American Crystal Sugar Union Rejects Offer; Same Union As That of Hostess/Twinkies -- One of The Longest Strikes in Minnesota History

Updates

May 12, 2017: here we go again. 

April 29, 2013: Did Twinkies kill the union movement?

"The Hostess strike will be a lasting image and not for the good of unions," said Marc Bloch, a labor and employment lawyer at Walter & Haverfield.

 "I think any management team will hold up a photo to its workers of Hostess strikers and say, 'What's a union going to do for you?''' Bloch said. "The case can be made that they did nothing." 

The Teamsters said it had no comment, and calls to the Bakery Union were not returned. 

For the union workers who were left without a job, the Hostess shutdown showed the weakness of unions, said Daniel Opler, a history professor at College of Mount Saint Vincent and a labor relations specialist.  

April 13, 2013: Crystal Sugar "workers" are voting today.  

April 1, 2013: only story with longer legs than the Keystone XL story is the American Crystal Sugar story. The Bismarck Tribune is reporting:

Workers who have been locked out at their jobs at American Crystal Sugar for more than a year will hold a fifth vote on the company's last contract offer this month.

Gayln Olson is the president of workers' union in Hillsboro. Olson says the workers will vote on the contract on April 13.

The union last voted on the contract in December. At that point, 55 percent of the union workers voted to reject the contact.

The only ones at risk now are the "temporary" workers who have been there almost a year.

December 6, 2012: I must be missing something. The union votes for the fourth time to turn down a $2,000 signing bonus and a 13 to 17% pay raise over five years; the company declares bankruptcy; is in liquidation; and the union wants to discuss the "lockout." How can it be a "lockout" if the company is in liquidation?

Later, 8:45 pm CST: offer rejected. I guess it's become personal. The good news: those temporary workers will still have jobs. 96 - 63 - 55. Cue up Connie Francis. [First vote: 96% rejected; second or third vote: 63% rejected; fourth vote: 55% rejected the proposed contract. I am missing the results of one of the four votes, but the trend is obvious. The fifth and last scheduled vote should pass, 51% to 49%.]

Moorhead-based Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative, is the largest U.S. beet sugar producer, churning out about 13 percent of the nation's refined sugar. It's comprised of about 2,800 beet growers, and has plants in Crookston, East Grand Forks and Moorhead, as well as in Drayton and Hillsboro, N.D.

The union: Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco & Grain Millers union (BCTGM). Where I have I heard that name before? Here it is: this is the Hostess/Twinkie union -- the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco & Grain Millers union (BCTGM). Hmmmm.

Later, 7:32 pm CST: wow, how long does it take to count a thousand votes? It is said that the strike "affected about 1,300 workers." Somewhere between 400 and 500 have apparently moved on; whether they can still vote or not, I do not know. I assume at least some have left the union. The voting was to conclude at 5:00 pm CST -- 2.5 hours ago, and still no posted results that I can find. Apparently the Minneapolis Star-Tribune is thinking the same thing; they just updated their story but no results.

Original Post

I guess it's considered a "Minnesota" story -- but affects folks in eastern North Dakota.

So, we will see how it goes -- this fourth vote. Apparently the strike affected about 1,300 workers, locked out since August 1, 2011. MDW has opined that most workers have probably adjusted to not working at American Crystal by now: new jobs or living on spouse's salary. It turns out that about 520 "workers" have said they have found new jobs; that's up from 400 earlier.

Unemployment benefits have expired; $2,000 signing bonus; 17% pay increase over five years (if one includes the signing bonus).

While the contract would raise wages by a relatively healthy 13 percent over five years, it would entail significant increases in workers' health care costs. Also, it would give management more rights in determining key workplace issues. For instance, seniority -- a basic union tenet -- would lose its importance in worker advancement.

This "return-to-work" angle is interesting.

By federal law, replacement workers are deemed temporary in a lockout; so union members would go back to work if they approve Crystal's contract offer. Still, a "return-to-work" agreement must be negotiated, and talks over that could get tricky, too. 

Wouldn't it be awesome if American Crystal gave the temporary workers a "severance" bonus if displaced by a union worker returning to work?