Wisconsin Recall Results Worry Locked-out Union Members - Valley News Live - KVLY/KXJB - Fargo/Grand Forks

About one hundred locked out American Crystal workers completed their march from Drayton, ND to Moorhead Wednesday afternoon to hold a vigil at company headquarters.

The two hundred mile march comes in advance of Friday's expected union meeting with the company.

It's been a long ten months since the lockout, and the strain is apparent as worker discuss the results of Tuesday's failed effort to recall Wisconsin's governor.  That recall vote was pushed largely by unions there in response to Governor Scott Walker's anti-union push last year, and American Crystal union members are worried it may be taken as a referendum against labor unions across the United States. The timing of the Wisconsin recall didn't appear to damp down attendance -- but marchers started seven days ago in Drayton. 

"I've been a leader in the union for many years," says Lavonne Froemke of Crookston, who's holding a small dog as it pants in the sun after the march from the park to corporate headquarters. "I have to keep working to motivate them. It's what I do."

They say they'll continue keeping their hopes alive for Friday's meeting with corporate heads, the first of its kind since February. And, while they say negotiations have been stilted for some time, some say they're prepared to once again reject a contract if no new concessions are offered by the company.