Strikers on the picket line at the Frito-Lay Topeka site during the third week of their strike
AROUND 600 Frito-Lay workers in Topeka, Kansas, have been on strike for over three weeks, since Monday 5th July, against low pay and forced overtime and 84-hour working weeks.
The strike was said to have started after an employee collapsed and died on the factory floor and instead of stopping the line, co-workers reportedly had to help remove the body so another person could step in.
Members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) Local 218 voted 353 to 30 to approve a strike.
Frito-Lay strike issues include 84-hour work weeks cbsnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from cbsnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Published July 15. 2021 12:05AM
Taylor Telford, The Washington Post Get the weekly rundown Email Submit
Hundreds of striking Frito-Lay workers in Kansas are calling on one of the nation s biggest snack makers to put an end to forced overtime and 84-hour workweeks brought on by a pandemic-era surge in demand.
Workers at the Topeka plant have been pushed to the brink as the factory revved up operations during the pandemic according to the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Local 218.
Many of the factory s more than 800 workers are working seven days a week and up to 12 hours per shift, with just eight hours between clocking in and clocking out, according to the union s president Anthony Shelton.