Reddit users spam Kellogg job portal amid worker strike
In response to Kellogg stating it was going to permanently replace more than 1,400 unionized employees engaged in an ongoing strike, Reddit and TikTok users are meddling with Kellogg’s job portal in solidarity with the displaced employees, according to multiple reports.
Users banded together to support striking Kellogg workers in the Reddit community r/antiwork, which is usually used for venting about poor working conditions and unfairness in various workplaces, but is also used as a space to push back against the culture of the American workplace, The Verge reported.
Members of the community, or subreddit, composed a list of links leading to products made by Kellogg, encouraging people to boycott those products. The same post also listed links for Kellogg job postings so that users could spam the the company’s job portal with fake applications.
The post had over 62,000 upvotes as of Friday afternoon.
Users have responded with comments about ways to set up autofills on browsers in order to fill out the spam applications more quickly and thereby overflow the system.
Moderators for r/antiwork have pinned posts about how to support the striking Kellogg workers to the top of the subreddit, but have otherwise allowed users to take the lead.
“It’s very easy to empathize with the Kellogg’s workers,” Kevin McKenzie, a moderator of r/antiwork who spoke with The Verge, said, adding, “It lights a fire in the community, and you get ideas like this that spring up and get supported.”
Corrina Christensen, director of communications for the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers’ International Union, which represents the striking Kellogg employees, has said that the workers know of the Redditors’ efforts, which she called “phenomenal,” according to The Verge.
Kellogg spokesperson Kris Bahner told Insider Friday that the company’s online hiring portal was “fully operational,” and that there has been strong interest in jobs, adding that new hires were due to start “very soon.”
The efforts to stall the company have also spread to Twitter and TikTok. According to Insider, a TikTok user posted a code that is meant to mass spam Kellogg with fake job applications.
Sean Black, the TikTok activist, explained how he sent out the spam applications in a video on the platform, demonstrating the coding he used to quickly autofill details and a dummy resume.
@black_madness21 Shortucut soon perhaps #antiwork #workersrights #kelloggs #strike #unions #leftist
“Apparently Kellogg are planning to replace workers who are fighting for better workplace conditions and better pay,” Black said in his video, adding, “You know what I had to do. Not bad for a day’s work, I’d say.”
Previously, Black used a similar coding tactic to spam the anti-abortion group Texas Right to Life, Insider reported. The group’s website had encouraged people to report violations of the Texas Heartbeat Act, which reduced abortion access across the state.
The outrage towards Kellogg sprang up after the company announced they would be replacing their 1,400 striking employees permanently after about 20 failed negotiation attempts. The workers have been striking due to what they deemed unfair working conditions and an alleged inability for many employees to advance up the corporate ladder.
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