Why the stakes are high in Hormel strike APERIS

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S.A.: Doesn't the International real- conflicts with our First Amendment ize that this strike can determine the rights. They say there can be no handGuyette: There's been folks who say They also want further cutbacks in senunion, currently on strike in Austin, Minn. The interview was conducted on Sept. 20 by Hayden Perry.

Socialist Action: What is the status of the strike now after one month?

Jim Guyette: Well, the company is not willing to negotiate with the union. The company is indicating that they are going to hire replacement workers.

S.A.: How many scabs would that involve to get them going?

Guyette: My guess is they're talking somewhere in the neighborhood of 600 to 800 people.

S.A.: What else is the company doing to fight the union?

Guyette: They are taking some machinery out of the plant. They are also pitting worker against worker and community against community.

S.A.: Is there a racial or nationality division within the working force?

Guyette: The company has hired only enough minorities to qualify. It's pretty much a white working force although I Will say that the minorities that we have in the plant are some of the strongest, most militant union folks we have.

S.A.: I hear there's a support committee raising money and food donations from throughout the state.

Guyette: Yes, it's been working out pretty good. We have a support group in the Twin Cities and one in Duluth, and they've been helping us out a great deal.

S.A.: What is the role of the International?

Guyette: They are sanctioning the strike. They're currently paying us $65 a week in strike benefits. But we got a letter today saying that they're going to cut that down to $40 a week. They say Hormel strike (continued from page 1: “Hormel strikers stand strong despite odds”) other day, the only time some of the children of the Hormel workers get a good meal is when they go to school. So there is great hardship among the workers right now.

Strikers overcome hurdles

The P-9 strikers won additional supthey do not have enough money.

future of the whole International?

that nur finht is on economin finht only iority. that our fight is an economic fight only over 69-cents an hour. It's much more than that. The company wants a twotiered wage system.

The company wants further reductions in wages and benefits. They want a management-rights clause that would give them the power to determine who works overtime, who gets what job, who gets to break in on what job, who would get premium pay for Saturday and Sunday, and who would get holiday pay during the week.

The company, claiming that the union was carrying on an illegal secondary boycottt at First Bank, asked for an injunction against the union. It was also hoping to refer the matter to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

A lower court judge, however, ruled that the issue of informational leafleting Socialist Action/Mike Zukowski They also have a clause which we feel billing or any other similar activities.

They have dramatically increased the injury rate in the plant. Major lost-time injuries have gone up 119 percent since 1981. The injury rate average for 1984 in the meatpacking industry was 33 injuries per hundred workers. In 1984, our injury rate was 202 injuries per 100 workers. People were getting injured twice or more in a year.

S.A.: They've got other plants, I understand. Do you think they might close down the Austin plant, or is that went beyond the province of the NLRB. This was an issue of free speech and would have to go to a federal court, the judge ruled.

The Minnesota Civil Liberties Union has already offered to defend the union's First Amendment rights.

In the meantime, we are trying to arrange for another caravan of food modern plant in the industry. The workers here in 1984 produced 55 percent of the company's total output with 1740 employees. In the rest of their plants they had 3450 other employees producing the other 45 percent.

S.A.: What about the level of organization in the industry as a whole?

Guyette: Some non-union plants are cropping up because the argument comes forth, "We don't want to join your union to take pay cuts."

To discourage unionization, the meatpackers hired a professional union buster in the fall of 1983.

S.A.: How is the community? Do the townspeople support you?

Guyette: There's a lot of folks who are afraid because of reprisals from the company. We have a very incestuous situation in Austin. I think if a secret ballot vote were taken of the town, the town would clearly be behind the union.

But the people who have spoken out are the company-type people who belong to the country club. They're saying we need to take more concessions. We've taken concessions 16 out of the last 23 years. We once had a workforce of 7000 and a town of 32,000. Sixteen concessions later we have 1540 employees and a town of 22,000. Concessions is not the answer.

We are in a situation like the PATCO strike. Lots of folks are playing union politics with our situation. They want to pick and choose the strikes they will support. This is wrong.

There is no difference between a steelworker in Pittsburgh or an autoworker in Detroit. They both need our support. "United we stand, divided we fall" has to be preached more in our union halls.

go down to Austin in the next couple of weeks. We are contacting all of the local unions in the Twin Cities to try to raise enough money.

Donations should be sent to United Support Group, P-9 Emergency and Hardship Fund, 316 Fourth Ave. NE, Austin, Minn. 55912.