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Locked-out workers stand ready to process record sugar beet crop
29 August 2012
| FARGO, North Dakota - As American Crystal Sugar struggles to process a record sugar beet crop with an inexperienced temporary workforce, representatives of 1,300 workers locked out by the company met Wednesday with representatives of the skilled technicians providing maintenance inside Crystal Sugar’s Red River Valley plants. Together, they assessed the challenges workers will face in processing the crop after the lockout ends. |
The meeting brought together leaders of area Building & Construction Trades Council unions, who perform maintenance in the facilities, and locked-out locals of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union.
“The workers locked out by Crystal Sugar have over 15,000 cumulative years of sugar-making experience,” said John Riskey, president of BCTGM Local 167G. “We stand ready to step in and help recoup the investment Crystal Sugar’s shareholders and growers have made in this bumper crop.
“That’s why we’re drafting a Ready to Work Plan to salvage this crop and return Crystal Sugar’s facilities to productivity. We took a step forward in that process today, and we appreciate the assistance and cooperation shown to us by our brothers and sisters in the Building Trades.”
“When BCTGM members go back to work, they are going to have an immense undertaking before them to produce this historic sugar beet crop,” said Harry Melander, president of the Minnesota Building & Construction Trades Council. “I applaud them for putting the work in today that will make their transition back to work as smooth and efficient as possible down the road.”
American Crystal Sugar, the largest producer of sugar from beets in the United States, has processing plants in East Grand Forks, Crookston, and Moorhead, Minn.; and Hillsboro and Drayton, N.D.; and packaging and transportation sites in Chaska, Minn. and Mason City, Iowa. Workers at these facilities have been locked out of their jobs since Aug. 1, 2011. The company has announced no date for the end of the lockout and continues to operate its processing plants with temporary employees. |
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