P-9 veteran in Cinn. blasts 'unscrupulous' Hormel Co
1986 1986-04Read it in the scan (PDF at ETOL), page 4 →
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4 SOCIALIST ACTION APRIL 1986 CINCINNATI-Enthusiastic support and solidarity greeted Hormel striker Floyd Lenoch, an executive board member of Local P-9, on his recent 11-day tour of Cincinnati. The March 4-14 tour was organized and coordinated by Local 14340 of the United Steelworkers.
In Cincinnati, Lenoch addressed the AFL-CIO Central Labor Council. He also spoke to 18 executive board and local membership meetings of unions representing thousands of workers.
In addition to a press conference, Lenoch was interviewed by four newspapers and was a guest on two of the most popular call-in talk shows in the area.
He spoke at a public meeting at the University of Cincinnati organized by three unions representing University employees and was a guest speaker at two Xavier University classes.
The message he brought was clear: Union concessions to the employers must stop. Solidarity of all laboring people is the foundation for a successful union movement in the United States.
Lenoch, 61 years old and a union man for 43 of those years, spent about four years in the Merchant Marine and 39 years at the Hormel company. During his time at Hormel he served his union in virtually every capacity, from griever to president.
He told the press, "I have traveled to all parts of the world and have been to many countries that have a two-class system, the rich and the poor. I believe it is a very degrading system. It is a system which we, as laboring people and citizens, must fight with all our might to prevent in our great country."
"We need to stop corporate America's relentless drive to eliminate the union movement and the standard of living we have worked so hard to attain," Lenoch added.
Lenoch then concluded, "We feel our cause is just and we will continue our fight to reach a fair and just settlement for the members of Local P-9.... We also feel our situation will have a devastating effect on all union people should we lose our battle."—KATE CURRY Guyette was introduced by Jan Pierce, an International vice-president of the Communication Workers of America.
The presence of some 75 striking flight attendants was a rally highlight. Karen Lantz, vice-president of the Independent Federation of Flight Attendants (IFFA), told the crowd that her union stands with the Hormel workers.
Other speakers included Guillermina Ramirez, a striking cannery worker from California; Harold Mendlowitz, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1202; Stanley Fischer, president of Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Local 8-760 at the 3M plant in Freehold, N.J.; and Baldemar Velasquez, president of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee.
The crowd gave a standing ovation to members of UFCW Local 431 from Ottumwa, Iowa, who were in attendance at the meeting.—PETER ATWOOD