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The inflation being caused by expectations for Joe Biden’s absurd spending plans and the Federal Reserve’s irregular liquidity operations has put big companies in a bind. Their customers don’t want to pay more for their products, their suppliers want more for supplies, and employees want more money to pay for the rising prices they see in their home budgets. It’s a balancing act that not every company is managing with ease.
In the face of inflation, Mondelez International, one of America’s largest snack companies, developed a plan to cut costs that would reduce the overtime pay many of its employees receive by lengthening their shifts. That overtime pay is currently a big part of many employees’ earnings for the year, so the plan has not been well received. The union representing the employees has gone on strike, and now the country may face a snack shortage if the situation can’t be resolved. Jesse Newman and Jaewon Kang report for The Wall Street Journal:
Unionized employees are pushing back against Mondelez proposals that workers see lengthening shifts while cutting into their ability to earn overtime pay, a large portion of many workers’ annual incomes. The company said it is trying to respond to strong demand for some of its products and address disruptions caused by worker absences.
Employees are on strike at three of the four U.S. bakeries Mondelez owns. The company says operations are continuing at its affected facilities, which have enacted preformulated plans to keep production lines running. Salaried employees have stepped in to help at some sites and third-party manufacturers also are working to keep customers’ orders filled, said Laurie Guzzinati, a Mondelez spokeswoman.
“It’s business as usual as we focus on continuing to meet the needs of our customers,” Ms. Guzzinati said. The company says its other manufacturing and distribution facilities are fully operational and that its sales teams are in close touch with customers.
Tops Markets LLC and other grocers said they are ordering more snacks from Mondelez and other suppliers after Mondelez notified them of the strike. Nebraska-based B&R Stores Inc. has been preparing for possible shortages, canceling discounts on Ritz and Mondelez’s other Nabisco-brand crackers to manage supply, President Mark Griffin said. B&R is also ordering more Club and Townhouse crackers from rival Kellogg Co. ’s Keebler brand.
Any potential snack shortage would follow recent shortages of ammo, lumber, food, and fuel, to name a few.
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Originally posted on Your Survival Guy.
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