For the fourth time, locked-out American Crystal Sugar workers rejected an identical contract offer from the management company. The workers are members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM).

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.

It’s been nearly a year since the 1,300 American Crystal Sugar Co. workers with the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) have gone to work. The workers are locked out of five American Crystal Sugar processing facilities and other facilities.

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.

AFL-CIO Community Services Director Will Fischer sends us this report:

The 1,300 workers at American Crystal Sugar have been locked-out  for seven weeks. Management locked out the  employees,  members of the Bakery, Confectionery Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) on  Aug. 1, after they rejected the company’s final offer by a more than nine-to-one margin.

The locked-out workers at American Crystal Sugar have launched the first-known union quick response (QR) code campaign to educate consumers and the general public about the lockout. This week, the workers will hand out fliers with the code in major cities in Minnesota, North Dakota and Iowa, the states where they are locked out.

Saying locked-out workers at the American Crystal Sugar Co. want to work and negotiate a fair contract, the local union president urged the company to come back to the bargaining table.

The 1,300 locked-out employees at American Crystal Sugar Co. in three states need your help. The members of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) Local 167G have been locked out since Aug. 1 after they rejected the company’s final offer by a nine-to-one margin.

Some 1,300 American Crystal Sugar Co. employees were locked out in three states yesterday after the workers, members of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) Local 167G, rejected the company’s final offer by a nine-to-one margin.