consequence of it, 0:10:18.760 --> 0:10:20.760 but like one of the things, one of those consequences 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:24.319 is sort of like rising like staple commodity price, staple 0:10:24.320 --> 0:10:26.480 grain prices and stuff. Is that Kellogg's like they're doing 0:10:26.559 --> 0:10:28.679 they have like record, they have record profits right now 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:33.120 and they're still just doing this ship because yeah, they 0:10:33.120 --> 0:10:36.760 made record profits during the pandemic. They gave their CEO 0:10:38.120 --> 0:10:41.960 pretty hufty raise bonus. Um, there was a stock buyback 0:10:43.040 --> 0:10:46.640 program that helped. Happened among the c suite folks last year. 0:10:47.080 --> 0:10:49.400 They made a lot of money, a lot of money. 0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:51.800 And um, you know, these workers worked every day through 0:10:51.840 --> 0:10:57.360 the pandemic, um continually understaffed, you know, um, doing their 0:10:57.360 --> 0:11:02.600 best because again, they takes this job very seriously and 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:05.079 they are proud that they are feeding the American people, 0:11:05.320 --> 0:11:07.800 you know, Um, and they are proud to work at Kellogg's. 0:11:08.400 --> 0:11:14.880 And they feel that this contract is just shit, it's 0:11:14.920 --> 0:11:18.040 just ship. And you know the only sensible thing to 0:11:18.080 --> 0:11:20.440 do is to to walk out on strike because you know, 0:11:20.480 --> 0:11:24.479 they've been backed into a corner and negotiations have stagnated completely, 0:11:24.920 --> 0:11:31.960 you know. UM, and UM, they don't want to they 0:11:31.960 --> 0:11:35.000 don't want to back down from this, you know. Um. 0:11:35.120 --> 0:11:37.240 They and I agree. I feel what they're what they're 0:11:37.240 --> 0:11:40.040 asking for is fair. It's very fair. I mean I 0:11:40.080 --> 0:11:43.800 think it's I think asking for a lot more would 0:11:43.800 --> 0:11:46.360 be fair. But yeah, that's not my place to be 0:11:46.440 --> 0:11:48.599 doing One of the things that strikes me about that 0:11:48.640 --> 0:11:51.720 you talk about this tier system that Kellogg's introduced, which 0:11:52.240 --> 0:11:55.000 I can't help but think of what happened that John 0:11:55.040 --> 0:11:59.080 Deere where they I think in nineties six cut pensions 0:11:59.120 --> 0:12:03.360 by two thirds and then like last year eliminated them entirely. 0:12:03.440 --> 0:12:06.480 And this kind of bid to pit chunks of the 0:12:06.520 --> 0:12:10.800 workforce against each other, um where you have like you know, 0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:14.000 different groups making different amounts and sort of like, I 0:12:14.000 --> 0:12:16.080 don't know, it seems kind of like the strategy that 0:12:16.120 --> 0:12:19.280 you see in the broader economy, like written within within 0:12:20.000 --> 0:12:22.360 the space of a company, where you've got like some 0:12:22.400 --> 0:12:25.280 people who are getting pretty well taken care of in 0:12:25.320 --> 0:12:28.400 their jobs and other newer people who are who are 0:12:28.400 --> 0:12:31.000 getting more screwed over in kind of this this attempt 0:12:31.040 --> 0:12:34.480 to create division within the workforce so that this this 0:12:34.559 --> 0:12:39.000 kind of organizing doesn't happen. M I would agree. And 0:12:39.000 --> 0:12:40.600 you also have to think, you know, if they are 0:12:40.640 --> 0:12:44.640 able to remove this cap on the transitional tier, but 0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:48.320 that means that is they'll be able to instead of say, 0:12:48.679 --> 0:12:53.239 say a full time employee retires, they leave that space empty, 0:12:53.400 --> 0:12:56.960 but they still need an extra space, an extra person, right, 0:12:57.000 --> 0:13:00.120 so they can just hire a transitional worker and out 0:13:00.160 --> 0:13:04.080 of funneling one of those transitional workers into that full 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:08.720 time space. Ah, what ends up happening is suddenly you 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:14.840 have instead of seventy full time to transitional. The it 0:13:14.920 --> 0:13:18.600 starts tipping right, it becomes a more precarious workforce. Then say, 0:13:18.640 --> 0:13:20.800 for example, to do that in the next five years. 