Hormel strike arouses labor
1985Kate Curry 1985-11Read it in the scan (PDF at ETOL), page 9 →
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By JAKE COOPER and MIKE ZUKOWSKI AUSTIN, Minn.- An estimated 2000 people rallied here on Oct. 19 in support of the ongoing strike by packinghouse workers at the Hormel Packing Co.
The rally was preceeded by a 500vehicle caravan, led by a semi-trailer packed with food, that delivered as much as 80,000 Ibs. of food to the strikers and their families. The caravan stretched for several miles.
Donations came from the Minnesota Central Labor Council; St. Paul Trades and Labor Association; Minnesota AFL-CIO; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; American Federation of Teachers; Minnesota Education Association; Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers union; United Auto Workers, and others. The contributions also included sizeable individual and group donations collected at various work sites.
The strike by Local P-9 of the United Food and Commerical Workers (UFCW) began on Aug. 14, when the workers rejected Hormel's union-busting proposal to cut wages, benefits, and impose a two-tier wage system.
The rally and caravan on Oct. 19 included contingents from 36 union locals in Region 13 of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), which is Local P-9's district. Region 13 contingents came from throughout a six-state area.
Rally speakers included Local P-9 President Jim Guyette, Jake Cooper from the Strike Support Committee, and Joe Hansen, head of Region 13. At the rally, Hansen pledged all-out support from the region for the strikers.
The labor movement in Minnesota is taking the union's fight as its own. This solidarity exists because of the widespread sympathy of the rank-and-file union members throughout the state. This solidarity hasn't been taken for granted, however.
Strikers at P-9 have been door to door throughout the state explaining their cause. They have projected that they will hand out 750,000 leaflets. There has been a groundswell of support from unions in the Twin-Cities area for the strikers, as the success of the emergency food caravans has demonstrated.
The most recent negotiations broke down on Oct. 15, after only a few days, due to the company's intransigence. Although a small amount of work is being done inside the plant by supervisors, there are no scabs entering the plant. Different types of equipment, though, are being moved to other Hormel plants.
In response, Local P-9 held a special meeting after the rally to discuss plans, in coordination with other Hormel locals, to send roving picket lines to shut down the eight other Hormel plants in the Midwest.
In another development, the National Labor Relations Board has taken a swipe at the First Amendment, ruling that Local P-9's "corporate campaign" of informational leafleting at First Bank Systems, Hormel's financial partner, is illegal.
Even so, the Hormel strikers are standing strong. And, as the outpour of Schulte, and Joe Hansen, head of UFCW Region 13.
¡upport from the labor movement deminstrates, they are not standing alone.
Donations should be sent to United Socialist Action/Lynn Henderson Support Group, P-9 Emergency and Hardship Fund, 316 Fourth Ave. NE, Austin, Minn. 55912.
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pecial Thank Yoll our union friends Support!!