American Crystal Sugar Lockout

By Sheri McMahon
Contributing Writer

I wasn’t much impressed with the Forum’s choice of a sports writer to comment on the beet plant lockout. Didn’t sound like the sports writer knew much of anything about labor relations—or business, for that matter. As a matter of fact, there has been precious little information in the Forum, and nothing in the way of analysis, about the dispute. He didn’t even seem to have ever heard the phrase “collective bargaining,” which is at the root of union labor. Just to let him know, the idea is that the worker is simply in no position to negotiate for wages on his or her own.

I do have family members—a married couple—who have worked at the Drayton plant for years. This meant rotating shifts—day, swing, and night shifts, often held over up to 16 hours. It meant a commute of some 50 miles each way. When the Red River flooded, they would drive to the water’s edge and take a boat through surging waters, ice floes, and floating debris—often in the dark. Ferrying across the flooded Red is no longer allowed—so, instead, they drive some 90 miles each way to get to their jobs. Driving expense for work is, as you can imagine, substantial. Home is the farm that has been in the family for four generations now, homesteaded by our great-grandfather in 1882.

Another family member complained that the beet workers have had health insurance with no premium payments required from them—a benefit some workers enjoy these days, although not many. On the other hand, at the time the last contract was signed, the union settled for a low (2%) cost of living raise. Yes, many of us these days struggle with no cost of living raise at all, no employer contribution to the retirement which ever recedes. In the Forum Communications division where I worked a few years ago, there’d been no raises for years—and none since. Some years ago, a friend who was a printer by trade considered moving to Fargo to work—until he found out what Forum printers make. Meanwhile, we live in a community which seems enthralled by the wealth of a few, and is more interested in showing the world its charitable side than reducing the need for charity.

Twice I worked in Fargo locations during attempts to organize employees and form a union. I was stunned by the ugliness of the employers’ response—and these were nonprofit employers! One was church-affiliated; the other contracted with state governments to provide disability-related services. We were required to attend meetings where we learned that Mafia thugs would take over our lives if we voted to organize to negotiate wages and benefits as a group. Employees who were actively involved in the efforts lost their jobs—which was certainly a lesson for the less brave.

The sports writer’s view is that employees should simply cave in, not rock the boat lest they lose their jobs. The Forum published the writer’s picture with the article. The writer appears to me a man of color. Good thing for him there were people decades ago who did rock the boat. The same is true for anyone who works a 40 hour week or gets overtime for working later, or can—usually—count on going to work and coming home alive and whole.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune has provided some information about the “engineering company” which provides the temporary beet plant workers. A few years ago they settled a sex discrimination claim brought by a woman hired to operate a crane during a labor dispute. She was told to urinate off the edge of the crane like the men did rather than take bathroom breaks. There have been complaints from workers required to work 12 hours or more without breaks (sorry to tell those of you who think otherwise, those short paid breaks during the workday are not required by federal law, or by state law in North Dakota). There have been issues emerging when the company used convicted persons on work-release programs as a source of labor.
Regarding unemployment benefits, this has yet to be resolved. The North Dakota Century Code does not seem to contain any language disallowing benefits when the employer locks out the workers. It does allow benefits to a person who refuses work offered to replace striking or locked out workers—so, to other individuals receiving benefits, know that you cannot be required to work for Strom Engineering or else lose your benefits.

Regarding health insurance, American Crystal is self-insured, with its employee coverage managed by Blue Cross. Coverage ended July 31—including, I have heard, coverage for a union member who has stage 4 lung cancer.

I have been told that while the beet farmers have had very good years—buying new tractors, trucks, and beet lifters—the company has been loathe to replace factory equipment, much of which is aging. Although farming is becoming the new favorite place for wealthy speculators to put their money, I haven’t heard whether this phenomenon has yet made its way into sugar beet land—but busting a union would surely help grease that wheel. Of course, speculators don’t care what the long-term impact of their decisions might be. They’re the guys who get out of the bubble before it pops; they’re the guys who have the extra money short-selling in a rickety stock market generates.

One anti-union message seems to propose that negotiating a contract is somehow socialistic, even communistic (go figure). Another proposes that those whose power is less should choose to diminish their power even more in order to retain what material leftovers may still come their way.

A few months ago I had a phone call from a market research company asking me what I thought about American Crystal as a company. Odd call, I thought. They didn’t ask whether I bought their sugar. I generally did out of loyalty to my family members and to the region I call home. I was impressed by the meticulous training they have been doing with their employees (which I had heard about long before there was a Forum article about it). Funny they would invest in that level of employee education (which I would love my own employer to do) and then throw it all away. But I suppose there are plenty of victims of the marketplace out there, those long-term unemployed who have nothing to fall back on these days. Becoming a third-world nation seems to be better for business than we’d like to admit.

Questions and comments: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)