By Ryan Schuster/GrandForksHerald.com
Local union officials representing the 1,300 locked out American Crystal Sugar Co. workers have mailed letters to growers of the sugar beet cooperative requesting to meet as full-scale, around-the-clock harvest is set to begin today.
“We want to try to sit down and talk in a very friendly manner with the growers,” union spokesman Mark Froemke said. “We would like to get to a point where we can put this difference of opinion aside and get back to work so the farmers can get back to what they do and still get a good beet payment.”
Local growers have for the most part declined to talk to news media throughout the lockout, which hits the two-month mark today. The company has met with growers to update them.