FOX 21 News, KQDS-DT

DULUTH-Outside of the Miller Hill Target store on Friday labor activists urged customers not to buy American Crystal Sugar.

Organizers said the effort comes after a 14 month lockout of about 1,300 union workers in Northeastern Minnesota.

Only about ten people show up to support the cause but similar demonstrations across the Midwest also are spreading the message of the AFL-CIO workers.

The locked-out workers are sugar refiners and others who work in the American Crystal Sugar facilities, Northeast Area Labor Council Field Coordinator Zach Sias said.

Supporters handed out information about the company including CEO Dave Berg's annual compensation totaling $2.4 million.

"1,300 working men or women, whether it be in Fargo or Moorhead is the same as 1,300 men and women being locked out of a plant here in Duluth," Sias said.

"And when jobs are at such a premium right now and the unemployment rate the way that it is, we need to make sure that we keep the jobs that we do have," Sias said.

A representative from American Crystal Sugar said the deal the company is offering is fair - giving a 17% pay increase over five years plus additional benefits and vacation.

The representative also said the offer is still on the table and employees can come back to work at any point.

The boycott is on bags of granulated sugar labeled with "American Crystal Sugar" or "Market Pantry" (a Target brand).

The workers involved in the labor dispute are a part of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union.