== ×ÖÄ»ÖÆ×÷£ºÌ©Ì¹¾ÞÈË ==
[PigssqueaIing]
MAN£º As President Reagan was preparing to deIiver
his weekly radio address from Camp David
he ad-libbed thoughts on the economy
during a microphone check
not intended to be part of his speech
PRESlDENT REAGAN£º My fellow Americans
l've talked to you about the economic problems
and opportunities our nation faces
l'm prepared to tell you it's a hell of mess
The hard line being taken by the Reagan administration
concerning the air controllers strike¡­
The Supreme Court delivered a potentially staggering setback
to labor unions
lt comes at a time when union officials
are charging there is a growing campaign to break unions
MAN£º The operation will be nonunion
Salaries will be cut in half
MAN #2£º Wilson Foods declared bankruptcy
With the stroke of a pen£¬ it could stay in business
but void its labor contract
and slash workers' salaries by 40% to 50%
WOMAN£º These are hard times for the meatpacking industry
MAN£º Union labor has taken almost 50% wage-and-benefit cuts
to keep theirjobs and their companies afloat
At least l'm taking some money home instead of nothing
WOMAN£º ln Waterloo£¬ lowa£¬ a shutdown
At lowa Beef£¬ a violent strike¡­
MAN£º Striking meatpackers facing 40% pay cuts
go packing bricks against a truck at a Wilson Foods plant
RATHER£º Crossed picket lines in spite of an automobile barricade
as Hormel's flagship plant£¬ open for a second week¡­
WOMAN£º ¡­send in the guards was reached after city officials
said the situation at Hormel was beyond their control
This is not Austin anymore£¡
lt's Hormel£¬ Minnesota£¡
You guys are helping them£¡
[ Cheers and applause ]
Austin£¬ Minnesota£¬ is not just about Austin£¬ Minnesota
Austin is the cavalry. The workers in this nation
Workers somewhere£¬ sometime£¬ someplace
must stand up and say£¬ ¡°Enough is enough£¡¡±
We want jobs and justice
Someday
Can l give you a pamphlet here?
So you can see what's going on in the Austin plant. Thank you
Can l give you one ofthese about the Hormel injury rate?
-Okay£¬ thank you. -Thank you
Aren't you Mr. Anderson?
Hi. l don't know ifyou remember me
-We had the good years. -You did
And this£¬ l sure hope it comes£¬ gets straightened out
l'd like to see something settled
And l understand your side of it
l really do. l wouldn't like to take a cut either
l wish everybody good luck
l hope they don't have trouble with the company
l'm retired£¬ and if l were still working£¬ if l lost myjob
that would be terrible
MAN£º Could l talk to your husband?
WOMAN£º No£¬ but there's something l would love to say to you
Aren't you guys happy working at the Hormel plant?
Under the current conditions£¬ no
We were happy making $10.69 and when Hormel treated us decent
Why do you stay at a place you're not happy?
We don't have all the money in the world like the Knowltons
There are so many people that would love to have yourjob
at $8.75 an hour and all those nice benefits
When we were your age£¬ we weren't making what you were
Then give us a fair shake like you got a fair shake
[ Door closes ]
Hmm
lfwe gotta give up 23% wages and 30% cut in benefits
when the company's making $30 million
what are we gonna have to give when they show a loss?
Two years ago under the incentive program
my last incentive check in the hog cut in the new plant
l grossed $637 for 47 hours' work
After the incentive program was taken away
l went down to $409 a week
Today l'm making $312
Working twice as hard for the same amount of hours
lt's ridiculous
My father worked for George A. Hormel plant
for many years
He was also a very proud man. He was a hard worker
He was proud of his products
He was in the days of heavy production
He went out on a stretcher one day from the plant
My husband now£¬ l'm proud to be a wife of a hog cutter
l'm proud ofthe products
But l don't like the way they're treating my family
or my husband or anyone else who ever worked for that plant
[ Cheers and applause ]
JlM£º lt's a real quagmire of a situation
and people are really getting hurt
Their pride is hurt
because they can't fulfill the needs oftheir family
and they've somehow got to go on welfare programs
and people are very angry£¬ hurt£¬ upset£¬ frustrated
And it's difficult to vent your frustrations
in the proper direction
WOMAN£º Utility workers make more
Meter readers make more
The garbage collectors make more
A guy that works with Wes£¬ or did work with my husband quit
He got hired at the city
He's starting at $11-something an hour
But l don't begrudge anybody
that's making $30£¬000£¬ $40£¬000£¬ $50£¬000
But let us live in our house
Let us live in our $32£¬000 house
& And that we all may walk in faith &
& ln yourcommunity &
NYBERG£º ln Austin£¬ 22£¬000 people
We're in a little world by ourselves down here
These are the people we go to church with
These are the people we go to grocery stores with
We meet on the street
We meet in various forms of recreation
We rub shoulders with them. Do we care about our employees?
