Byline: Dave Dewitte

Oct. 1--Plans to outsource at least 15 plant maintenance jobs are at the heart of a strike that began Monday after a six-year labor agreement expired at Cargill Corp.'s Cedar Rapids cornstarch plant.

The 102 hourly Cargill employees represented by Teamsters Local 238 went on strike after rejecting a proposed three-year contract on Sunday.

Teamsters Local 238 business agent Dave Elliott said "a large majority" of the plant's union employees would not go along with Cargill's contract demand to outsource 15-20 maintenance positions in the plant, and to convert two lab positions to salaried positions that would no longer fall under the union ...