ST. ALBANS, Vt. (WCAX) – As a legal fight plays out over the impending closure of a dairy plant in St. Albans, new information Tuesday shows what’s driving the closure and the economic impact it will have in northern Vermont.
A judge on Monday granted a temporary restraining order halting the closure of the St. Albans Creamery. It came after the Teamsters, the union representing workers at the plant, sued the Dairy Farmers of America, alleging the company was closing the plant to punish employees for striking last fall.
Rows of milk trucks sat idle Tuesday outside of the St. Albans Creamery as the future of the plant remains in legal limbo.
DFA denies the closure is tied to the labor dispute, and the plant has faced financial headwinds for years.
Industry experts say there are larger market forces at play, noting that the plant had been operating at a lower capacity based on demand and prices set by federal milk marketing orders.
“If you’re not making enough milk to keep the plant at its optimum, who’s going to pay the bill?” said Bill Rowell, a longtime dairy farmer.
He says farmers from Vermont and the Midwest have for years sent their milk to the St. Albans plant, where it’s processed and sent to other facilities to be turned into different dairy products. But he says the economies of scale and the national demand for milk are changing. “We’re still idealizing the old red barn from the ’50s and ’60s. That doesn’t pay the bills anymore,” Rowell said.
He says the milk that once went to St. Albans is now being diverted to larger, corporate consolidated farms and processing facilities in western New York. “If we want to eat, we better get friendly with the big farm. That’s where 80% of the milk comes from,” Rowell said.
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The result of the closure is that farmers in our region may have to pay more to ship their product to western New York.
“Dairy is an important part of our state; it’s about a $5.4 billion industry,” said Vermont agriculture Secretary Anson Tebbetts. He says the Legislature needs to explore taxes, regulations, and help grow the workforce in farms and in processing plants. “We do need to have a place where they can process that milk into cheese, cottage cheese, or the growth area, which is yogurt.”
In the meantime, the judge’s order prevents DFA from dismantling the plant, as union officials have alleged.
On Tuesday, Vermont Sens. Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch called on DFA to reverse the cuts, saying they may violate federal law. “DFA has a responsibility to the workers, farmers, and community members who have built and supported this facility for generations,” the senators wrote in a letter to DFA’s president.
We’re told Sanders will be rallying outside of the plant on Wednesday with workers.
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