No more green chile dip? Creamland Dairy workers strike over stalled union contract

Creamland Dairy’s beloved green chile dip may soon be harder to find.

Workers at Creamland plants in Albuquerque and Farmington went on strike Wednesday night, alleging the company is deliberately delaying negotiations for a new union contract.

Seventy-seven employees, including pasteurizers, warehouse staff and truck drivers, are participating in the strike, according to Jesus Vidaca, vice president of Teamsters Local 492, the union representing the workers.

Vidaca claimed the company had been stalling negotiations for the contracts, which he hopes will guarantee employees higher wages and improvements to working conditions and benefits.

Union officials on Thursday said Creamland workers are prepared to strike until the company, a subsidiary of Dairy Farmers of America, is ready to negotiate in good faith.

“(The company) has been stalling and stalling,” Vidaca said. “We’ll go negotiate, sit there for hours just waiting on them…we meet a week later and they’re still not even ready to give us a proposal.”

Vidaca also alleged Creamland broke federal labor law by banning union members from wearing Teamsters pins while at work.

“We decided that the company has been violating their rights,” Vidaca said.

In a statement to the Journal, a Dairy Farmers of America spokesperson denied the allegations of bad-faith bargaining, adding that the company is committed to a “respectful, constructive bargaining process that offers competitive wages and benefits.”

“We are disappointed that the Teamsters walked away from the process and have initiated a strike at the Albuquerque Creamland Dairy plant. While we respect their right to take this step, we believe a strike does not serve the best interests of our employees, our customers, or the communities we serve,” the spokesperson said.

The Creamland strike is affecting production and distribution of all of Creamland’s cultured dairy products, including milk, sour cream, cottage cheese and the company’s line of dips, according to pasteurizer JJ Akers, who said before the strike, Creamland was producing 22 large containers of cottage cheese per week.

“There’s no way they’re producing 22 vats a week right now,” Akers said. “There’s no way they’re going to get that product out the door, and without the drivers, you’re not going to get it delivered.”

Creamland also supplies milk and dairy products to Albuquerque Public Schools, though APS spokesperson Martin Salazar said management at Creamland had assured school officials that the company “has a plan to continue supplying schools with what they need.”

Local 492 Secretary-Treasurer Andrew Palmer said contract negotiations have been ongoing since late March.

“We’re willing to negotiate with the company, but our members are going to withhold their labor until the company gets serious about negotiating,” Palmer said.

Akers, who has worked at Creamland for 28 years, said he hopes to win a better pension.

“I’m ready to retire in three more years, so it’s going to benefit me,” Akers said.

Though workers said this is 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 comes 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.