Revote possible for Fort Morgan Cargill employees - maybe next week
- Media Logic Radio
- 8 hours ago
- 1 min read
After nearly three months of being locked out of Cargill’s Fort Morgan plant, more than 1,700 workers are facing another major change in their contract fight.
A worker-led effort to hold another vote on Cargill’s latest contract has collected enough signatures for Teamsters Local 455 to consider a revote.
Union Secretary-Treasurer Dean Modecker says the vote could happen as early as Monday. He says union leaders have also contacted Cargill to let the company know workers want to know if there is room to renegotiate.
Union members rejected the company’s latest offer August third, despite a recommendation from union leaders to approve it. About 94 percent of members participated in that vote. The offer was rejected by just 25 votes.
He says language barriers among workers speaking roughly 26 different dialects may have contributed to confusion about the contract.
Meanwhile, the financial pressure on workers is growing. Enhanced union payments of about 12-hundred-50 dollars a week have ended. Workers are now receiving the regular strike benefit — 125 dollars a week from the local, plus an amount based on their union dues.
The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment says 551 unemployment claims connected to Cargill workers have been filed.
Workers also lost their health insurance in May, adding pressure as families prepare for the new school year.
Cargill says it remains open to discussing ways to restructure the contract within the economic framework it has previously presented to the union.
