‘Frustration and anger’: Topeka Frito-Lay workers strike, but agreement could be near

For more than two weeks, about 600 workers at the Frito-Lay plant in Topeka have been on strike over pay, safety and overtime. But union leaders say the strike could end as soon as Thursday afternoon.

The workers have made national headlines and garnered support, especially from Topeka and Kansas City, where allies have donated food and time and pushed for boycotts of products made by parent company PepsiCo.

Brad Schmidt, vice president of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Local 218, said Wednesday morning he expected negotiations to wrap up by early afternoon, allowing members to vote on the proposed deal Thursday.

“Strikes are never good for either side. They hurt both parties, but sometimes it just has to happen. This was a case that it really did have to happen,” Schmidt said. “(Negotiations) started again Monday. The mood was a little tense, a little finger-pointing, things like that, but we got some things accomplished.”

While he couldn’t provide specifics, Schmidt said representatives were able to resolve many of the overtime issues and were making headway on pay issues.

A media representative for Frito-Lay said Wednesday the company could not comment about the progress on contract talks.

On the Topeka picket line, workers have toted signs reading, “People over profits” and “Say no to Pepsico Frito Lay needs to pay!” There’s even a fake skeleton in a lawn chair that holds a sign reading, “Working us to the bone.”

“The strike had a big impact,” Schmidt said.

The strike

On July 1, Frito-Lay put forth a contract that was a modified version of one members had voted down in May, The Wichita Eagle reported. It included a pay increase of 4% over two years and an overtime cap at 60 hours per week. It also would have eliminated “squeeze shifts,” or long shifts with only eight hours off in between, according to a statement by Frito-Lay.

Members refused the revised contract and went on strike July 5.

Workers alleged the company had mandatory overtime that resulted in employees working up to 84 hours per week with no days off.

Frito-Lay denied these claims in a statement Monday, calling this amount of overtime “grossly exaggerated.” The company went on to state that, in 2021, out of the plant’s 850 employees, only 55 have averaged 50 hours per work week, 16 have averaged 60 hours per week and 19 employees have worked 84 hours in a week, 16 of whom volunteered for overtime. That leaves three employees who were required to work 84 hours in a week.

The union’s international president, Anthony Shelton, said in a statement that Frito-Lay is “is exploiting its dedicated employees and risking their health by forcing them to work so many hours.”

“This strike is about more than wages and benefits. It is about the quality of life for these workers and their families. … Workers do not have enough time to see their family, do chores around the house, run errands, or even get a healthy night’s sleep. This strike is about working people having a voice in their futures and taking a stand for their families.”

In an opinion piece in The Topeka Capital-Journal, one worker wrote about blocked entries and exits and inexperienced forklift drivers, among other hazards. She also wrote that an employee collapsed and died while working and those around him were told to move the body so they could keep the line going.

Frito-Lay said in its statement that it “wholly rejects the recent allegation as entirely false.”

“We are aware of only two instances in the last five years in which an individual has experienced a medical emergency at the plant that unfortunately resulted in that individual passing away,” the statement continued. “In both cases, medical attention was initially provided at the plant and work ceased until the associates were safely on the way to the hospital.”

The plant has also faced lawsuits for racial discrimination, first in June 2020 and again in February 2021. The suits alleged a culture of discrimination, including the company passing over Black employees for promotions, giving Black employees less training and more demanding jobs and tolerating racism from other employees. The 2020 lawsuit was settled in part, and a stipulation of dismissal was filed on behalf of two of the plaintiffs.

The current labor dispute is “something that has been boiling and boiling, and it finally blew the lid off the pot this time,” Schmidt told The Wichita Eagle this month. “The company did come across and make some changes. They had the best offer on economics for a number of years now. But there’s so much frustration and anger that it wasn’t enough.”

The response

Tuesday morning, members of United Auto Workers Local 31 made the hour-long drive from Kansas City, Kansas, to Topeka. Under a red-and-white-striped tent with a starry blue trim, mimicking the American flag, they set out food and water to distribute to the Topeka Frito-Lay workers.

“I’ve been around Topeka for a long time … and I’ve never seen this kind of support in my life,” Schmidt said.

Until an agreement is reached, the picketers, as well as leaders of other unions, are calling for people to boycott PepsiCo products — drinks such as Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Tropicana, Lipton, Sierra Mist and Starbucks Bottled Frappucinos and snacks such as Fritos, Lay’s, Doritos, Quaker Oats, Ruffles, Cheetos and Tostitos.

“Checking (Frito-Lay) off my list of products to pick up at the store,” one person wrote on Facebook under an article by The Pitch.

“Not buying their stuff,” wrote another.

Employees on strike receive $105 per week from the international union’s strike fund, according to reporting by The Wichita Eagle. But that’s far below their usual wages.

“As union brothers and sisters, we have to try to rally together to try to help them eliminate some of the things they would have to do, because they don’t have a paycheck coming,” said Clarence Brown, president of UAW Local 31.

So Brown posted in his union’s members’ Facebook group asking for donations of food to bring to Topeka. And the response was “overwhelming,” he said. Members filled a truck and a car.

“It was absolutely fantastic,” Brown said.

UAW Local 710 in Kansas City and 249 in Claycomo have visited the picket line. As have the KC Democratic Socialists of America. And Keisha Kay of Keisha Kandi Apples in Kansas City donated a tray of treats from her new store.

“For us, it was kind of a no-brainer to show up however we could,” said Patrick Melone of the KC Democratic Socialists of America.

Continued negotiations

The union began negotiations again Monday. In the meantime, Frito-Lay said in its statement that the plant has continued to run, with “a contingency plan to ensure employee safety” for the approximately 300 people who decided not to strike.

Schmidt was hopeful members will agree on the new proposal.

“We never get everything we want, just like the company never does. That’s why we’ve got negotiations,” Schmidt said. “But I think it’s going to be a package the majority of people are going to support and be happy with.”

This story was originally published July 21, 2021 at 2:10 PM.