People are spamming Kellogg's job board after the company fired 1400 striking union workers

Fourteen-hundred Kellogg’s workers in Battle Creek, Michigan; Omaha, Nebraska; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; and Memphis, Tennessee went on strike on October 5 for a wage increase and improved working conditions.
Kellogg replaced many of the striking workers with temporary replacements to keep the factories productive.
Kellogg’s union workers claim they worked an unbelievable average of 72 to 84 hours a week—but the company claims its employees only work 52 to 56 hours a week and that 90% of overtime is voluntary.
“The worst is when you work a seven-to-seven and they tell you to come back at 3 am on a short turnaround,” Omaha Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union president Daniel Osborn, a mechanic at the plant, told Rolling Stone. “You work 20, 30 days in a row and you don’t know where work and your life ends and begins.”
On December 5, the union rejected a 3% pay increase that was well below the current rate of inflation.
Workers rejected several contracts before this one, blocking Kellogg\u2019s attempt to cut off newer and future employees from attaining full-time pay and benefits.\n\nVeteran workers told us they wouldn\u2019t \u201csell our souls\u201d and abandon their younger colleagues.pic.twitter.com/3XJpR1sIIU— More Perfect Union (@More Perfect Union) 1638891711
On Tuesday, Kellogg announced that the majority of its U.S. workers voted against a new five-year contract and the company would hire replacement workers.
"After 19 negotiation sessions in 2021, and still no deal reached, we will continue to focus on moving forward to operate our business," Kellogg North America President Chris Hood said in a statement.
The company recently announced more than $4 billion in profits and its CEO Steve Cahillane makes $11 million a year.
Kellogg’s decision to fire its striking union workers has many on social media calling for a boycott.
Please boycott Kelloggs products until they negotiate a fair deal with their workers. @BCTGM just rejected the company's latest contract in a powerful act of solidarity and commitment to ensuring all Kelloggs workers get the fair pay and dignified working conditions they deserve.https://twitter.com/ninaturner/status/1464411951715565579\u00a0\u2026— Robert Reich (@Robert Reich) 1638905309
Kellogg\u2019s products to boycott:pic.twitter.com/JWJNPnbYGe— Washbelly (@Washbelly) 1638902572
Reddit user BloominFunions came up with a brilliant way to stamp out Kellogg’s attempt to hire new workers by asking followers of the antiwork forum to clog up the company’s jobs portal by inundating it with fake applications.
“The workers at Kellogg’s cereal plants have been striking for fair pay. Kellogg just announced they will hire 1400 permanent replacement scabs to break the strike. And they are accepting applications online!” BloominFunions wrote. “This is your chance to apply for your dream job.”
This is the single image that has stuck with me from the Kellogg\u2019s strike. What a twisted, backwards system this is where the people who feed us can\u2019t feed their own.pic.twitter.com/8quzltyzog— Read Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire (@Read Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire) 1639022280
“Using the job posting links above, submit an application for one or more sites. When you apply, pretend you’re a resident of one of the cities with a Kellogg strike (Omaha, Battle Creek, Lancaster or Memphis),” the Reddit user instructed.
“I'm going to be moving if hired for the position,” Reddit user WrangWei responded to the post. “I was just curious if I would need to live on the street or if I can sleep in my car in the employee parking lot. I won't be able to get a place for about a year once I move there due to the poverty wages.”
A few hours after the post, Kellogg’s jobs site was reported to be down, although it appears to have come back later in the day.
via Reddit
Just as technology has changed the way people work, it has also empowered the public to fight back against companies it feels are unjust. It’ll be interesting to see whether calls for a boycott and digital sabotage have any effect on Kellogg’s strategy moving forward.
Activists for social justice have effectively used social media to push major corporations to make big changes over the past few years. But will Kellogg bow to public pressure if it means having to fairly compensate its employees?
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."
This article originally appeared in May.