Farmland Foods and union representatives agreed last week to extend the workers’ union contract until the company makes a decision on the future of the Albert Lea operation, and the company told the union that it would respect the seniority of former employees if the plant were to be reopened.

Friday, February 01, 2002

Farmland Foods and union representatives agreed last week to extend the workers’ union contract until the company makes a decision on the future of the Albert Lea operation, and the company told the union that it would respect the seniority of former employees if the plant were to be reopened.

The company also indicated that the decision on the plant’s future might be made by mid-February, workers said.

The current contract, established in January 1999, was to expire Jan. 28 this year. Both sides agreed to extend the contract on a month-to-month basis until the decision is made.

The extension means that the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 6 will continue to represent the former plant workers and negotiate with the company about labor issues.

Though the company unofficially agreed to respect the workers’ seniority, the issue remains a big concern for the union.

The contract stipulates that seniority will be lost if the worker is out of employment at Farmland more than a year. By this July, one year from date of the plant’s shutdown because of a fire, the union intends to make the agreement official.

&uot;The workers should not start all over again from the bottom,&uot; said Local 6 President Derby Olsen. &uot;We want the company to recall the workers in accordance with their seniority.&uot;

The seniority is crucial, especially for veteran employees – many of whom have been experiencing a hard time getting a new job.

In a document describing a plan for a new plant, Farmland exhibited a base hourly wage of $10.55, which is still below the $10.69 paid in 1983 when former operator Wilson and Co. filed for bankruptcy.

Former employee Raul Herrera raised another concern: He said when some of his former colleagues applied for jobs at the Farmland plant in Carroll, Iowa, after they lost their job in Albert Lea, they were asked to take a health examination. &uot;Such a screening could be used to exclude senior workers,&uot; he pointed out.

As for the decision time, Farmland Industries spokeswoman Sherlyn Manson said that she could not confirm if the mid-February target date was shared in the meeting.

But she confirmed that the workers’ seniority would be unaffected by the downtime.

Farmland says stalled negotiations over insurance proceeds have been delaying the company’s decision on the new plant.

According to a survey by the Minnesota Workforce Center, 200 ex-Farmland workers are still unemployed and living in Freeborn County.