For the third time since its workers voted to unionize 15 months ago, Dakota Premium has challenged the election results, according to Food and Commercial Workers Local 789. The latest legal maneuver further stalls the workers' attempts to bargain with the company.

'It's ludicrous,' said Local 789 president Bill Pearson. 'It's just another example of the delay game they're playing.'

Dakota Premium's most recent appeal is of the Aug. 27 ruling by a three-member National Labor Relations Board panel in Washington. That ruling certifies the July 21, 2000, election, in which the meat-packing plant's employees voted 112-71 to join Local 789. The company previously challenged the election at the regional level of the NLRB, then appealed a hearing officer's decision.

The company's latest appeal, however, goes back to the same three-member panel that ruled against the company. 'They're insulting the board and telling them they made the wrong decision,' Pearson said. 'How stupid can you be?'

Pearson said he is doubtful the company actually will sit down to bargain even if ordered to do so by the NLRB. Pearson said the last time he talked with a company lawyer, 'he said they thought it wasn't in their best interest to meet.'

If the company refuses to bargain, Pearson said, the union will not rely on NLRB remedies, but will make its battle public and personal against Dakota Premium's owners.

'If they refuse to bargain, that will be four times they've ignored federal order,' Pearson said 'If their weakness is that they're private individuals, we'll take it to their doorstep.'

This article was written for The Union Advocate newspaper. Used by permission. The Union Advocate is the official publication of the St. Paul Trades and Labor Assembly. E-mail The Advocate at: advocate@mtn.org