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1988 1988-11Read it in the scan (PDF at ETOL), page 11 →
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P-9 Dear editor, In my pamphlet, "Lessons of the P-9 Strike," I failed to mention the names of several important leaders of the packinghouse workers in the 1930s. I'd like to acknowledge their contribution as well.
Joe Oliman, Joe Vorhees, and Carl and Marion Nielson were all members of the Communist League of America, the Trotskyist organization at that time. They were leaders of the 1933 sit-down strike of the Austin, Minn., packinghouse workers.
Joe Ollman was no doubt the chief organizer and strategist. At one time he was proposed to be president of the packinghouse workers' union. Only his health prevented him from running for that post. Still, he was selected to be the union's international representative in this district, a position he held till his death.
Ollman was also an outstanding leader in the 1948 strike in South St. Paul. The strike was in bad shape nationally. Only the decision by the local leadership to close down the Swift, Armour, and Cudahy plants saved the strike.
The company used an injunction to limit the pickets and then proceeded to bring in scabs. But the workers drove all scabs out of the Cudahy plant. After a bitter battle on the picket line, the plants were closed. The governor of Minnesota called out the National Guard. He also ordered the plants to remain closed till a settlement was reached.
Carl and Marion Nielson also played a very important role. They wrote regularly for the union paper in Austin and were in constant touch with the Trotskyists' Minneapolis branch and with the leaders of the Teamsters' union.
The Austin comrades, like the Trotskyists nationally, were in the forefront of almost every labor struggle that took place in their area. They helped make Austin a union town.
Nurses Dear editor, I just purchased a copy of Sor Action and have enjoyed the articles immensely. The articl informative and interesting.
But please be careful with your Jake Cooper, Chaska, Minn.
Cialist lews s are facts. Under "Healthcare For Profit," May May Gong states that "one in 10 American babies dies before reaching its first birthday."
1 am a public-health professional and I know better, as you should. The rate is not good, but it is approximately 1 in 100. For Black children, the rate is 1 in 50. Don't destroy the reliability of your paper with these kinds of errors.
Mary Anne Nierer, San Francisco, Calif.
Thanks for bringing this to our attention. My source was the Aug.