Three days ago, the iconic Kellogg’s Company, headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan, announced that they are moving on after 116 years. Needless to say, the company’s employees and the local citizenry are stunned.
Battle Creek is essentially a company town. Kellogg’s presence was irrefutably a part of the ‘life cycle’ of the town. And to have a job at Kellogg’s was a big deal. The globally recognized company paid its employees well. Without a doubt, there was a symbiotic relationship between the local community and Kellogg’s.
What happened? A three-month strike and corporate greed.
During the last quarter of 2021, the employees at Kellogg’s Company went on strike. Why? For several reasons. But the primary issue had to do with wages. Who was getting paid? And how much.
As always, with most labor strikes, it was this ‘bread and butter’ issue that caused significant emotional tensions within the union of Kellogg’s workers. And it was also a contentious issue within the Kellogg’s Company’s boardroom. Who gets paid? And how much do we pay them? Capitalism’s inescapable question.
In late-December 2021, the two sides finally came to an agreement. It appeared that ‘labor peace’ on all sides had finally been achieved. This ‘perception’ concerning both parties (the Union and Kellogg’s) was fundamentally incorrect. In fact, based upon the actions taken by Kellogg’s this week, the labor resolution negotiated by both parties was actually the last straw.
In truth, Kellogg’s corporate leadership was extremely unhappy with the final outcome of the intense labor negotiations.
Why?
The issue of wages was a constant source of disgruntlement amongst Kellogg’s workers. The workplace, every day, reflected this considerable financial chasm that existed amongst the union membership.
Why?
Over the years, the Kellogg’s Company had negotiated and established a two-tier pay scale. In essence, there were two ‘groups’ of workers.
One group was known as “Legacy” workers who were paid $30 to $32 dollars an hour. A damn good wage in today’s America.
The other group was known as “Transitional” workers who pocketed $20 per hour. Also, a solid wage. But the ‘wage gap’ between the two groups of Kellogg’s workers was undeniably large. There was no getting around this reality.
And the “Transitional” workers wanted the internal ‘process’ within the Kellogg’s Company that made them “Legacy” workers to be accelerated — considerably. Hence, the three-month strike in late-2021. Fourteen hundred workers hit the picket line seeking greater wage equality.
The strike ended. By most accounts, the ‘wage gap’ issue had been, for the most part, resolved. Or, was it?
Three days ago, and six months after the rather contentious and vociferous labor strife at the Kellogg’s Company had finally been settled, the Battle Creek community heard the proverbial ‘shoe drop’. Like a neutron bomb, the ‘shoe drop’ will directly affect the lives of thousands of workers and the local community.
Forever.
It is not an exaggeration to state that Battle Creek will never be the same. Never. The world, as the town of over 51,000 knew it, was blown apart this week. This small city will join other Michigan cities (Detroit, Dearborn, Flint, Saginaw, Muskegon, Grand Rapids and others) as victims of primarily corporate restructuring and greed.
The Kellogg’s Company was earning record profits. There was plenty of money to go around. But Kellogg’s corporate leaders saw the situation differently. They and their investors wanted larger salaries and larger dividends, respectively. It really is that simple.
This sad development reminds me of Michael Moore’s movie, Roger & Me, shown to the American public in 1989. In short, General Motors (GM) was making solid profits. And Flint was a city that functioned relatively well. Then came the layoffs. Thousands of them. Flint began to fall apart like a cheap suit. Tax revenues began to evaporate. The local standard of living plummeted. The jails filled up, and thousands of former auto workers left the city without a trace.
Put simply, Flint, more than forty years later, remains a shell of its former self. Another corporate symbol of unnecessary human devastation. Fundamentally, and truthfully, Flint has never recovered.
Let’s not bullshit each other, Battle Creek will become the newest version of Flint. The loss of thousands of middle-class jobs will produce a degree of local impoverishment unknown to the citizens of this proud community.
For 116 years, the Kellogg’s Company represented the financial foundation of this midwestern city. Most Battle Creek residents (those who are still tethered to reality) know what’s coming their way. Poverty. Crime. Social unraveling. Recriminations. Denial. Displacement.
It is unavoidable. It is a shitstorm that has occurred in hundreds of communities over the past half-century in America. Small town America is being steadily dismantled. No one gives a damn. Most working Americans are just trying to hang on in a society being torn apart by powerful economic, social and political forces. It is not pretty. And there appears to be no light at the end of the tunnel.
Recent studies have shown that approximately 600,000 deaths in America can be attributed to what are called, “deaths of despair”, over the past three years. For the first time in a century, the longevity of American lives is shortening. No one cares. We are too busy trying to survive in a society that is increasingly predatory.
Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, the town I live in, has lost most its major stores and quality restaurants. Some manufacturing has gone to Mexico. A bank has closed. Other stores have darkened their windows on the city’s main throughfare. Central Michigan University, the local university, is a shadow of its former self. It’s top faculty members left years ago. And tens of thousands of students have followed them out of town. Mid-Michigan College is now nothing more than a glorified on-line high school. Professional misconduct, scandal and academic mediocrity have ravaged its reputation and purpose as an institution of higher education within the local community.
Battle Creek is numb right now. Nevertheless, this city will soon follow other Michigan communities into financial disrepair. Kellogg’s Company’s recent announcement to move its corporate headquarters to Chicago, along with 80% of the company’s business, has left them reeling in disbelief.
But, most assuredly, it is over. Was it the Strike in late-2021 that triggered this disaster in Battle Creek? Maybe. Perhaps, Kellogg’s Company had planned this move to Chicago for years. Eventually, the truth will emerge. But not now.
Tragically, for Battle Creek, this is just the beginning of the nightmare.
Community dissonance has already begun. Finger-pointing. The blame-game. Raw anger. Scapegoating. Denial. Delusional behavior. Yes, violence. A way of life is disappearing. Battle Creek’s way of live is vanishing. Forever.
A dangerous and toxic virus, that combines fear, paranoia and trepidation, is spreading throughout Battle Creek with incredible alacrity. Sadly, the local community will soon be completely devoured with such recriminations and thinking.
Intensely. Until they see the final departure of the Kellogg’s Company’s headquarters, and its primary plant, to Chicago, the soon to be former Kellogg’s workers and the citizens of Battle Creek will have to endure incredible pain.
What will be the final endgame is beyond anybody’s comprehension.
What we do know is this.
The historical arch and direction of Battle Creek’s destiny has been altered.
Forever.