0:13:20.920 --> 0:13:23.360 You know, now they have seventy percent of these transitional 0:13:23.400 --> 0:13:27.440 workers who don't think the union is offering anything for them. 0:13:27.800 --> 0:13:30.480 They can essentially just offer a better deal to these 0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:33.480 transitional workers and kick the union out of the company 0:13:33.559 --> 0:13:36.760 at some point. You know, um, and these folks on 0:13:36.760 --> 0:13:39.559 the line understand that and know that that's kind of 0:13:39.640 --> 0:13:43.200 Kellogg's plan, right, You know that the Kelloggs, what Kelloggs 0:13:43.280 --> 0:13:47.120 is trying to do is essentially destabilize the power of 0:13:47.160 --> 0:13:51.640 the union inside the plants. And everyone on the line 0:13:51.679 --> 0:13:54.840 that I've spoken with know exactly what's happening. You know, 0:13:55.200 --> 0:13:58.200 And these full time employees are out there every day 0:13:59.320 --> 0:14:02.840 making sure that their transitional and you know, colleagues know 0:14:03.160 --> 0:14:06.200 that that's why they're out there because they want to 0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:10.400 not allow this to be something that divides their workforce. 0:14:11.040 --> 0:14:13.240 It remains to be seen, what's going to happen, you 0:14:13.280 --> 0:14:17.360 know what I mean. They've brought in scabs to get 0:14:17.400 --> 0:14:21.960 the plant up and running again, and most recently, uh, 0:14:22.440 --> 0:14:27.680 yesterday this morning. Yesterday, the Building and Construction Trades Council 0:14:27.800 --> 0:14:33.640 union met with the union president in Omaha because they 0:14:33.680 --> 0:14:37.479 have about a hundred third party iron workers, carpenters, electricians 0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:41.080 and skilled trades people that are union trades people that 0:14:42.440 --> 0:14:48.120 have contracts at Kellogg's, and they came to what Dan Osborne, 0:14:48.160 --> 0:14:52.080 the union president, decided called was a tough decision that 0:14:52.160 --> 0:14:54.840 those union workers are going to cross the picket line 0:14:54.840 --> 0:14:59.960 to honor those contracts. So Kelloggs is forcing the union 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:02.800 is in the city in like into a bind really 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:07.080 because they're they're you know, uh going to lose their 0:15:07.120 --> 0:15:10.160 own contracts at Kellogg's. So that's kind of been like 0:15:10.200 --> 0:15:13.760 the most recent development here is that rather than just 0:15:15.200 --> 0:15:18.840 temps coming in, we have now skilled union trades people 0:15:19.000 --> 0:15:22.800 from various Omaha unions who are also crossing the picket 0:15:22.840 --> 0:15:28.360 line two honor their contracts at Kellogg's, you know, um 0:15:28.520 --> 0:15:32.760 past these striking workers. So it's a bit of a mess, 0:15:32.800 --> 0:15:46.960 a little bit, you know. Yeah, there's so much going 0:15:47.000 --> 0:15:49.760 on right now, I'm kind of wondering what you think 0:15:49.920 --> 0:15:53.240 are the because we've got a number of strikes kind 0:15:53.240 --> 0:15:55.520 of all coming to ahead at the same time, I'm wondering, 0:15:55.600 --> 0:15:57.760 specifically from the Kellogg strike, what do you think are 0:15:57.840 --> 0:16:01.040 kind of the lessons that should be taken from what's 0:16:01.040 --> 0:16:05.040 happened so far for the broader labor movement. UM. I 0:16:05.080 --> 0:16:08.800 think the biggest thing that's kind of impacted me as 0:16:08.880 --> 0:16:11.560 I've gone to the line. UM, I've stood