UFCW Local 1529
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Powering · Labor Education
BCTGM Local 3G
Battle Creek, Michigan · Member Portal
“I am the Union, You are the Union, We are the Union!”
Our Story: The Birthplace of Breakfast Cereal
BCTGM Local 3G represents the workers of Battle Creek, Michigan — “The Cereal City” — home of the very first flaked breakfast cereal and the historic Kellogg’s plant that has fed families around the world for over a century.
1894
Corn Flakes Invented
1906
Kellogg’s Founded Here
Cereal City
Battle Creek, MI
3G
Union Strong
“I am the Union, You are the Union, We are the Union!”
Honorable and effective service to the membership is the highest objective which any labor organization can seek. The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Union Local 3-G will be ever faithful and devoted to this aspiration, and will always follow a progressive and constructive course to the end that our members and our industry will prosper.
What We Make
Local 3G members produce the ready-to-eat breakfast cereals that have been American and Canadian breakfast staples for generations — made right here in Battle Creek, the town where the cereal industry was born. Every box is made by union hands, with pride and care for quality and safety.
Union Heritage
The workers who built Battle Creek’s cereal industry organized as grain millers. Their union, the American Federation of Grain Millers (AFGM), traced its roots to 1936, when grain-processing locals joined together under the AFL as the National Council of Grain Processors. Renamed the American Federation of Grain Processors in 1941, the organization grew into a full international union — the AFGM — when it received its international charter in 1948, representing grain and cereal workers across the U.S. and Canada.
On January 1, 1999, the AFGM merged with the Bakery, Confectionery & Tobacco Workers International Union (BC&T) to form today’s Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM). That merger united unions with roots stretching back to 1886, creating one of the most powerful food-industry unions in North America — and Local 3G carries that legacy forward in the very city where breakfast cereal began.
The Lineage of Local 3G
Bakery & Confectionery Workers' International Union of America founded
Tobacco Workers International Union (TWIU) founded
National Council of Grain Processors forms under the AFL
Renamed American Federation of Grain Processors
American Federation of Grain Millers (AFGM) receives international charter
Bakery, Confectionery & Tobacco Workers (BC&T) forms through merger
BC&T merges with AFGM → BCTGM is born. Local 3G carries the legacy forward.
The Story of the Cereal City
The Accidental Invention
At the Battle Creek Sanitarium, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and his brother Will Keith (W.K.) Kellogg were experimenting with wheat-based health foods when a batch of boiled dough was left out overnight. Rather than throw it away, they ran the stale dough through rollers and toasted it — creating the world's first flaked breakfast cereal. It was a discovery that would change how the world eats breakfast.
W.K. Kellogg Founds His Company
On February 19, 1906, W.K. Kellogg founded the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company, hiring his first 44 employees and producing the first commercial batches of Kellogg's Corn Flakes — refined with corn, malt, sugar, and salt for a taste America would fall in love with. Battle Creek quickly earned its nickname: 'The Cereal City.'
The Historic Porter Street Plant
Construction on the landmark South Plant on Porter Street began in 1908, and the facility went fully into operation in 1909. More than a century later, that same historic Battle Creek plant is still producing cereal — one of the oldest continuously operating cereal factories in the world. The company was renamed the Kellogg Toasted Corn Flake Company that same year.
The Kellogg Company
The company took the name it would carry for a century: the Kellogg Company. From Battle Creek, Kellogg's grew into a global brand, but the heart of its cereal production — and its most iconic workforce — remained in Michigan.
Grain Millers Win Their Charter
The American Federation of Grain Millers (AFGM) received its international charter, uniting grain and cereal workers across the U.S. and Canada. Battle Creek's cereal workers organized as grain millers, building the union power that would represent them through decades of contract fights, safety battles, and the daily struggle for dignity on the job.
Holding the Line
Battle Creek cereal workers walked the picket line in 1972 — a strike that would stand as the last major work stoppage at the Battle Creek plant for nearly 50 years, a testament to both the union's strength and the hard-won contracts that followed.
BCTGM Is Born
The AFGM merged with the Bakery, Confectionery & Tobacco Workers to form the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM). Local 3G became part of one of the most powerful food-industry unions in North America, with roots reaching back to 1886.
The 77-Day Strike
On October 5, 2021, Local 3G led the Battle Creek picket line as roughly 1,400 BCTGM members at four Kellogg's plants (Battle Creek, Omaha, Lancaster, and Memphis) struck against a two-tier wage system, benefit cuts, and pension threats. It was the first strike at the Battle Creek plant since 1972. For 77 days, 3G members held the line — and on December 21, they ratified a five-year contract that ended the permanent two-tier system, won raises for every worker, and secured cost-of-living protections. Solidarity won.
The Company Splits
In October 2023, the Kellogg Company split into two companies: Kellanova (global snacks and international cereal) and WK Kellogg Co (North American cereal), which kept its headquarters in Battle Creek. Through every corporate change, Local 3G members kept the cereal lines running.
A New Chapter — and New Fights
In September 2025, Ferrero acquired WK Kellogg Co for $3.1 billion, committing to keep North American cereal operations in Battle Creek. That same year, 20 Local 3G members launched an Unfair Labor Practice strike against Knappen Milling Co. in Augusta, Michigan — proving the local's fighting spirit reaches every shop it represents.
Still the Cereal City, Still Union Strong
From an accidental batch of toasted flakes in 1894 to the global breakfast tables of today, the story of Battle Creek is the story of working people building something that lasts. Local 3G members still produce the cereals millions of families pour every morning — and they still stand together, ready to defend the wages, benefits, and dignity that generations of grain millers fought to win.
Community Impact
For well over a century, cereal has been more than an industry in Battle Creek — it has been the identity of an entire community. Generations of Michigan families have built middle-class lives through the good-paying union jobs at the Kellogg’s plant. Local 3G members don’t just make cereal; they coach youth teams, serve their churches, volunteer across Calhoun County, and invest in the neighborhoods they call home.
Through corporate splits, automation, and hard-fought strikes, the members of Local 3G have never turned their backs on Battle Creek. They carry the pride of “The Cereal City” forward every single day — producing good, safe, quality food for their families, their neighbors, and millions of families across North America.
“It started here — with a single batch of toasted flakes and a town that would feed the world. Every bowl of Corn Flakes, every scoop of Froot Loops, every snap-crackle-pop of Rice Krispies began in Battle Creek, made by working hands. That’s not just breakfast. That’s legacy. And Local 3G keeps it alive.”
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