Yes£¬ we do
But in the long term
we don't want to go the way of many other packers
who realized too late that their costs were out of line
and then tried to recover and couldn't
FlLM NARRATOR: lt's been written thatJay
was a born innovator
andremembered forhis social conscience
His thoughtful understanding of
andconcern forthe welfare ofthe working man
was surely whatgave rise to the benefits
thathave been made available to Hormelpersonnel
He initiated the first guaranteedannual wage
There was also a first-of-its-kind
profit-sharing plan forthe workers
thatpaida share of the profits to each ofthem
Perhaps thatexplains whyeveryone atHormel
strives forquality andefficiency
WOMAN£º l've worked for Hormel£¬ it'll be 43 years this year
And if it were necessary as a survival
l would be all for it
We've done it before over the many£¬ many times
But this£¬ l think£¬ is just the mood ofthe industry
and they're jumping on the bandwagon
to be one ofthem to say£¬ ¡°We were able to do it£¬ too.¡±
Where£¬ l think£¬ ifthey would have left our wages
at their present standard
people would have really used them as a shining example
that in hard times£¬ ifyou really have good productivity
good relationship with your employees
that you're able to handle the bad times
l hope that they have enough ofthe vision
that l think l must have for the welfare
ofthe long-term future ofthe company
that would say£¬ ¡°We can do no more.¡±
lf Jay Hormel were here today£¬ if George A. Hormel were here
they probably would be doing exactly the same thing
that we are
l think unions are getting their teeth kicked in
l think ifyou're into a situation
ofwhere you're getting beat up
you better try something different
MAN£º Corporate campaigns initiated by Ray Rogers¡­
MAN #2£º Rogers has been used to targeting
one enemy£¬ the employer
MAN #3£º Rogers brought his Corporate Campaign here¡­
JlM£º We were very ineffective in communicating our message
MAN #4£º He managed to attract reporters
from the ¡°New York Times£¬¡± the ¡°Chicago Tribune¡±¡­
JlM£º l ran across an article on Ray Rogers and gave him a call
MAN #5£º Tough-talking labor consultant¡­
JlM£º He said he needed to do a little research
because he was a vegetarian
didn't know anything about meatpacking
Ray came and made a presentation to our membership
RAY£º We will run a multimillion dollar campaign
even though you don't have millions of dollars
The greatest resource£¬ the greatest strength you have
is the people themselves
And that's why we feel so confident
that we can pull off a major victory
not just for Local P-9 in Austin
but for labor throughout this entire country
-Congratulations£¬ partner. -Yeah
The price of pokerjust went up
ln this game£¬ because that's the way the company views it
lt's a game the way they want to treat people
hold their whole lives in jeopardy
And to them£¬ it might be a game
And to us£¬ it's a war
Things can really start moving now
Super. That's just really nice
And we hope that the corporate executives from Hormel come
We hope the executives from the bank come
We want everybody to see the type of program
that we plan on running
and then let them begin to lose the night's sleep
like they've caused this community to lose sleep
[ Chanting ] We're gonna win£¡
We're gonna win£¡
RAY£º On our staff£¬ we have experts in all facets
of research and analysis£¬ communications experts
and experts in all facets
of political and community organization
We looked out there in society and saw poor and working people
getting the daylights kicked out ofthem
We felt there had to be a mechanism that they and unions
and community groups could turn to
that had a lot of expertise in how to challenge
powerful adversaries that were irresponsible
in the policies directed at workers
So we developed Corporate Campaign programs
And our campaign is one oftaking the offense
showing that workers can fight back
That they don't have to keep taking one loss after another
You know what we need to do
JlM£º Ray told me you're never going to outspend a company
public-relations-wise
My name is Ray Rogers. l'm with Corporate Campaign
JlM£º That what you needed to do
was look at creating a situation
that became a newsworthy situation
The company spent millions in many years to build an image
That's being destroyed overnight
JlM£º The strategy was to go after the money
behind the corporation
There's a lot of labor money in First Bank's system
MAN£º Ray Rogers and his Corporate Campaign
mailed this letter to over 5£¬000 union members in the Midwest
that says in part the First Bank system
is a principal stockholder in the Hormel company
and thus can influence policy
This institution is directly involved
in the policymaking process of Hormel
JlM£º Ray knows how to put labor's best foot forward
so that John Q. Public would sympathize with our cause
There's some guy l'd never seen
They started talking to me about that Hormel situation
The guy says£¬ Are you the guy that's been brought in?
