‘We must have leverage now’

On Friday, workers at the Frito-Lay plant in Topeka, Kansas, agreed to end a strike that had been delayed for nearly three weeks due to years of persistent problems and voted to approve a contract that would increase their wages and give them more Time to leave.

As companies work hard to fill vacant positions after the pandemic, and their job postings Highest levelSince 2000, workers have entered negotiations with a strong posture.

Earlier this month, more than 800 workers went on strike to protest working conditions and long working hours. They are represented by the International Chairman of the International Union of Baking, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Processors. The union stated that employees are “forced to work 7 days a week with a maximum of 12 hours per shift” and are required to work “two shifts and three shifts”. class.”

KCUR Report On Friday, the union voted to approve the company’s latest offer. The two-year contract approved by the employees will give them a 4% salary increase in the next two years and guarantee one day off each week.

The company also agreed to abolish “crowding” and provide “union unions with more input in staffing and overtime.”

Frito-Lay said in a statement: “We believe that our approach to the strike shows how we listen to our employees, and when issues are raised, they will be taken seriously and resolved.” “Looking forward, we look forward to On the basis of mutual trust and respect, we will continue to build on our common achievements.”

Brad Wiese, a worker at the factory, told KCUR that other companies are trying to hire employees at the Frito-Lay factory.

“We are definitely influential now,” Chris Ware, who has worked in the factory for nearly 20 years, told KCUR.

Published in Topeka Capital Magazine Earlier this month, Frito-Lay employee Cherie Renfro stated that the company’s “storm” “has been brewing for many years.”

Renfro stated that the company replaced salary increases with a one-time payment, lowered the wages of new employees, and “supported the iron-fisted management of toxic work environments.”

She also claimed that working conditions were poor. “When a colleague fell and died, you asked us to move the body and place another colleague to maintain the production line,” Renfro wrote. She said that in an accident, workers were forced to work “in the thick smoke” after the fire.

Frito Lay categorically denied these allegations. The company said in a statement: “We follow all OSHA guidelines and never require employees to work in heavy smoke or smoke after a fire.”

The company also said that in the past five years, there have been two deaths of employees at the factory, “work stopped until the employees safely went to the hospital.”