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Locked-out sugar workers to vote Nov. 1 on contract offer
27 October 2011
| EAST GRAND FORKS - The 1,300 workers locked out of their jobs since Aug. 1 by American Crystal Sugar will vote Nov. 1 on a contract offer, their union announced. |
Workers will learn the details of the proposal and take a secret ballot vote in each community where American Crystal has facilities: East Grand Forks, Crookston, Moorhead and Chaska, Minn.; Drayton and Hillsboro, N.D., and Mason City, Iowa.
The meeting in East Grand Forks will be held at 1 p.m. Nov. 1 at the American Legion, the union said.
The workers, members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco and Grain Millers, were barred from working after they rejected Crystal Sugar’s contract offer by an overwhelming margin. The company, which is the nation’s largest producer of sugar from beets, has hired out-of-state replacement workers to run operations while the beet harvest takes place.
For weeks, the union sought to have management return to the bargaining table. The two sides finally met Monday and Tuesday with the help of a federal mediator. Key issues for the union in the talks are job security and health care costs.
The lockout has been difficult for the workers and their families, particularly those at the Drayton and Hillsboro plants, because state government in North Dakota has refused to pay them unemployment compensation. The Minnesotans are receiving unemployment benefits because they want to work but are locked out. If they were on strike, they would not receive benefits.
The workers have received help through local food drives and a support fund that has received donations from many unions and individuals.
Donations for the fund may be sent to: BCTGM International Union, Attn: ACS Lockout Fund – 4th Floor, 10401 Connecticut Ave., Kensington, MD 20895 or to Minnesota AFL-CIO, 175 Aurora Ave., St. Paul, MN 55103. In the memo line, print “BCTGM Lockout 2011.”
For more information
Visit the union's special lockout website |
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