Man£¬ l'm telling you
you can't imagine how many of my friends are watching this
We're 100% behind you
You're teaching this country something
And£¬ by God£¬ you gotta win
This is what l'm getting everywhere
You are a symbol of something that goes beyond Austin
Don't you forget it
Local P-9 engaged the services of a labor consultant
from New York City
Mr. Ray Rogers and Corporate Campaign
And Mr. Rogers has a different philosophy
about how to deal with companies
Traditional collective bargaining
is not the preferred method that he would use
His traditional approaches are harassment£¬ intimidation
and threats
And his rationale for that mode of approaching an employer
is that ifyou can embarrass a company
hard enough and long enough
you'll bring that company to its knees
And they will agree to the terms and conditions
of his client unions£¬ the ones that he represents
So he came to us with that approach
There's supposed to be some other pigs here today
CROWD£º We don't need First Bank's greed£¡
lf anybody doesn't have a sign£¬ just grab a sign here
CROWD£º We don't need First Bank's greed£¡
From day to day£¬ you get to be
on a high like today with everybody here
But when you go home and nobody's around you
you tend to get down
But then you get back up when you go back
to the union hall and start helping
Then you get up again
We're on the right side ofthings
People are realizing we're willing to fight that fight
People recognize that the labor movement
being a key factor ifwe're gonna have
any real meaningful social -- economic -- Cut
NARRATOR£º Are you afraid of Corporate Campaign?
We're not
What happens ifthey persist?
Well£¬ l don't know
With our position£¬ l don't know what they can do
l realize that they can say a lot ofthings
but they can't do a lot ofthings
And l think it's tragic£¬ because the only thing they end up doing
is destroying theirjobs and their company
MAN£º Thank you all very much. Appreciate it
NARRATOR: The UnitedFood and Commercial Workers
is the parent union ofAustin's local union P-9
The Local 9 will suffer as a result of it
They can't negotiate by themselves
Lewie Anderson is the director ofthe meatpacking division
And they say£¬ This company is a profitable company
and nothing else in the universe matters
We have a right to our $10.69
We have a right to those benefits
That's their thinking
To go even beyond that there£¬ they are convinced by Ray Rogers
that the Corporate Campaign will achieve that goal for them
He shot them a line of shit£¬ is all he did
The plain fact ofthe matter is
there is no doubt in my mind whatsoever
they are not going to win through a corporate campaign
They are not gonna win
lfthey continue£¬ they're gonna become bigger losers
than what they are now
lt is gonna cost them theirjobs
lnstead of making $8.25 an hour£¬ or $9.25 an hour¡­
MAN ON RADlO£º Good one by Glen Campbell
lt's time for the song of inspiration
brought to you by your friends
at Omaha Auto and Truck Recyclers Association
lt used to be you always had problems
You always had one or two local unions
that were going through real serious problems
but you had some time to think about it and to work with them
and stay with them and help them work through those problems
But what you've had in the last five years
is everybody's had problems
They've had them all at the same time
You're just running all over the country in all directions
trying to patch things up
and get things going in the right direction
Then you don't get to stay
You have to go deal with another crisis
The companies in this industry are embarked on a program
to tear the wages up£¬ to tear the fringe benefits up
to return us to the days of ¡°The Jungle¡± 60 years ago
Do the unions have any clout?
Does the public care about the unions anymore?
Can the unions sell this message?
CROWD£º Go£¡
Go£¡ Go£¡
Local unions like P-9
have complete autonomy to carryon all union business
as long as theydon't violate
theirinternational constitution
The lnternational Union can onlygive strategic advice
MAN£º What can you do that we can't do?
-So far£¬ l haven't seen much. -Really?
