REPORT: American Crystal Sugar Lockout Costing Region Millions
The union representing 1,300 locked out American Crystal Sugar (ACSC) workers in the Red River Valley released a report on the lockout’s economic impact on the region at a meeting attended by Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton on Saturday.
According to the report, A Region on the Ropes, “Instead of continuing negotiations with its employees, Crystal Sugar has made increasing profits and compensation for its executives the priority. The Company has hired inexperienced, non-union contract workers and is turning a blind eye to the wider economic fallout, which to date totals an estimated $30.5 million.”
Families of locked out workers are losing $1,000 to $2,300 per month. The local economy of the Red River Valley has had direct losses of nearly $12.0 million during the four months of the lockout. Minnesota has lost an estimated $6.5 million and North Dakota an estimated $5.4 million. Indirect and induced losses are estimated at $18.7 million—an additional $10.2 million for Minnesota and $8.5 million for North Dakota.
“These figures reveal this lockout’s true cost to our communities in dollars and cents. It’s time we ended it and got back to the bargaining table. Our members want to work,” said Roger Delage, President of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) Local 267G.
Union members who spoke at a public meeting at Minnesota State University Moorhead on Saturday expressed frustration at the company’s priorities. “Their recent financials looked very good in part because of our hard work. But the company already said the next beet payment will be lower because of higher operating costs due to lower productivity of inexperienced replacement workers,” said Renae Fredrickson, a locked out worker from the Drayton factory and a company shareholder.
“Dave Berg told the shareholders that our contract was like a tumor and that his strategy is to cut that tumor out and it is coming at a high cost,” Fredrickson continued, referring to recordings of CEO Dave Berg’s remarks at a shareholders’ meeting on November 7.
Supporters who attended the event suggested the high cost to the region would be in the tens of millions of dollars and in the trust between Crystal Sugar workers and management that has existed for so long. North Dakota State Representative Eliot Glassheim said, “This lockout has divided families, friends, neighbors, completely opposite the cooperative spirit that Crystal Sugar used to stand for. And it’s part of a national movement to bust unions. There is no other explanation. We must put an end to this crippling lockout.”
