Members of unions from the Chicago Federation of Labor (CFL) and activists from Jobs with Justice demonstrated in front of a Chicago Walmart and urged customers to boycott American Crystal Sugar products and support the workers who have been locked out since Aug. 1, 2011. There have been several actions around the nation this week in support of the workers and the boycott. 

Alex Ross, The New Yorker’s music critic, has called the Minnesota Orchestra “the greatest orchestra in the world.” On Oct. 1, the orchestra’s management locked out “the greatest orchestra in the world” because the 95 musicians refused to take an up to 50% pay cut.

The growing number of lockouts—where employers close the doors or gates in order to wring concessions out of workers—“represents an overreach on the part of employers,” writes Minnesota AFL-CIO President Shar Knutson, in an op-ed piece today in the Minneapolis StarTribune.

For examples of these lockouts, Knutson points to the more than 13-month lockout of American Crystal Sugar workers, the NFL lockouts of referees and players, Cooper Tires recent lockout and this month’s lockout of the Minnesota Orchestra (American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada [AFM] Local 30-73), where management is seeking 30% to 50% pay cuts.

Since Aug. 1, 2011, 1,300 American Crystal Sugar Co. workers have been locked out of their jobs in five sugar beet processing plants in Minnesota, North Dakota and Iowa. The locked-out workers are members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM). More than 20 children and grandchildren of the locked-out workers gathered in East Grand Forks, Minn., to write letters to American Crystal Sugar CEO Dave Berg and the board about how the lockout is affecting them, their families and community. 

Watch the YouTube video in the post: "AFL-CIO: Children Speak Out Against the American Crystal Sugar Company Lockout (BCTGM)."

Sign the petition to end the lockout: aflcio.org/endthelockout.

The AFL-CIO has endorsed a nationwide consumer boycott of American Crystal Sugar Co. products starting Oct. 15. The boycott is in response to the company’s 14-month lockout of 1,300 workers at its processing facilities in Minnesota, North Dakota and Iowa. If the company returns to the bargaining table in good faith and reaches an agreement, the boycott will be called off.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says the locked-out workers—members of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM)—“are responsible for American Crystal Sugar’s profitability and previously strong reputation.”

The NFL’s lockout of its veteran and trained professional corps of referees is now over after the league and the NFL Referees Association (NFLRA) reached a tentative eight-year agreement late Wednesday night. The referees will hold a ratification vote Friday and Saturday. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said the end of the lockout means:

A football season, which started in disaster, can now get back on track. Not only toward fairness and integrity for the game, but ensuring the highest level of safety possible for the athletes who play the game.

This football season has become a disaster because of the greed of NFL management and team owners—who brought in more than $8.3 billion in revenue last year and who don't mind making a quick buck at the expense of NFL players’ safety, NFL fans and the integrity of America’s game, says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka in an e-mail to online activists. 

Since the botched call by a replacement referee cost the Green Bay Packers a win against the Seattle Seahawks Monday night, football fans all over the country are speaking out and demanding the NFL owners and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell end the referee lockout. (Read "Monday Night Football Disaster in Seattle Brings More Calls to End NFL Lockout of Refs.")

Sign the petition we’ve launched with our partner Daily Kos to NFL owners and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to demand they end the referee lockout.

Ten-year-old Sophia Frank wants American Crystal Sugar CEO Dave Berg and the firm’s board members to stop the 13-month lockout of her father and the more than 1,300 workers because, as she wrote in a letter to company officials:

I'm sorta worried that we're about to run out of food or lose our home because my dad’s out of work for so long.

Any fan of the NFL who has watched the season unfold with replacement officials because the league has locked out the skilled and veteran officials knows calls are being missed or called incorrectly and the replacements have a tenuous control of each game. But even worse, say the players, their safety is at stake.

In a letter to team owners urging an end to the lockout of the referees, the Executive Committee of the NFL Players Association writes:

Since August 2011, the more than 1,300 workers at five American Crystal Sugar sugar beet processing plants in Minnesota, North Dakota and Iowa have been locked out. While CEO Dave Berg took in nearly $2.5 million in total compensation last year, the workers and their families have been struggling to keep roofs over their heads and food on the table.

On Saturday, Sept. 22, in East Grand Forks, Minn., the children and grandchildren of the locked-out workers will write Berg and board members to tell them how the lockout has affected their families and their lives and urge the company to return to the bargaining table.