-[ Crowd groans ] -There's your answer
No£¬ l want you to answer that
l want you to answer that
You're reading too many things
about what Lewie Anderson and other people are saying
-You're dodging the question. -l'm not dodging the question
That's a question that was asked
l'm not gonna answer it
What you do not have
what the lnternational has not furnished
what you have not furnished is the analysis
upon which you build a program of real£¬ impenetrable economic
and political pressure£¬ harassing the company
We have developed some damn good campaign literature
l haven't seen anybody from the lnternational
come and give you that kind of direction
or campaign literature
One thing l'll credit you. You're a hell of a motivator
Millions of dollars worth offree and positive publicity
for your campaign£¬ national press coverage
Yes£¬ you have£¡
And that's your answer
All right
Hi
Hi. Are you with P-9?
Mm-hmm
Okay
ls what Local 9 proposing up there
with the Corporate Campaign the answer to the problems
we have seen in the meatpacking industry in the past
and the challenges that we're faced for the future?
Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do£¬ too
Are you saying that regardless ofwhat is decided
by this organization£¬ you're going to go ahead
with that campaign as you've outlined it?
lfthe rank and file dictates they're gonna resist pay cuts
we're gonna resist the pay cuts
And l guess we would like to see you on our side in this fight
The Austin program£¬ it occurs to us
is symptomatic of Reagan's philosophy
¡°l'll get mine£¬ and the hell with everybody else.¡±
RAY£º Maybe we shouldn't expect every meatpacker
to receive the same wage
Maybe we need to look at each company and say
¡°What is the profitability ofthe company?¡±
Then base the wages that we expect on its profitability
God damn it£¬ the guy working at Armour£¬ $6 bucks an hour
doing the same work they're doing in Austin
deserves the $10.69£¬ too
as well as every other packinghouse worker£¡
That is what we stand for. That is what we gotta do
We cannot have one group hanging way up here
and everybody else down below
lt's the wrong kind of unionism
We're here saying£¬ you know£¬ we've got a program
We're representing a client and a large group of people
We're gonna continue to represent them
as long as they want us to
MAN£º Why won't the lnternational support the Hormel workers?
ls $10.69 an hour too much?
Look£¬ l worked in those packinghouses
l worked for a very antiunion employer as a beef skinner
so l know what that work is
And they deserve $10.69-plus£¬ believe me
One ofthe things that Local 9 has said
to the Packing Committee
is£¬ Well£¬ ifwe can get $10.69 there
that's the shining star£¬ and everybody will go to that
But l gotta tell you
in some 10 or 15 years of our experience
that's not the case
One oftwo things happens
Those operators on the low end ofthe scale get bigger
or those on the high end ofthat wage scale
say£¬ ¡°The hell with it£¬¡± and they go out of business
or they close this plant and go down the road
and open up a plant at $5.00 or $6.00 an hour
That would be great ifwe could do that
l'd be the first to say£¬ ¡°Let's do it.¡±
But it don't work that way
We came into this thing alone£¬ and we'll go out alone
l want to tell you£¬ l am disgusted
to be even associated with this organization
You've got to
John£¬ take your pen ifyou're disgusted
Yeah. You've got a lot of gutless people here
JlM£º We pleaded with the National Union
that ifthey couldn't support us£¬ get out ofthe way
lfyou're gonna get in the way and run interference for Hormel
then we're gonna go right through you ifwe have to
So you've got the lnternational Union looking at it and saying
lfthese people are successful
they may find that an lnternational Union
isn't necessary
and all they need is a labor consultant from time to time
LEWlE£º Now we have a situation
where some ofthe people from Local 9 and Ray Rogers
have a caravan roaming across the country
spieling out some of the most antiunion venom
JlM£º Our caravan was designed to tell people what was going on
from workers just like themselves
We had the facts
We had the information to back it up
We were gonna tell it to them£¬ give it to them
read it to them£¬ sing it£¬ whatever it took
RAY£º $100£¬000 expense account
and Lewie Anderson was making his $70£¬000-plus salary
and his lavish expense account
lfyou think when the public sees that
that they understand the complexities
ofwhat's going on in Austin£¬ Minnesota
All they see is 200 or 300 people
screaming how the union is no good
We're not like some other locals
Our membership told us they didn't want that agreement
by a 76% vote
Get the Hormel chain settlement
Do you think the vice-president
of an international union ought tell you
you ought to take a concession
with by far the most profitable company in an industry?
