“Sticking Points” in American Crystal Negotiations Reveal Some Ugly Truths About Union
Today’s issue of the Fargo Forum containined a summation of the areas of dispute between the American Crystal Sugar Company and the union that represents locked out workers. On balance, those “sticking points” (as the article refers to them) shine a light on some pretty serious departures from how things work in a non-union shop.
Year-round employee status
Under the old contract:
Plant employees who don’t work year-round – known as campaign workers – were eligible for year-round status and the associated benefits once they work 75 percent of the scheduled work days in a year.
The company’s position:
The company is seeking to raise that threshold to 85 percent, and add a skills test to make sure those employees are qualified for mechanical and plant work as well as processing. The company also wants to add the ability to designate employees as year-round regardless of hours worked.
The union position:
The union wants to keep the threshold closer to 75 percent. Union leaders say they’re open to some movement on that position, but that an 85 percent cut-off would effectively bar most campaign workers from year-round status because there aren’t enough work days during the harvest.
In other words, there’s enough hours available at harvest time so that most workers can be considered full-time if they only work 75% of the time. If that gets bumped to 85%, a majority of workers would need to work (gasp) full-time hours to earn full-time status.
Rules for hiring
Under the old contract:
In the previous contract, applications for job postings were to be weighed “on the basis of plant seniority” provided the applicant was able and qualified to do the job, giving preference to current employees over outside hires.
The company’s position:
Under the company’s most recent proposal, the company is “entitled to select the most qualified individual for the position,” using seniority as a tiebreaker. The company says it wants broader latitude to hire and promote the most qualified employees.
The union’s position:
The union wants to retain the language that gives current employees a leg up over outside hires, saying that system has worked well to date.
This is pretty boilerplate stuff for unions. Hiring and promotion due to merit is bad. Why? Shut up, that’s why. The idea that seniority should be the main factor in hiring and promotion decisions is one of the bedrock ideals of any union.
Overtime
Under the old contract:
Paid time off, such as sick leave or paid vacation, counted toward overtime calculations. Overtime assignments were offered on basis of seniority.
The company’s position:
The company is seeking to count only actual hours worked toward overtime.
It is also seeking broader discretion to assign overtime hours “based on its business needs and to the classification deemed appropriate by the Company.”
The union’s position:
The union wants to preserve preference toward senior employees in overtime assignments. The union says those preferences help curb the possibility of favoritism or arbitrary choices in overtime assignments.
The union also wants to continue to count paid time off toward overtime calculations.
Read that again. Slowly. Paid time off, such as sick leave or paid vacation, counted toward overtime calculations.
This sort of thing helps illustrate the out-of-whack sense of entitlement that union shops hold. There is no way any honest, self-aware person could ever argue that this is the way a business should be run. And while I blame the company for ever agreeing to this, it is absolutely right to want this policy changed.
I hope the union is embarrassed that these “sticking points” are now public knowledge. The Forum certainly didn’t do it any favors by publishing it. Anyone reading it would be appalled that these are the sorts of things being haggled over. Regardless of any more legitimate differences, these sorts of unrealistic and damaging (to the company) entitlements are the sort of pivots on which public opinion turn.
Tags: american crystal, Jay W., North Dakota News, unions
