Kellogg, Striking Cereal Workers to Hold Negotiations Next Week

(Bloomberg) -- Kellogg Co. and the union representing striking workers at four U.S. cereal factories agreed to meet next week to negotiate a new contract, signaling a potential end to a work stoppage entering its fourth week.

The company and members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union will sit down Nov. 2 and 3, the parties said Tuesday in statements to Bloomberg News. “We look forward to getting back to the table,” Kellogg said.

The move comes a day after the company signaled a willingness to consider proposals favored by the union. Workers had objected to possible changes to a two-tier employment system separating “transitional” and “legacy” employees.

The union said in a message to members Monday that it had proposed dates and a location to resume negotiations.

The company’s roughly 1,400 unionized cereal workers went on strike on Oct. 5 at plants in Omaha, Nebraska; Battle Creek, Michigan; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; and Memphis, Tennessee. The locations produce cereal brands including Rice Krispies, Raisin Bran, Froot Loops and Frosted Flakes

Kellogg shares were little changed at 10:46 a.m. in New York. The stock is down 4.2% during the strike, compared with the 6.9% rise of the S&P 500 index.

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