Crystal union members picket board members

CROOKSTON, Minn. – As the American Crystal Sugar lockout drags into its 13th month, union members are taking the fight to the doorstep of the company’s directors.

Locked-out workers demonstrated in front of the homes of Crystal directors Wednesday for the second day in a row, in a bid to drive home the lockout’s human toll.

“We can’t let board members live in ivory towers when it’s under their control,” said Todd Anderson, an AFL-CIO leader who is helping coordinate the demonstrations. “In the morning and in the evening, they should have to look a locked-out worker in the face.”

Workers are gathering in groups of two to six in multiple locations to begin and end the work day, Anderson said. He said the demonstrations are not meant to overwhelm neighborhoods with protests or picket lines.

“It’s more of a vigil,” he said.

He said the demonstrations will continue indefinitely. Workers were outside five homes on Tuesday in Crookston, Ada and East Grand Forks in Minnesota and Drayton and Minto in North Dakota.