Three weeks after American Crystal Sugar locked out 1,300 workers, no negotiations have been held. Replacement workers have been hired, but because of a late harvest, they have not yet begun processing the beets. Some farmers are worried about the replacement workers being able to process the beets fast enough. The lockout happened after unionized employees rejected a contract offer which had a $2,000 signing bonus and a 13% wage increase over 5 years. Workers said that the offer included language that would threaten job security. Farmers said that they thought the wage offer was fair, and that they hoped that the workers will come around.
See "Beet harvest will test American Crystal Sugar's lockout strategy", Mike Hughlett, Star Tribune, August 23, 2011