on the 0:16:11.560 --> 0:16:14.240 picket line, I've covered these you know, this strike, I've 0:16:14.320 --> 0:16:18.520 talked to people, UM, is that when these types of 0:16:18.680 --> 0:16:23.200 actions happen, they really only can be sustained because the 0:16:23.240 --> 0:16:28.240 community comes together to support them. You know. Um, these 0:16:28.360 --> 0:16:31.400 strike funds that are going around and folks showing up 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:33.320 to stand on the picket line who are not part 0:16:33.320 --> 0:16:35.920 of the union are really sort of become you know, 0:16:36.000 --> 0:16:40.840 they are helping support these workers who can only hold 0:16:40.840 --> 0:16:44.800 out so long with finite resources. Right. So, the big 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:50.360 thing to me is that past these news cycles of 0:16:50.440 --> 0:16:53.800 excitement of striked ober of you know these people just 0:16:53.840 --> 0:16:55.960 walked out today, well they may be you know, they 0:16:56.000 --> 0:16:58.000 may be on the line for months and months on end, 0:16:58.200 --> 0:17:01.160 and the new cycles going to move on, and these 0:17:01.200 --> 0:17:03.440 communities are still going to have to try and and 0:17:03.440 --> 0:17:07.840 and back up these labor actions, right um. You really 0:17:07.880 --> 0:17:11.160 can't have true you know, you can't have a labor 0:17:11.200 --> 0:17:16.000 movement without you know, support, right um. And that's kind 0:17:16.040 --> 0:17:19.720 of been the biggest thing that has impacted me particularly. 0:17:19.880 --> 0:17:22.919 You know this Almaha used to be a really formidable 0:17:23.040 --> 0:17:25.879 union time. You know, back in the eighties. It was 0:17:25.960 --> 0:17:29.359 really really something to see that the business unions in 0:17:29.359 --> 0:17:32.200 in the various locals here really had some of these 0:17:32.280 --> 0:17:36.160 union leaders had more political power than the mayor, right um. 0:17:36.240 --> 0:17:39.200 And that has gone downhill over the last forty years. 0:17:39.440 --> 0:17:43.919 And it's really cool to see, uh, the level of 0:17:43.960 --> 0:17:47.480 solidarity that's happening amongst the community, you know, um, in 0:17:47.520 --> 0:17:49.400 the ways in which people are kind of coming out 0:17:49.440 --> 0:17:51.520 to talk to and and be a part of this 0:17:51.640 --> 0:17:54.520 strike and to remind these Kellogg's workers that they're not 0:17:54.720 --> 0:17:57.280 operating in a bubble, you know, and that the rest 0:17:57.320 --> 0:18:00.080 of the community really hopes that the strike will and 0:18:00.280 --> 0:18:05.199 quickly and peacefully and with a really good resolution for 0:18:05.400 --> 0:18:09.879 these workers. You know. Onever thing I wanted to ask 0:18:09.920 --> 0:18:13.920 about in in terms of sort of this this kind 0:18:13.920 --> 0:18:17.600 of researchtion to the union movements and in in in 0:18:17.720 --> 0:18:22.080 terms of sort of communities support is the level of 0:18:22.160 --> 0:18:27.200 violence that there's been against like against the strikes. I've 0:18:27.200 --> 0:18:30.800 seen a lot of like stuff about people canna hit 0:18:30.800 --> 0:18:34.320 my busses and like, and I don't I don't know 0:18:34.359 --> 0:18:37.000 if I think I think I'm getting my strikes. I 0:18:37.000 --> 0:18:39.879 don't don't know if they they've been direct car attacks 0:18:39.920 --> 0:18:41.560 on this specific picket line. But that's when I think 0:18:41.600 --> 0:18:45.040 that it's been happening a lot and a couple of 0:18:45.119 --> 0:18:50.000 documented cases. Yeah, yeah, and yeah, I was wondering what 0:18:50.040 --> 0:18:53.320 you think about that, and like what actually can be 0:18:53.359 --> 0:18:57.000 done about the fact that like you know that you know, 0:18:57.240 --> 0:18:59.240 like this just the fact that we're just seeing auto 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:04.840 attacks on picket lines regularly, now, I mean that's you know, 0:19:06.160 --> 0:19:10.760 it's