Monday, October 24, 2011


Sweetening profits for the top, while sacrificing good American jobs.
Sugar Workers

Dear Dot,
Whether on Wall Street or in the heartland, corporations are continuing to squeeze workers for all they can.
American Crystal Sugar is no different. Despite record profits three years in a row, on August 1, the company locked out more than 1,300 workers in Iowa, Minnesota, and North Dakota. Rather than negotiate a fair deal with its workforce, management chose to try to break the union.
Will you help American Crystal workers get back on the job – and back supporting their families?
Locked-out workers just wanted a fair wage increase and affordable healthcare coverage. Instead, American Crystal
pushed to double their healthcare costs and weaken job security.
And now, both lives and livelihoods are on the line. Dan Dumas 
is an American Crystal employee who desperately wants to get back 
to work. His daughter Kayla was a victim of a horrible car accident 
and was in a coma for three months. While Kayla has made considerable 
progress, her recovery and therapy hang in the balance since Dan's 
healthcare coverage was cut off in August.
Together, the workers, company, and growers have helped to build the local 
economy, support families, and make their communities flourish. Now American 
Crystal's destructive lockout is putting it all in jeopardy.
Around the country, people are fighting back against this corporate greed 
and standing up for working Americans. Will you stand up and fight back too?
Thanks for all that you do for workers everywhere.
I received this message this morning. Thing is I suspect this attitude by 
management is being played out across America.