It's not every day that students in the Union are handed fliers from a man wearing a giant chicken head.
The man behind the beak was William Kramer, a union organizer from a Dart Container Corporation plant in Corona, Calif. Kramer spent Monday afternoon distributing leaflets on campus in an effort to pressure the company into hastening union negotiations.
"This is my second time here - and my second time as a chicken," Kramer said.
Mason-based Dart Container Corporation manufactures paper products, such as foam cups and dinnerware, at 14 plants throughout the United States. The company employs more than 6,000 people worldwide.
One year ago, employees at the Corona plant voted to join the Association of Western Pulp & Paper Workers. Since then, Kramer said the company has been "chickening out" on negotiations.
"It's been a slow bargaining process," Kramer said. "We picked the chicken suit initially because (Dart) only came out once a month."
Kramer said MSU's Students for Economic Justice has been a great ally for his group's cause. The MSU group recently became involved with the conflict.
"We thought it was a really good issue because it's so close to here," said Students for Economic Justice member Liz DeLuca. "We try to help out any labor organization that needs our help."
Students for Economic Justice helped Kramer and other Dart employees distribute leaflets on several occasions. They have handed out fliers at the Lansing and Troy locations of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, a major consumer of Dart products.
But officials from Dart said the company is keeping up with its end of negotiations.
"We're bargaining in good faith with the union and discussing with them the types of issues that are typically at issue in these types of negotiations," said Jim Lammers, general counsel and vice president of administration at Dart Container Corporation.
Lammers said it's impossible to predict when the parties might find a resolution to the concerns, which range from salaries to benefits.
"We're committed to continued negotiations and are hopeful that an agreement can be reached," he said.