a it's a shitty development. You know. Um, I 0:19:10.800 --> 0:19:14.879 was out on the picket line last Thursday, and um, 0:19:14.960 --> 0:19:18.280 they were attempting to bring in buses at shift change 0:19:18.400 --> 0:19:22.719 past the the picketers who walk slowly. You know, they 0:19:22.720 --> 0:19:24.280 don't want to stop in front of the bus. It's 0:19:24.280 --> 0:19:27.639 illegal to stop and and you know, make it, you know, 0:19:27.760 --> 0:19:30.480 so that they can't pass through the gates. But they 0:19:30.480 --> 0:19:33.800 slow them down for a little bit. And UM, one 0:19:33.840 --> 0:19:38.240 gentleman was trying, you know, was standing there and this 0:19:38.320 --> 0:19:42.840 bus just bumped right into them. You know. There's videos 0:19:42.840 --> 0:19:46.720 that have been shared through local news of buses knocking 0:19:46.760 --> 0:19:50.400 down workers as they're trying to cross the picket line. UM. 0:19:50.440 --> 0:19:53.520 And I you know there are also personal vehicles that 0:19:53.600 --> 0:19:56.280 go through, and it could be the private security that's 0:19:56.320 --> 0:20:01.320 been hired, it could be managers. UM. But you know, 0:20:01.400 --> 0:20:06.719 they're running through these lines really quickly dangerously. It's unfortunate, 0:20:07.040 --> 0:20:09.480 and you know, I don't have an answer for what 0:20:09.640 --> 0:20:14.480 the best h solution for that is. You know, but 0:20:14.800 --> 0:20:19.800 vehicle tax have become sort of more uh, I don't 0:20:19.840 --> 0:20:22.000 want to say commonplace, but you see them happening a 0:20:22.000 --> 0:20:26.359 lot both at protests last year, and you know, I 0:20:26.400 --> 0:20:30.320 think Warrior met Cole had some bosses running through the 0:20:30.359 --> 0:20:34.400 lines and being reckless with their vehicles. You know. Um, 0:20:34.520 --> 0:20:36.760 the problem is is on the on the back end, 0:20:37.000 --> 0:20:41.200 the police don't step in when they see these instances, 0:20:41.720 --> 0:20:45.439 you know. UM. And in fact, last Thursday, when we 0:20:45.520 --> 0:20:50.479 had a hundred plus motorcyclists from various mcs show up 0:20:50.480 --> 0:20:54.720 to support the strike, UM, the police were the ones 0:20:54.760 --> 0:20:57.880 who protected the scabs and made sure that they made 0:20:57.880 --> 0:21:01.439 it through the picket line. So you know, UM, the 0:21:01.480 --> 0:21:04.240 answer to that, I'm not sure. You know. Yeah, I 0:21:04.280 --> 0:21:08.720 mean that's a time honored police tradition. Yeah, they historically 0:21:08.760 --> 0:21:14.240 don't don't exist to protect laborers, with the notable exception 0:21:14.440 --> 0:21:18.359 of of the sheriff and what was that Mattawan and 0:21:18.520 --> 0:21:22.680 uh during the um the coal miner strike in West Virginia. 0:21:23.000 --> 0:21:26.679 M well yeah they shot him so well yeah, but 0:21:26.720 --> 0:21:32.280 they shot some people first. Yeah, Um, sid Hatfield that 0:21:32.359 --> 0:21:35.600 was the name. Yeah, I don't know. Um, I've gotten 0:21:35.640 --> 0:21:37.119 to know some of these folks on the line of 0:21:37.119 --> 0:21:40.200 the last two weeks, and they're just fantastic human beings, 0:21:40.240 --> 0:21:45.280 you know. Um, they are accommodating and hard working, and 0:21:45.320 --> 0:21:47.320 they come from all age brackets and they bring their 0:21:47.320 --> 0:21:50.440 families out and um, you know they're getting they're getting 0:21:50.440 --> 0:21:54.439 a raw deal from Kellogg's and UM. So far, the 0:21:54.440 --> 0:21:58.520 community support has been overwhelmingly positive. Um. There hasn't really 0:21:58.560 --> 0:22:01.400 been like at the John Deer strike. They're not getting 0:22:01.440 --> 0:22:04.560 eggs thrown out of them, you know. UM, they get 0:22:04.600 --> 0:22:08.920 a lot more honking and messages of support than they do. 0:22:09.640 --> 0:22:14.600 People driving by to yell at them for uh, you know, 0:22:15.080 --> 0:22:19.520 being a strike. So that's been nice to see, you know. Um. 0:22:19.600 --> 0:22:24.000 And actually this weekend