LEWlE£º Antiunionism is oozing out of our own ranks
That'll destroy us quicker than anything will
l know this is definitely a union-made tent
JlM£º People who believe in what they're doing
are the most dangerous kind offolks in the world
The union there. 52 in Monroe and this one
We'll go hit the banks£¬ and then we'll go on to Ottumwa
MAN£º l want to thank all you guys from P-9
because you have performed a miracle
for the Hormel employees of Ottumwa
l can look out in this crowd
and see at least 40 guys and girls
that down at work for the past seven years
have looked like they were dead
And you have resurrected them to life
Hey£¬ listen£¬ thanks a lot
Good talking to you
JlM£º We're creating a situation where the membership
is starting to dictate to the leadership
¡°Support these guys because we believe in what they're doing.¡±
lf making less money is so good
but people don't want to do it£¬ why should they have to do it?
[ Horn honking ]
WOMAN: & Hormel hotdogs &
& We don'tlike Hormel and theirhotdogs &
P-9 thanks you
We'll be back£¡
Yeah£¡
LEWlE£º They have a machine in place to make you
look like you don't know what you're talking about
or carrying the company message
Rogers and Guyette£¬ with their machine
have a firm grip on that situation
lfyou want to gain your union back
you're gonna have to recognize what you're up against
This meeting is somewhat clandestine in that
ifyou're going to put together a committee
then you need time to get it offthe ground
without them branding you at this moment
that the lnternational is behind it
lt started with four of us that met two weeks ago with Lewie
lt started offwith that group. We expanded to 16
Now we're going to go in a meeting here
All of us are gonna try to sing offthe same sheet of music
Hopefully£¬ you'll be able to go back to Austin
Once we get the ball rolling
we'll all be provided with information
RAY£º So when anybody is attacking
what this campaign is doing
attacking anybody working in this group
and has done anything for this campaign
they're attacking every one of us
WOMAN£º What are we doing that's so antiunion?
l see more union people here and more support than l do anywhere
That's not antiunion. That's going forward
l want to be a union ofthe '80s
l want to welcome all our guests
visitors£¬ friends£¬ and everyone that is here today
We have representatives from the Hormel locals
in Fremont£¬ Beloit£¬ Ottumwa
We've got our friends from Farmstead Foods and Albert Lea
steelworkers from the lron Range
representatives from the Teamsters
Through good organization£¬ good communications
we're able to wage a campaign
that even the biggest unions in the country
have not been able to wage
Are you willing to stand up and fight?
CROWD£º Yeah£¡
Let's stand up£¡
Give me a ¡°W¡±£¡
-¡°Give me an ¡±l¡°£¡ -¡±l£¡
-Give me an ¡°N¡±£¡ -¡°N¡±£¡
-What do you got? -Win£¡
We're gonna win it£¡
-Yeah£¡ -We're gonna win it£¡
MAN£º To some£¬ he is a prophet
A messiah who has assembled the tools
that can bring corporate giants to their knees
MAN£º This man is a organizational genius
There's no getting around that. He's got all the bases covered
People are playing pool£¬ they're getting together
There's a lot ofthings that are going on
in that union hall that should have gone on years ago
He's kept the hands and minds busy ofthe people
MAN£º Lewie Anderson is the Austin union's
international vice-president in Washington
Our research has shown
that Hormel could do more damage to First Bank
by taking their money out
than what First Bank could ever do to Hormel
Well£¬ Lewie's lying
Okay£¬ l want to say this very clear
Lewie is lying
l believe he looked at Hormel's history
He talked to some people
and he thought once he put a public campaign
with the news media£¬ they were gonna crumble
The strategy or the research£¬ l should say
had about as much depth as piss on a flat rock
How much more damage has to be done before you figure out
that that strategy is not working?
Bull£¡
l don't take anything away from Local 9
in terms of rallying people
They've done a good job with it
But it's a doomed strategy
lt was doomed from the beginning
and we tried to impress that on them
Being militant and standing up ifyou're on the wrong strategy
doesn't make it right
People still end up getting hurt
Rates still continue to tumble
You don't have the luxury of saying
¡°At least we're fighting.¡±
Because when you fight and it's over and you've lost everything
that's a terrible price to pay just to say that you were tough
What we're doing makes sense£¬ and we believe in it
Belief is something that will carry you a long ways
NARRATOR: Hormel's proposal
keeps a base wage frozen forthree years
at$10 perhour
Andanynew employees wouldbe paid$2 less forthe same work
Hormel's final offer is rejected
byboth the local union and the lnternational
NYBERG£º lfwe're faced with a situation
where there is a withholding of labor on one side
we could shut the plant down completely
We could try to run the plant
with management employees on a reduced basis
We could hire temporary replacements
for strikers who elect to stay out
We could hire permanent replacements
for strikers who elect to stay out
Any combination ofthose things
We'll send the letter tonight£¬ then. Right£¬ Case?
