The Kellogg Company announced on Tuesday it will replace approximately 1,400 employees two months after they began a work strike.

The company offered the striking employees a new five-year contract, which would provide an accelerated, defined path to legacy wages and benefits for transitional employees, as well as wage increases and enhanced benefits for all workers. But the employees rejected the offer, with Kellogg claiming it had no choice “but to continue executing the next phase of our contingency plan” and hire permanent replacements, according to a statement from Kellogg.