Workers like Becki Jacobson (left), who have been locked out of their jobs at American Crystal Sugar Co. for 10 months, yesterday launched a 200-mile journey from Drayton, N.D., to Moorhead, Minn. They are calling on the company—a farmers’ cooperative—to engage in genuine negotiations when the two sides meet in Moorhead on June 8. They seek to draw attention to the ongoing lockout and its impact on their communities. They will camp out each night and invite the public to join them for potluck suppers, live entertainment and fellowship. They hope to discuss their struggles of the past 10 months and how they believe they can resolve this struggle through cooperation and real negotiation.

United Steelworkers (USW) Local 207L members ratified by a 2-to-1 margin a new five-year contract with Cooper Tire and Rubber Company  The vote ends a three-month lockout at the company's Findlay, Ohio tire plant. USW Local 207L President Rodney Nelson says:

We are proud to have remained united and delivered a fair contract, despite Cooper's best attempts to divide us.

This just in: There is now a tentative agreement between the United Steelworkers (USW) and Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., with a vote expected on Monday.

Amy Masciola, a union campaign consultant, sends us this.

More than six months ago, American Crystal Sugar Co. locked out more than 1,300 sugar beet workers in the Red River Valley of Minnesota and North Dakota. Two months ago, Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. locked out more than 1,000 workers in Findlay, Ohio. Last week, Caterpillar announced it would shut down a plant in Ontario, just over one month after locking out 500 workers. Rio Tinto Alcan locked out 750 workers in Quebec Jan. 1. HealthBridge locked out 800 nursing home workers in Connecticut in December. As Laura Clawson at the Daily Kos notes, “For evidence of a war on workers, look no further than the rise of the lockout.”

Wednesday marked the six-month anniversary of America Crystal Sugar Co.’s lockout of 1,300 workers and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) told the U.S. House: “It’s time for the company to negotiate.”

Amy Masciola, communications consultant with the Minnesota AFL-CIO, sends us this.

When a company locks out workers and won’t negotiate a contract, the entire community suffers a massive economic loss—as a new report on the economic effects of American Crystal Sugar Co.’s lockout of 1,300 workers in the upper Midwest details.

Relations between management and the 1,300 locked-out workers at American Crystal Sugar Co. reached a new low this week, as recordings were made public of company CEO David Berg likening the workers and their contract to a cancerous tumor.

In Orchard Park, N.Y., just about 600 yards from the Buffalo Bills’ Ralph Wilson Stadium, where as many as 73,000 football fans gather on fall Sundays, sits the Big Tree Inn. Owner Dan DeMarco tells ESPN.com those Sundays account for 30 percent of his annual revenue.

This just in. According to CNN:

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals granted the National Football League (NFL) request to restore a lockout, according to a court clerk.

The NFL team owners are sitting on a $4 billion war chest. Yet they are attacking not only the players, but their most vulnerable employees as well: concession stand sellers, groundskeepers and office staff.