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N.D. (Associated Press) — Locked-out union employees at American Crystal Sugar Co. rejected the company’s contract proposal a third time Saturday in a nearly 11-month dispute that focuses on seniority and job security.

The union announced that 63 percent of voters opted against the latest offer. Union employees said Crystal was out to break the union, while the company has said it offered a good contract with substantial increases in wages and benefits.

“We know that give-and-take negotiations are the only way to get this cooperative back on track to productivity and profitability,” the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers union statement said. “That cooperation has produced record profits in recent years, and, only through cooperating, will we be successful again.”

In a statement posted on American Crystal’s contract talks website, the company said it is “disappointed” in the union’s rejection, but it “stands by our final offer.”

“It is a solid and generous offer that includes wages increases at a time when many companies have cut employee wages and benefits,” the company’s statement said.

American Crystal vice president Brian Ingulsrud did not comment Saturday, other than to refer to the company’s statement.

The labor dispute is the company’s first in 30 years. The union said Saturday that 82 percent of the 1,300 workers took part in the vote. The company has said it will continue to operate with replacement workers.

American Crystal is the largest sugar beet processor in the country, with plants in East Grand Forks, Moorhead, Crookston and Chaska, Minn.; Hillsboro and Drayton, N.D.; and Mason City, Iowa. It’s a cooperative owned by beet farmers.