Locked-Out Crystal Sugar Worker: 'We Didn't Do Anything to Deserve This'

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/Organizing-Bargaining/Locked-Out-Crystal-Sugar-Worker-We-Didn-t-Do-Anything-to-Deserve-This

08/24/2012

Tula Connel

Michael Frank headed over to a rally in East Grand Forks, Minn., last night, one of many he’s taken part in over the past year. Frank, along with 1,300 other workers, was locked out of the American Crystal Sugar factory a year ago, and last night’s event was part of the workers’ ongoing efforts to urge the sugar beet processing company return to the bargaining table.

“They don’t want to sit down with us,” said Frank, a 33-year veteran with with company and currently day warehouse foreman. “We didn’t do anything to deserve this.”



The company locked out the workers Aug. 1, 2011, during bargaining talks over a successor contract between American Crystal Sugar and five local unions of the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco and Grain Millers (BCTGM) at various locations in Minnesota, North Dakota and Iowa.

BCTGM members overwhelmingly rejected the company’s final offer last year, which included significant increases to workers’ health care costs and major changes to job security, including the right to outsource work and seniority language. (Sign a petition calling on American Crystal Sugar CEO Dave Berg to treat workers fairly and return to the bargaining table.)

FULL story at link.

[demosincebirth]

1. In the seventies we had Singer out here. They were a household name in town for years. They

were in a similar situation and finally left town for some RTW state. They had five bargaining unions for their workers and every year some craft's contract was up and they'd go out on strike and shut down the whole plant. As soon as they settled one...well you know the rest of the story. At one time they tried to have the contracts all end at the same time, but a couple of the unions would not go for it. Sometimes we were our worst enemies