Success requires trust, cooperation

To the editor:

As a Penford Products Co. retiree and 16 year past president of the union representing workers there, I find the new owner, Ingredion Inc., to be shortsighted regarding its relationship to workers in our community.

Negotiating contract changes at three year intervals allows the parties to resolve ongoing issues and reaffirm a mutually beneficial relationship. However, the bargaining doesn't stop there. Events occur between these formal negotiations that require attention. This is where a good employee relationship becomes important.

After a divisive strike in 2004, rebuilding the relationship was difficult but necessary. It became beneficial to Penford after the 2008 flood when employees agreed to deviations of their contract to bring the plant back into operation. In 2009, Penford faced financial constraints and workers temporarily amended their contract to accommodate flexible shift scheduling with curtailed operations. Outside the amendment they voluntarily embraced austerity measures to cut costs by temporarily foregoing contractually defined benefits.

Monthly labor-management meetings support negotiations that can address interim issues such as staffing and work schedules to introduce and ramp up a new product line, staffing for a holiday shutdown, resolving a safety concern, arranging for required training or respirator physicals, or organizing a United Way Campaign. The cooperation needed for success requires trust built upon a good ongoing relationship. Ingredion needs to respect the loyal employees they inherited. They can best do this by using the existing contract as a focal point to seek changes they feel are necessary to continue operations at a profitable plant.

David Holmes

Cedar Rapids