AE Dairy Agrees to Meet with Union Members over Health Care Benefits
By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com
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.