Photo Shows Kellogg's Products Out of Stock as Employees Prolong Strike

Kellogg's products appear out of stock in grocery stores following strikes at the company's production facilities over wages and company benefits.

A photo on Twitter posted by the More Perfect Union account on Tuesday, shows a supermarket store shelf in the cereal section with a sign saying: "Attention customers. Due to a strike at the Kellogg's production facilities in the U.S., several Kellogg's cereals will be out of sock for the foreseeable future.

"We do not have a timeline for the return of these products."

It was unclear which store the sign was in or when the empty shelf was pictured.

About 1,400 Kellogg staff at four cereal plants in Battle Creek, Michigan, Omaha, Nebraska, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Memphis, Tennessee, have been on strike since October 5.

Strikers are members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers' International Union (BCTGM).

The industrial dispute came after disagreements between the union and the current two-tier wage system, agreed in 2015, which sees newer employees earn lower wages and receive less benefits than veteran workers, affecting nearly 30 percent of workers.

There were also points of contention on the company's health care, vacation time, and retirement benefits.

The strikers rejected a tentative agreement on a five-year contract negotiated by their union, the company said Tuesday.

The new contract offered would have immediately moved all employees with four or more years at Kellogg into the veteran tier, therefore giving them better pay and great access to company benefits, according to a summary provided by the Kellogg company.

That five-year offer included cost-of-living adjustments in the latter years of the deal and kept current healthcare benefits and would have entitled all workers to a 3 percent wage increase and commitments to pensions, the company said.

After the latest offer, the cereal company said it would not continue to negotiation and would permanently replace the 1,400 strikers. The company has been using external workers to continue operating plants amid the strike.

Chris Hood, president of Kellogg North America. "We have an obligation to our customers and consumers to continue to provide the cereals that they know and love."

Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union is yet to respond to the company's statement. Newsweek has contacted the union for comment.

On December 7, the group said it was "grateful for the outpouring of fraternal support we received from across the labor movement for our striking members at Kellogg's. Solidarity is critical to this fight."