WEST FARGO (AP) - Employees at DMI Industries Inc., which makes towers that support wind-powered electric turbines, will vote next week on whether to unionize.

Teamsters Local 120 of Minneapolis has filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to hold an election April 19-20 for DMI employees to decide whether they want to unionize, said Rhys Ledger, strategic campaign director for Local 120 in Minneapolis.

The primary issues include inadequate safety equipment and having to work extra hours to fill production demand, Ledger said.

"This is a company that is in a high-growth industry. It benefits from hundreds of millions of dollars of government subsidies," he said.

"The idea that DMI can't afford to pay for people's safety and hire the number of people to do the work is ridiculous," Ledger said.

"This is your union election rhetoric," DMI president Lars Moller said Tuesday.

"We understand we may not be perfect. But we're surely not what the union is depicting us to be," said Moller, who anticipates that his employees will agree.

The possible bargaining unit, if it materializes, will consist of about 260 of the 350 employees who work at DMI's West Fargo headquarters, Moller said.

DMI, a subsidiary of Otter Tail Corp., had not anticipated the action when it received notice March 12 that the petition to unionize had been filed, Moller said.

The union organization drive was activated and has been driven by DMI employees, Ledger said.