Creamland Dairy reaches tentative agreement with union, ending weeklong strike

BY Natalie Robbins

Union workers at the Creamland Dairy plants in Albuquerque and Farmington reached a tentative agreement with the company after a weeklong strike and months of negotiations.

Teamsters Local 492, the union representing the employees, announced the news Friday afternoon. The strike began the evening of Sept. 3, after union officials alleged that the management of Dairy Farmers of America, Creamland’s parent company, had been deliberately stalling negotiations for a new contract since March.

“We are happy to have a tentative agreement and look forward to our members continuing to serve the public by making the products our community has grown to love,” Teamsters Local 492 Secretary-Treasurer Andrew Palmer said in a statement.

Palmer declined to share specifics of the agreement with the Journal because the new contract has yet to be distributed to workers, but said the deal addressed all of the union members’ concerns. During the strike, workers said they wanted better pay and improvements to health care and retirement benefits.

The contract will last for three years, Palmer said.

Seventy-seven employees, including pasteurizers, warehouse staff and truck drivers, participated in the strike, which affected production of all of Creamland’s cultured dairy products, including milk, sour cream, cottage cheese and the company’s line of dips, union officials told the Journal.

In a statement, Dairy Farmers of America spokesperson Kim O’Brien said the company had “remained steadfast in our commitment to find a solution that best supports our employees, their well-being, and the long-term success of our farmer-owners and their cooperative.”

Though workers said this was the first strike at the Albuquerque plant, it’s not the first time Creamland has been accused by the union of unfair labor practices.

In January 2021, Local 492 filed a charge against Creamland, contending that the company had engaged in bad-faith bargaining and had illegally retaliated against employees, according to filings with the National Labor Relations Board.

The strike came on the heels of grocery workers at Smith’s and Albertsons stores across New Mexico narrowly avoiding one of their own in July, when the two companies reached an agreement to finalize new union contracts with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1564. The contracts between the grocers and UFCW Local 1564 span four years.

Natalie Robbins covers the economy and health care for the Journal. You can reach her at nrobbins@abqjournal.com.