(Radio Iowa) – Efforts to reach an agreement on a new contract to end the strike at a Cargill corn processing plant in Cedar Rapids have failed to make any headway. The business agent for the local Teamsters chapter at the Cedar Rapids plant, Scott Punteney, says the company is busing in workers from other plants to continue production and has not responded to the union’s request to negotiate.

“We haven’t heard from them, and we’ve reached out through a federal mediator to try to resume talks. So we’re willing to talk whenever we were willing to talk the very next day after the strike happened,” he says.

The union’s three-year contract with Cargill expired last week. Punteney said workers are seeking a wage increase of more than three dollars an hour and are prepared to strike until the company meets their demands. He said striking workers are paid from a union fund to cover basic living expenses. Cargill has not responded to requests for comment. Punteney made his comments on the Iowa Public Radio Program, River to River.