This includes an immediate wage raise to $24 an hour for newer workers and an increase of $1.10 per hour for veteran workers.

The new agreement shuts down Kellogg’s plans to expand its two-tiered wage system, which categorized employees as either “legacy” or “transitional.” Under the prior contract, Kellogg paid transitional employees about $12 per hour less and provided fewer benefits compared to legacy employees, according to HuffPost, but only 30% of its employees could be classified as transitional. The union strike successfully prevented the company’s attempt to remove the cap, which the union alleged would cause “a majority of employees to become classified as transitional.”

This strike comes on the heels of many others this year, including BCTGM-represented workers who went on strike against Frito-Lay and Nabisco.

Wages have remained stagnant for decades, according to pre-pandemic research. This fact — laid bare by COVID-19— especially affects “essential workers” who have kept the US economy running and families fed during lockdowns over the past two years. This heightened awareness has brought conversations about fair wages into the mainstream, and many companies have had to re-evaluate the working conditions they provide.