Crystal Sugar says window to deal is closing after talks fail again

Valley News reports American Crystal executives and union negotiators made no progress after yet another meeting. In a statement, executives said the union is ignoring the fact "times have changed dramatically" and that contracts must reflect those changes. The union says it has put forward new proposals but the company refuses to bargain.

Author:: BMTN Staff
Updated:: Mar 8, 2018
Original:: Jan 31, 2012

Valley News reports American Crystal executives and union negotiators made no progress after yet another meeting. In a statement, executives said the union is ignoring the fact "times have changed dramatically" and that contracts must reflect those changes. The union says it has put forward new proposals but the company refuses to bargain.

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Union leaders and company executives returned to the bargaining table for the first time in more than two months, though they left again without a deal. WDAY reports Crystal Sugar is sticking with what it calls its final offer, but union workers are still worried about some of the contract's wording surrounding job security.

American Crystal’s 13-hundred union workers claimed the company failed to bargain a new contract in good faith. Those workers have now been out of work for more than four months.

Union officials quickly embraced the plan but management has stayed quiet. Dayton is urging both parties to resume negotiations and not stop -- except to eat and sleep -- until they can reach a deal.

Talks are set to resume Friday between American Crystal Sugar Co. and 1,300 locked-out union workers. It's been more than four months since the two sides last met. Union spokesman John Riskey told the Associated Press he hopes the company will "cooperate and negotiate." Company spokesman Brian Ingulsrud says the company's last contract offer stands.

Workers from the Red River Valley are teaming up with locked-out Ohio workers from Cooper Tire on what they're calling a "Journey for Justice" tour. The unions say they're trying to draw attention to "the most recent wave of greed-motivated corporate attacks on workers and their unions."

Ten Democrats in the Legislature have introduced a bill that would prohibit government departments and agencies from buying sugar from American Crystal until the company resolves its dispute with union workers. More than 1,300 workers have been locked out since Aug. 1.

A union official says there won't be mass concessions but there will be new proposals when locked out workers site down for mediated talks with American Crystal Sugar on June eighth. The two sides have not spoken since February. The lockout of 1,300 workers began last August.

Employees at American Crystal Sugar have been locked out for 85 days now. Some union members say they're hopeful they can negotiate a deal when talks resume Monday. One company executive told the Fargo Forum he expects the union will make significant movement away from its original positions.

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