This is a cross-post from Crystal Greed, the blog for workers locked out of their jobs at American Crystal Sugar plants in Iowa, North Dakota and Minnesota.

Beet growers who own Crystal Sugar—the cooperative that’s been locking 1,300 workers out of their jobs for the past 13 months—haven’t had to walk through a picket line on their way to work each day.

Until now.

Early Tuesday morning, locked-out members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) set up picket lines outside the homes of select members of Crystal Sugar’s Board of Directors. The neighbor-to-neighbor pickets, according to a report on KFGO (click for audio), are intended to confront the company’s power brokers with the consequences of their decision not to negotiate with friends, family members and neighbors.

The actions, according to KFGO, “are not a large-scale protest,” with only a handful of picketers at each home. Picketers are remaining respectful of board members' families and neighbors, several of whom report having constructive conversations with union members about the lockout.

One of those conversation took place Wednesday in Crookston, Minn., where locked-out workers held a vigil outside the home of Don Andringa, a Crystal Sugar board member. Andringa’s next-door neighbor came out to ask why union members had moved their picket line from the plant gate onto his quiet, residential street, and Sue Sylvester, a BCTGM member with more than 30 years’ experience working for Crystal Sugar, gave this answer:

Don Andringa and the Board of Directors own American Crystal. They speak for farmers in the whole Red River Valley. Dave Berg (Crystal Sugar’s CEO) works for them. That’s why we will be out here—maybe not every night—but often enough, until people like Don stand up and put a stop to this.
We’re not greedy, but we want to be treated like good people. We want to be treated with respect. We’re Don’s neighbors. Crookston is a good town with good people—middle-class people who can raise a family. We want to keep it that way, and that’s why we’re here.

Help locked-out American Crystal workers. Their union, BCTGM, will place all donations in a workers' lock-out fund. Make checks payable to BCTGM, Minnesota AFL-CIO, 175 Aurora Ave., St. Paul, MN 55103.