Anderson Erickson Dairy Workers Return to Work after Strike Action

Sep 25, 2012

AE Dairy Agrees to Meet with Union Members over Health Care Benefits

Anderson Erickson Dairy (AE) of Des Moines, Iowa had their hands full with about 300 workers who went on strike after voting to reject the company`s contract offer. The union workers previous four year contract expired in March and the last round of negotiations wrapped up in August. The workers voted on Sunday evening to resort to strike action; however, after one full day of picketing the company has agreed to meet with union workers on Oct. 3 to renegotiate health care benefits. The company employs close to 400 people, of which 300 of them belong to a union. The workers that are union represented mostly work on the production lines of the plants, drive the milk trucks and deliver dairy products to the local schools.

Some of the key sticking points that the workers are opposed to are that the company contract proposed would have required workers to accept a pay freeze and to pay more for health insurance. The biggest dispute is regarding the health care benefit that outlines two options to union employees – one which costs the employee nothing and the other option would cost $69 a month for either an individual or family plan.

Anderson Erickson Dairy is an independent, family-owned business and was founded in 1930. The company is one of the only private dairies left in the United States. While AE is considered a small company compared to the larger dairy cooperatives, AE still ranks as one of the top 100 dairies in the U.S. The company is known for a variety of products including, milk, cheese, ice cream and yogurt. Monday`s action was the first strike in the company`s 82 year history.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.