Austin, MN: 20 Years After The Strike
A post from Willing Worker below reminded me of something I was going to post: this June marks the 20th anniversary of the end of the P-9 strike of the Hormel plant in Austin, MN.
A brief account of the strike from Wikipedia:
In 1985, workers at Hormel went on the Austin Hormel Strike in Austin, Minnesota at the Hormel headquarters. Frustrated by low wages and dangerous conditions, they started one of the largest strikes of the 1980s. The strike began in August of 1985, with the sanction of the International level of the Union, P-9. The local chapter of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union P-9 led the strike, but was not supported by their parent union. After six months, a significant number of replacement workers crossed the picket line prompting riots in Austin. Wayne P. Goodnature was Sheriff at the time. In January 21, 1986, the Governor of Minnesota, Rudy Perpich, called in the National Guard to protect the replacement workers (derisively called scabs). This unpopular move brought on protests against the governor and Governor Perpich soon withdrew the National Guard from Austin. The action had more effect on the national union which ousted the local P-9 and the strike was ended in June 1986, making the length of the strike 10 months. Over 700 of the workers did not return to their jobs, refusing to cross the picket line as some had chosen to do. Ultimately, however, the company did succeed in hiring new workers at lower wages. It is still disputed as to who actually made the original National Guard request. The strike was chronicled in the film “American Dream”, which won the Academy Award for best documentary in 1990.
Minnesota Public Radio also ran a story two years ago about the strike. The unions finally conceded, which allowed Hormel to cut the wages and benefits that kept Austin, MN a proud, blue-collar town. Since then, Austin’s population has followed the pattern of rural migration and wage declines that are prevalent of all areas of rural America.
A documentary filmed in 1990 about the strike won an Academny Award for Best Documentary:
Something important to note (from the film description):
Hormel cut the hourly wage from $10.69 to $8.25 after posting a net profit of $30 million.
