Workers at four of Kellogg's (NYSE: K) U.S. cereal plants have been on strike since early October. With strikers rejecting six offers from the company, Kellogg's has announced that it will be replacing striking workers rather than continuing to negotiate with them. In response, a movement started amongst Redditors to overrun the application portal with fake applicants.
On Dec. 7, Kellogg released a statement announcing its plan to replace the 1,400 striking employees from plants in Battle Creek, MI; Lancaster, PA; Memphis, TN; and Omaha, NE. The workers are represented by the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union.
"After 19 negotiation sessions in 2021, and still no deal reached, we will continue to focus on moving forward to operate our business," Chris Hood, President, Kellogg's North America, is quoted in the company statement. "The prolonged work stoppage has left us no choice but to continue executing the next phase of our contingency plan including hiring replacement employees in positions vacated by striking workers."
Kellogg's announcement immediately received backlash from labor advocates and lawmakers, including President Joe Biden.
"Permanently replacing striking workers is an existential attack on the union and its members' jobs and livelihoods. I strongly support legislation that would ban that practice," wrote Biden in a tweet.
However, perhaps the most impactful support came from everyday citizens on Reddit. After its announcement, Kellogg's created a job posting with the stated purpose of hiring permanent replacements for striking workers. Soon after, a Reddit user by the name of "BloominFunions" made a post on the r/antiwork subreddit listing the hiring sites and encouraging other users to create fake applications.
"It's time to clog their toilet of an application pipeline," BloominFunions wrote. "This is your chance to apply for your 'dream' job."
Redditors flooded the application portals, reportedly leading to system crashes.
The most recent five-year labor proposal made by Kellogg's and rejected by union workers included a 3% wage increase for longtime workers, as well as increases for other workers based on their time with the company.
According to employees, this proposal failed to address their concerns regarding the company's two-tiered wage system, a system that places no limits on the number of low-tier employees the company can hire. New, low-tier employees don't receive the same benefits or pay rates as established, top-tier workers.
Workers also described working conditions in which employees were forced to work 12-hours per day, seven days per week, during the pandemic. Initial concerns also included allegations that the company planned to send jobs to Mexico and overseas if U.S. workers refused to settle for its labor proposals, something the company has denied.