When we hand-deliver the letter£¬ we're gonna be on strike
as of midnight on Friday
MAN£º We'll tell them that
You want to get that set up in the main hall?
RAY£º You get your story here
and make sure everybody hears about it. Really
Just go ahead
Aw£¬ come on
Aw£¬ this is your show
[ Cheering ]
JlM£º The Hormel company put us into a corner
and we were gonna come after them
like a fighter going into a fight
When you know you've trained about as well as you can
it's time to get the gloves on or take them off
and do what you got to do
By over a 93% margin
the contract proposal termed by the company
to be their last and final offer was rejected
So the Executive Board has met£¬ and we intend
to give the company a 48-hour-working-day notice
tonight before midnight
[ Cheers and applause ]
Forthe first time in 52 years
Hormel's Austin plant was about to be shutdown bya strike
You're looking pretty chipper today
-Hi£¬ Bill. -Hiya£¬ Jim
Too bad we can't meet under better circumstances
l need you to sign
ln fact£¬ ifyou want to sign a couple ofthem£¬ you can
We got new pencils for everyone£¬ just like the President
No£¬ we don't
That's mine
-Okay£¬ there you go£¬ Jim. -Okay. Thanks
What may result from the Hormel workers' action
is a test ofjust how much muscle
organized labor can or cannot flex
Kevin Berger£¬ Channel 5 Eyewitness News£¬ St. Paul
NYBERG£º l think it is tragic
We were hoping that some resolve would be reached
so that this community and certainly our employees
wouldn't have to go through what we're facing
We've done everything humanly possible
to resolve this thing on reasonable terms
But we aren't going to resolve this dispute
on unreasonable terms
JlM£º The company's strategy is a clear one
They want to freeze us out
They want to starve us out
And l think the motto that we at Local 9 have is best exemplified
in one of Bruce Springsteen's latest songs
We made a promise. We swore we'd always remember
No retreat and no surrender
And l think that the fact that these people are here today
helping us so that the company can't starve us out
is certainly a giant push well on the way
to let this company know that we are not about to surrender
-Hi. -Hi
Hi
What we started is something
that's gonna be more than maybe what we thought
l see people working together£¬ people willing to share
people borrowing clothes
l see people opening up. l see people crying
lt's just a whole new part of people
and we're pulling together
You know£¬ we're a big family
Just so it doesn't
lf it takes too long£¬ people are gonna get short on cash
Then they're gonna feel the squeeze really bad
My kid five weeks ago got his finger in the door at home
Just one ofthose freak accidents
Went in and had three stitches. 120 bucks
There went half of my paycheck
This money is to be used for food
for the people of Local P-9
l can't even add
One thousand¡­
One hundred¡­
Forty-nine dollars£¡
Almost $1£¬050
And they're not done yet
Take it in brotherhood. Spirit
JlM£º This money will be very much needed by our membership
And l thank you from the bottom of my heart
Hey£¬ Joe. They lost their power over there
JlM£º Our union hall became a fun place to be at
There was a lot ofthings going on
lt became a place where families could come
We had a lot offolks who liked to work on cars
lnstead of pulling picket duty£¬ they fixed our cars
We had carpenters who fixed people's homes
They did what they liked to do. They did their hobbies
l asked Guyette
Tell me where Corporate Campaign is today
where it's going next week and the following weeks
and relate that to how we're getting back
into the packinghouse
All they did is the same old gibberish
We've got a group. We're gaining support
We got money coming in
They start with this gibberish£¬ and you say
¡°l didn't ask you that.¡±
¡°Let him speak£¡¡±
Then Rogers gets into his filibuster
Then all of a sudden£¬ it's£¬ ¡°boom.¡± ¡°Next question.¡±
l was in Ottumwa
and the guys there were patting me on the back
This guy gets it£¬ and he talks for 10 or 15 minutes
LEWlE£º When he gets up to start his filibuster
you got to have 7£¬ 8£¬ 9£¬ 10 people say
Tell me how you're gonna get the jobs back
Tell me how you're gonna get a contract
You got to keep pounding into him
¡°Where are you as far as settling this thing?¡±
You got some maniacs up there
in the leadership position and a maniac in Rogers
who has yet to do one positive thing
We can't be jacking around here forever
This is a mess. That's what l'm saying
Employees shall receive as normal 40 hours' pay
Vacation pay shall consist
of an employee's normal 40-hour weekly check
-Yeah. That's good enough. -Good
JlM£º Normally£¬ the National Union managed negotiations
However£¬ in this particular situation£¬ our national union
was spearheading a concessionary drive
and we didn't want a concessionary contract
Therefore£¬ our national union was told£¬ Get out ofthe way
We'll deal with our own negotiations
lt don't mean anything
NYBERG£º When the union made a proposal
that we thought was outrageous
what we had to do is come back with a proposal of our own
lnstead ofjust basing it blindly on the old contract
we looked at every provision ofthat agreement and said
¡°What would make sense here?¡±
WOMAN£º Who's gonna pay for that?