on Saturday, um, there's gonna be 0:22:24.119 --> 0:22:29.920 a like cool vintage car show cruise around Kellogg's event 0:22:29.960 --> 0:22:34.159 that they've got planned. The fire departments bringing rigs and 0:22:34.480 --> 0:22:39.399 um teamsters, yes, yeah, and the teamsters are bringing cars 0:22:39.480 --> 0:22:41.439 and there's a bunch of vintage car clubs that are 0:22:41.480 --> 0:22:44.439 gonna be coming out. So you know, those types of 0:22:44.440 --> 0:22:46.480 things have like really kind of like fired up these 0:22:46.480 --> 0:22:48.239 people to keep them out on the line as long 0:22:48.280 --> 0:22:51.160 as they need to be, you know, so communities there 0:22:51.200 --> 0:23:05.119 for him. One of the things I'm continuing to wonder 0:23:05.200 --> 0:23:09.320 about is what it takes to close the gap between 0:23:10.320 --> 0:23:13.720 understanding that you and your colleagues are getting screwed over 0:23:13.760 --> 0:23:16.840 by this system and understanding that you and all of 0:23:16.880 --> 0:23:19.240 the other people striking at the same time, and perhaps 0:23:19.240 --> 0:23:22.000 even a bunch of people not striking, are all kind 0:23:22.040 --> 0:23:26.080 of fighting the same fight. And then maybe there's grander 0:23:26.119 --> 0:23:29.520 things to achieve than the negotiation of a single contract, 0:23:29.520 --> 0:23:33.159 because that seems like the big leap that is going 0:23:33.200 --> 0:23:37.719 to be the real struggle to clear. Uh yeah, you know, 0:23:37.920 --> 0:23:40.720 um I will say that some of the workers are 0:23:40.960 --> 0:23:43.560 fully aware that this is not just about a single 0:23:43.600 --> 0:23:47.879 contract negotiation, and it is actually, you know, more about 0:23:47.920 --> 0:23:51.240 struggles of the working class against corporate greed and the 0:23:51.280 --> 0:23:53.520 ways in which the working class gets their asses handed 0:23:53.560 --> 0:23:56.800 to them all the time, um um. And they know 0:23:56.920 --> 0:23:59.879 that they know that at some point, perhaps at some 0:24:00.040 --> 0:24:02.520 point in the future, someone else is going to look 0:24:02.560 --> 0:24:06.600 at their example and be inspired by it. Right. Um. 0:24:06.640 --> 0:24:10.240 As far as like maybe I don't know, ideologically speaking 0:24:10.400 --> 0:24:14.960 or politically speaking, for these folks, it's uh, doesn't fit 0:24:15.040 --> 0:24:19.840 into any sort of ideology leftist or conservative or whatever. 0:24:19.920 --> 0:24:22.280 Everyone's got their own personal politics. But they don't really 0:24:22.280 --> 0:24:24.399 talk about it on the line. What they talk about 0:24:25.040 --> 0:24:29.840 is working class versus ruling class. Um that you know, 0:24:30.000 --> 0:24:34.200 that's their sense. It's corporate greed, it's um asshole CEO 0:24:34.320 --> 0:24:37.120 is making eleven point six million dollars a year while 0:24:37.160 --> 0:24:41.040 they're struggling to pay their own bills, you know, um. 0:24:41.040 --> 0:24:47.560 And and you know that conversation is more common than um. 0:24:47.560 --> 0:24:50.960 Trying to fit this into a larger political movement or 0:24:51.000 --> 0:24:55.320 revolutionary movement, if that makes sense, you know, yeah, um. 0:24:55.359 --> 0:24:57.520 But I would say that the vast majority of the workers, 0:24:57.600 --> 0:25:01.200 regardless of their own personal politics, have very clear sense 0:25:01.240 --> 0:25:04.600 of where they sit in terms of class consciousness and 0:25:04.920 --> 0:25:09.040 understand that this is one of one of the most 0:25:09.080 --> 0:25:13.200 effective tactics to try and force the hand of these assholes. 0:25:13.400 --> 0:25:17.040 You know, UM is to withhold work and withhold their labor. 0:25:17.640 --> 0:25:20.879 So well, this has been great. I mean that's everything 0:25:20.880 --> 0:25:23.439 I had to ask Chris. Anything else not that not 0:25:23.480 --> 0:25:26.360 that I have. So there is there a call to action? 0:25:26.480 --> 0:25:28.840 We could have our listeners or pages people should be 0:25:28.880 --> 0:25:32.680