Federal labor officials have rejected a union's accusation that American Crystal Sugar Co. illegally threatened to lock out employees if they fail to negotiate early on a labor contract that expires July 31, 2017.
In a decision on Oct. 6, the National Labor Relations Board said the company's letters to the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers union members on Nov. 30, 2015; April 4, 2016; and July 15, 2016, did not constitute a lockout threat.
The NLRB is still deciding whether the July 15 letter was improperly "direct dealing" with employees. The company hopes to hear an answer on that question within a couple of months.
American Crystal has about 1,200 employees in the contract, located primarily at its sugar beet processing and refinery locations in Moorhead, East Grand Forks and Crookston, Minn., and in Hillsboro and Drayton, N.D., as well as a handful of workers at storage facilities in Iowa and Minneapolis.
The company proposal was for a contract extension that included 3 percent annual base pay increases for the next five years, shift pay improvements beneficial to workers, pension increases and $2,500 signing bonuses, The union officials did not respond to the preliminary offer by an Aug. 31, 2016, deadline, so the company said it would be prepared for full negotiations in the spring of 2017 for a contract that expires July 31, 2017.
Source: www.duluthnewstribune.com