Vol. 76/No. 8      February 27, 2012

The rally will take place at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel at noon, and then proceed to American Crystal’s corporate headquarters in the city where the union will hand over tens of thousands of petitions gathered across the country demanding the company end the lockout.

Some 1,300 members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers union have been locked out since Aug. 1 after refusing American Crystal’s concession contract demands aimed at weakening the union.

Locked-out workers from the Cooper Tire plant in Findlay, members of United Steelworkers Local 207L, will take part in the sugar workers’ Feb. 22 rally.

“The rally will kick off a 1,000 mile journey for justice,” said Gayln Olson, president of BCTGM Local 372G in Hillsboro, N.D. The caravan will begin in Fargo, N.D., Feb. 22, the same day as the sugar workers’ rally in Moorhead. Locked-out sugar and tire workers will make stops along the way to speak at rallies and raise funds as they travel through North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana before concluding in Findlay Feb. 27 with a rally outside the Cooper Tire factory.

An AFL-CIO blog announcing the Journey for Justice caravan explains: “For workers making the Journey, the message is simple: They want to keep their union, and they want to go back to work.”

American Crystal bosses have thus far stubbornly refused to back off from their union-busting demands. During the most recent negotiation session Jan. 30, the union offered concessions on health insurance and the use of outside contract workers. The company responded by saying the union’s proposals didn’t go far enough. “The Union’s proposals represent a stubborn refusal to acknowledge the obvious—times have changed dramatically over the past fifty years and our contract needs to address those changes,” said a Jan. 30 company statement.

American Crystal bosses planned well ahead for their lockout, lining up hundreds of scabs from Strong Engineering to maintain production. Since November the company has been on a campaign to hire replacement workers from the local area.

“We see very few local scabs at the Drayton plant,” Paul Woinarowicz, a locked-out worker with more than 30 years at American Crystal told the Militant in early February. According to Scott Ripplinger, a locked-out worker and co-chair of the union’s Solidarity Committee, “the number of locally recruited scabs is around 20” at the East Grand Forks factory. Ross Perrin, chief union steward at the Moorhead plant, said, “The company has hired around 35 locals.”

“Our February food drive is picking up steam,” said sugar worker Ken Lamberson, while picketing near the south gate at the East Grand Forks plant. “We’ve gotten a couple of food drop-offs organized by Ralph Honda of the Letter Carriers union, who have helped us from the beginning.”

“As well, we will be getting more than 500 pounds of beef from an anonymous donor—that’s a lot of hamburger,” Lamberson said.

“The union sent letters to farmers in the sugar beet districts asking for help in our food drive,” said Ripplinger at the East Grand Forks picket line.

Over the past month, sugar workers have stepped up picketing. Each week they have put out a call for locked-out workers and their supporters to picket one factory during shift change. These “scab change” rallies, as the workers call them, have helped keep union morale strong.

Send messages of solidarity and contributions to BCTGM Local 167G, 100 N 3rd St. Suite 50, Grand Forks, ND 58203.
 
 
Related articles:
Steelworkers reinforce battle with Cooper Tire
On the Picket Line
Seattle port truckers fight fines and unsafe conditions
Caterpillar fight for severance pay continues  
 
 
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