The Grand Forks Herald and other outlets are reporting that federal mediator Jeanne Frank has called unon representatives and management back to the bargaining table. The two sides will meet tomorrow.
Ryan Schuster writes in American Crystal, union will resume talks Thursday:
An end could finally be in sight to the lockout of American Crystal Sugar Co. workers at Red River Valley plants.
A union spokesperson confirmed this afternoon that American Crystal Sugar and representatives for the company’s 1,300 union-represented employees will resume negotiations on a new contract Thursday.
Mark Froemke, a representative for the union, said union and company officials will meet with the federal mediator assigned to the case on Thursday. He declined to disclose the location and time of the meeting. . . .
The negotiations potentially could end the lockout, which has stretched on for 24 days.
Minnesota Public Radio reports in American Crystal, union negotiators to meet Thursday:
. . .A union official says he doesn't expect a quick resolution, but the meeting is a first step in restarting negotiations.
About 1,300 workers have been off the job at five Crystal plants in Minnesota and North Dakota. There are also union workers at sugar shipping and storage facilities in Chaska and in Iowa.
They rejected a contract offer over concerns about health care costs and job security. Since the vote, replacement workers have been on the job, packaging and shipping sugar. Full-scale sugar beet harvest begins in early October. . . .
The GF Herald posted Congressman Collin Peterson's reaction in Crystal workers may be offering changes:
“What we’ve been encouraging is that they get back to the table and get this stuff worked out,” Peterson says, of his own efforts. He says nothing could get resolved if the two sides weren’t talking.
Peterson says he’s been talking – company board members, union people and management – to encourage a resolution. Some of those conversations were as late as Aug. 23.
Peterson says it is difficult for outsiders to really know the key issues in the matter. “From what I can tell is the issue is on management have control over who gets what job, and being able to hire outside people,” he says. He had encouraged the union to come up some language that allows management its needed flexibility but also “tighten” what the union is concerned about.
He says the company has claimed it takes too long – as many as two weeks – to make decisions because of needed union negotiations. The union, on the other hand, says 95 percent of the issues are resolved “in 15 minutes,” Peterson says, acknowledging it is difficult to judge. He said he thought the union was planning to “come forward with some changes” as of today morning. He didn’t know whether this had an impact on the Aug. 25 talks.
Peterson, who is the ranking member of the agriculture committee and a key defender of policies beneficial to beet sugar producers and processors, said some growers had been calling him “worried this (labor issue) would jeopardize authorization of the farm bill,” which is coming up in 2012. “Nothing like that has happened so far,” Peterson says. “As long as we get this resolved in the next month or two I don’t think that’ll be a problem. If it drags on into the winter, it could be a problem.”
Photo: One big pile of beets.
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