Fed up by pandemic, US food workers launch rare strikes

By DEE-ANN DURBIN and GRANT SCHULTE

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A summer of labor unrest at U.S. food manufacturers has stretched into fall. Around 1,400 workers at Kellogg Co.’s U.S. cereal plants walked off the job this week. In Kentucky, a strike by 420 workers against Heaven Hill Distillery is in its fourth week. The actions come on top of strikes this summer by Frito-Lay and Nabisco workers. Labor experts say pandemic gave food workers a rare upper hand. Labor shortages make it difficult to replace them, and the pandemic put a spotlight on their essential __ and sometimes dangerous __ work.