MAN£º The company
What is it?
Joint Management Labor
LEWlE£º Any seasoned£¬ experienced negotiator
knows you don't rewrite your whole contract
You don't throw your whole contract up for grabs
You don't give the company the opportunity
to dismantle your contract because you rewrote it
But that's exactly what the P-9 leadership did
They rewrote a whole contract
Language it has taken 40 years to negotiate
language that provides the local union to have a say
in how the goddamn plant is run
When management got done with that contract
those things didn't exist
And l'm speaking to 40 years of bargaining gone as a result
ofthese assholes rewriting that whole contract
and submitting it to the company
Being a negotiator requires a lot of different skills
especially in an industry that's in turmoil£¬ like this one
Nobody likes to have their wages and benefits rolled back
And it's unconscionable to put out this proposal
after all the concessions these workers made
What's your reaction?
-What's next? -No further comments on that
LEWlE£º All l can do is take a peek at their vaults
and see ifthere's any money
lfthere is£¬ we all run in there
we grab as much of it as we can£¬ and we get the hell out
Negotiations have broke off
There are no further meetings scheduled
LEWlE£º That's pure£¬ unadulterated bullshit£¡
What's holding up a contract settlement
is that these bastards won't give you a decent wage£¡
That's what holding up the settlement£¡
Send your bargaining committee to Chicago
with a vote of confidence that supports them
and tells the company to stick their proposal
where the sun don't shine and give us a decent contract£¡
Thank you very much
JlM£º Sometimes you have to fire the people up
to send a clear message to management
that the workers are really ticked off
That they not only want what's right
they want more than what's right
You better be prepared to give a lot back that was taken away£¡
Or you four can start looking for anotherjob£¡
You want to come back to these meetings?
l worked out in that plant£¬ and l busted my ass for you
for over 18 years on production
All of a sudden£¬ you put the hammer down
and we go from our $10.69
down to $6.50 to walk back in that plant on a Monday
You want to come back? You keep your mouth shut£¬ okay?
You don't know what you're talking about£¡
l won't take it anymore£¡
l won't have the courtesy of letting you ask questions
l'll walk out the next time you open your mouth
LEWlE£º The more that the membership seems unreasonable
the more the bargaining committee seems unreasonable
the tougher they are¡­
Hello
LEWlE£º The more the employer has to rely on you
as the negotiator£¬ because you're the one£¬ supposedly
that has to make common sense prevail
l'd like to carve out numbers one and two
and continue to talk with you
to see ifthere's something we can do
but l haven't come up with anything
LEWlE£º You only do that once you have extracted the maximum
from that employer
And then you let the membership decide
[ Crowd booing ]
They stole my check£¡
LEWlE£º That's a danger when you fire the troops up
is that you get their expectations so high
and they believe those expectations can be met
lfyou don't meet them
they believe you haven't done yourjob
and may believe you sold them out
We can't afford to go backwards anymore
We've went back far enough
We work too goddamn hard down there
to have to go backwards anymore
l say£¬ ¡°Fuck them.¡±
lfthey want to close it down£¬ let them close it
We can all find something else
We're decent human beings
and we deserve every damn thing we get
LEWlE£º lfyou take workers who feel
that they're been mistreated or misused
they want to get at the heart ofthe matter
They want to get to that employer
lt's their obligation to give it to us
lfthey don't want to£¬ then piss on them. Let them go
Look£¬ between both ofyou£¬ you want a strike
You keep snapping at everything for one
-lfyou want one. -MAN£º Some results£¬ Lewie
You think it's us?
