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Google"A corporate team is sitting down and meeting with an employee team," said Dave Smetter, spokesman for the ice cream and novelty company.
The two teams' aim, he said, is to create a new collective bargaining agreement.
They began meeting Sept. 8, he said.
The current three-year contract ends Dec. 31.
"Wells' Dairy is committed to negotiating a new contract in good faith, one of fairness to our employees, and one that positions the company to meet the challenges ahead," a statement from the company said. "The company intends to strengthen its competitive edge moving forward, creating greater job security, stability and sustainability for our employees and the community."
The length of the new contract has not been decided -- the company and workers will negotiate that as well, according to Wells' Dairy spokesperson Liz Croston.
The contract negotiations come after these hourly employees, the United Dairy Workers employee group, voted down a request from Plymouth County's largest employer in March to cut $5 million in financial perks from their current labor agreement.
That vote came in response to Wells' Dairy officials asking in February whether the hourly employee group would be willing to make the cuts to help the company "meet financial goals."
Employees first voted "yes" to reopen the contract for negotiations in February, then voted down the proposed cuts, which could have included items like Christmas gift checks, raises, daily overtime, PTO and holiday hours.
Wells' Dairy has spent the last year trimming down to what a company spokesman have called their "core efforts": making ice cream and frozen novelties. In November 2007, Mike Wells took the company helm as Chief Executive Officer and three Wells' family members stepped down from their positions as CEO, co-president and senior vice president of operations.
At the end of 2007, company leaders sold the Le Mars milk and cultured dairy plant to Dean Foods.
Early in 2008, they sold the company's Omaha yogurt plant to Grupo LALA of Mexico.
In February, officials from the Le Mars company decided to cut around 20 corporate jobs.
Wells' Dairy, Inc. was created in 1913 as a milk delivery service and expanded in 1925 to include manufacturing ice cream. Today, the company operates two ice cream plants in Le Mars and another in St. George, Utah. More than 2,500 people work for Wells' Dairy in production, sales, office and support roles.
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Wells employees work their fingers to the bone, everyday. They are right, if cuts need to be made, make them at the corporate level, not production. The production and sanitation workers deserve all benefits they receive now, and then some! They work long, hard hours and spend a lot of time away from their families.
I really hope the employees have the commettee ready for action. Everyone please read between the lines of this Sentnel article, I along with lots of others burnt up 2 or three calculators trying to figure out earlier in the year how the cuts would add up to 5 million?? The company has a track record of running long time employees out the door and and has now had ads in the paper for over 2 years trying to replace them with lower paid ones. I hope Nestle's or a another good company buys Wells' out soon so people can relax. The issue of pay has never been a big issue at WDI but job stability is what everyone longs for at this unstable company.
HRterm-blahblahblah, what are you saying "I hope Nestle's or a another good company buys Wells' out soon so people can relax." That would make people relax? Yeah, they would relax but on a couch when they dont have a job. You want job stability, I dont think selling out would create that. Just ask the people at gateway about being bought out. Where they not bought out by a "good" Company?
I would have to agree with SRAMEL if you think getting bought out is the answer just look at Harker's. They were bought out, then taken over by Tyson, bought out a few more times and now the doors are closed forever. I don't know of hardly any companies the size of Wells that still offer a Holiday bonus of any size, maybe $50, but not a week of pay. I do think companies try to get rid of long time employees sometimes because of their higher pay but sometimes becasue they are on willing to change with the changing times. Now is the time for both parties to get together and do what is best for both sides and our community.
I think nwhat wells needs to do is start charging companys like sysco food in Round Rock Texas more for thier product I haul frequently for wells and every place that i go to I have to pay THEM TO UNLOAD THEIR PRDUCT SO INSTEAD OF ASKING THEIR EMPLOYEES TO TAKE A CUT ON BENIFITS THEY SHOULD LOOK AT THE WAY THEIR CUSTOMERS ARE ACTIN Sysco in just 1 company of many that I delever to it cost an average of fom 70 dollars to 300 dollas to unload ice cream and wells it paying it somehow it dont seem right to have to pay someone to unload thier stuff
Wow! Best of luck to the employees and the corporation as a whole. Greed is the heart of the problem that forced the situation where it is today. There is a lot of wasted resources and they are looking to negotiate cutting from the employee area (benefits, pay, etc). Streamlining is in order and maximize current resources. I know it isn't being done and unfortunately it probably won't happen without good workers being effected. My sympathies...
ummm....Wells employees on ALL levels are overpaid! Even in the plants.
