In the first meeting since American Crystal Sugar locked out 1,300 workers on August 1st, the union says that there was very little progress and that the company would not change their earlier positions. The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco and Grain Millers Union, which represents the workers, said that they brought new proposals to address company concerns and offered to talk about cuts the company wanted if they were willing to drop some language from the contract, but the company refused. American Crystal Sugar said that the union did not offer a real proposal and were not bargaining in good faith. The company locked out workers after they rejected a contract offer at the end of July. The meeting was requested by a federal mediator.
See "American Crystal Sugar, union deadlocked at meeting urged by federal mediator", Jon Collins, The Minnesota Independent, August 25, 2011