To SRAMEL, and Born and Raised, having family that worked for GW and after speaking to them, there is something to be said for working for a company that is financially stable. That said there is nothing that I want more than to see Wells make it to their 100 anniversary as a family owned company, but as an employee there is nothing worse than going to work everyday and watching a company destroy itself. It is hard to go to work every day and watch the miss management and the wasted opportunities to save monies in the company, and then be asked to take a cut in income. As an employee, am I going to get any return from the investment from Bogie Bay? I would be willing to bet that if Fay or Fred were still running this company and it was in the financial shape it is in now, instead of driving a new Vet they would be driving a used Chevy.
MommyinIOWA: I beg to differ that ALL Well's employees are overpaid. I know many people who work for Well's on the corportate level as well as production struggling to make ends meet! So Thanks.
As hand and long as the plant works work, I think they deserve whatever amount of money that they are making. They work very hard and aren't appreciated for what they do. They wake up in the morning wondering if their job is going to be there when they get there!
Its a mixmatch. Some plant guys are raking it in and some corp people are too. Its not across the board. Some corp people are not even getting market value for their educations, some plant workers are just over min wage. So you can't ding one side or the other totally. don't worry about what the Wells drive, their money is not your money and never will be...it never was. They own the business, they are already set. Their concerns are not at the same level as yours. There really isn't room for bitching anymore. If your not happy make a change, stop causing stomach cramps every night worrying about something you are not going to be able to control and take care of yourselves. I've lived there in that area, its not worth sticking around for....move on.....
Even if they survive, its never going to be like it was in the good days, so if you can't accept that...move on...now is the time.
The comment that all wells workers are overpayed is completely ridiculous. Have you even worked at wells? Do you even know how hard some of the jobs at wells are? Sure there is always somewhere in a company where someone is getting paid bookoo bucks to basicly stand around but at this company its not the norm. I have been there and my husband is there and the money is decent. But the hours are long and hard.
OK everyone. Today is the day for everyone to get off the fence and vote one way or another. But be fore you mark your x in a box consider all you are being asked to give up and please think about how many years it took for the employees to get what you enjoyed until this year.
Please also consider that the last time we were offered a "signing bonus" we got the incredible thrill of seeing the gov't take over half your bonus check and we got to pay for our own health insurance. Let's call the signing bonus what it really is, A BRIBE!
From what I just heard from someone that works at corp. office. It sounds like there getting a 2% raise and nothing done to there insurance. The employees at the plants are asked to vote on giving up darn near everything while the folks on the hill get the raises. I am glad this vote was voted down. Please dont bring anything to the table inless it is fair all the way around. Stop taking advantage of your employee's.. This is not the employer of choice any more.
im not sure how i want to start this, but now that i have a few weeks to think about things, i have alot of concerns about the company. this is comming from a newer employees view on what i have experinced so far, and im not alone. everyone that was hired on after me has been told the same thing and are now dissappointed.
orientation- we are still being told that there are no 8hr shifts. they only offer 10-12hr shifts. my first month was only 8hrs. then it went to 4 10hr days (which should be 40hrs right,WRONG) you have to take out for the 1/2hr lunch break.
just a few weeks ago i got chewed out by a co-worker that had been there for 14 years, because i wouldnt give her one of my shifts. i had 38hr and she only had 34.
this last month i havent gotten 40hrs. when i was told by corp that we would be working 50hrs a week.
also we were promised sun-thur night 10hr shifts, we would always have fri and sat off to be with our families untill the busiy season started up. these last two weeks i had fri and sat off together.
they are giving their new employees false information. they need to get on the same page of what is really going on.
dont cover everything up with a smoke screen.
when it came to the vote. i was told that i had to vote yes, or chance to lose my job on the 1st of the year due to no contract. oh and by the way good try with the spanish version of the proposed contract. you know when you asked for them back, not everyone of them was turned in. so some of them are still floating around and the ones that didnt go to the meetings seem to think that they are getting more then everyone else.
communication is prob one of the biggest issues going on in the company. my supervisor honestly thinks that if he ignores a prob it will just "DISSAPERE" how dose someone like that become a supervisor.
he brought out new starts on a very hectic night and just walked away without putting them with a trainer, i was told to show them how to do the job. how do you help someone do a job when you are already stressed out and they dont speak or understand ENGLISH. i went to my supervisor after that and he had the nerve to say to me, that he didnt know anything about it.
ive herd rumors about big corp heads taking tours around the company ( not our corp heads either)and maybe a poss buy out.
everynight when i go into work i hear others complain about the pay, the hours (lack of)
I understand things are hard for everyone right now. but i believe that a company needs to have a strong sturdy foundation in order to survive, they must take care of their employees and the employees will take care of the company. but the company needs to stop with the smoke screen and come out and be honest with the emplyees. right now as things are,i dont see that happening,and alot of good employees will be leaving after because they believe they dont matter anymore.