l can't deliver£¬ and l don't intend to carry this on
l can't deliver something that's not there at this time
l've been banging around
Quit looking for somebody to run in with a fucking white horse£¡
You don't even know what negotiations is all about
and you act like you know everything£¡
l did not come here and act like l know everything£¬ Lewie£¡
Our members are asking for some answers£¬ Lewie£¡
Give your members some answers£¡
Don't lay the shit on me£¡
The easiest goddamn thing to do is blame somebody
for the problem you're in£¡
We didn't blame you for the problem we're in
LEWlE£º The biggest and most powerful threat that you have
is the threat of a strike
When you actually have to use the strike
then you are going into an all-out war
And you have to pick your fights
lf l get emotional. l seem tired about this
This is not jerk-offtime. This is serious business
You better be able to inflict some economic damage
on that employer
lfyou cannot get into his pockets
and take a lot of money out and make the employer understand
that it's better to settle than it is to fight
then the employer will crush you
Hormel's production has notbeen stopped
The companyshiftedproduction to theirotherplants
thatare still in operation
ln Austin, theyare using theirown managementpersonnel
to turn out thousands ofcans ofSpam a day
MAN£º lt's got to be blatantly obvious to everyone
that this company doesn't want a contract
MAN #2£º We're at the crossroads
JlM£º l want to win
MAN£º l don't think there's a guy who don't want to win
That's no excuse for doing something you shouldn't
All l'm saying is
whatever it takes to win£¬ l want to do it
LEWlE£º That£¬ potentially£¬ is a time bomb
that can blow up in all of our faces
The company is gonna end up forcing a settlement
on those people out there
That is gonna be way under the Hormel chain settlement
and under the Oscar Mayer settlement
Here you're gonna have this big company£¬ very profitable
that has got a substandard agreement
that's gonna tear the shit out of our rates in the industry
We are gonna negotiate shit
ifthey get stuck with a bad settlement up there
MAN£º You people are believing
that we've got the power to get them to the table
lt is my assessment
that the reason that we have been unsuccessful
the reason that our strategy hasn't worked
the reason that we've gone to a 4-1/2-month strike
is simply that very issue
We don't have the strength to get them there
The division that some have tried to create here
has been to our downfall
And l just wish that we could act concerted
The fact is£¬ l think we all realize right now
the company is in a very solid and very legal position
to start that packinghouse up without us
ifwe don't go back to work
Now£¬ l think that the rank and file here has been misled
in understanding this company's position
The problem is£¬ Jim£¬ the company isn't gonna talk to you£¬ period
They've got a grudge against you
You probably got a grudge against them
And l don't care ifwe offer to go back for 5 bucks an hour
The company ain't gonna talk to you
Why don't you talk to them?
Because l'm not part ofthe negotiating board. That's why
WOMAN£º You're out of order£¡
Hey£¬ you can rule me out of order all you want
l'm gonna tell you one thing
Rule me out of order all you want
JlM£º Security?
Did you call 911?
Get them in here. Get them in here
MAN£º Will you sit down?
What the hell is the matter with you?
Back off£¬ you guys£¡
l relent£¡
lfyou have come to fight
and not get any damn answers£¬ continue£¡
Otherwise£¬ sit down£¡
lt's a union meeting£¡
We have said until we're blue in the face
l don't know how we say it again
We have gone as far as we're going to go
lfyou want to go into negotiations
and that means you're going to get more and more£¬ no
We're not going to give any more
10 bucks
They don't even want to talk about it anymore?
-Nope. -Other than asking questions
Yep
There's no bargaining whatsoever?
You think you're winning. l don't think you're winning
The company£¬ l don't think£¬ thinks you're winning
You're at war£¬ they're at war£¬ and they're not giving in
The contract that you work under is your decision alone
The Executive Board has recommended rejection
l have a family like you have
And l want to be able to say to them
as Hubert Humphrey said
l'd rather live 50 years like a tiger
than 100 years like a chicken
NYBERG£º We've got a $100 million plant that needs to be run
We're taking applications tomorrow
from people that want to work in that plant
And if Local P-9 says
¡°We are going to continue to withhold our labor£¬¡±
now the process is underway
The union will have rights to theirjobs
until they've been permanently replaced
No bills today
When you got a place like this£¬ we got 4 3/4 acres and house
and lived here seven years
And payments are£¬ you know£¬ a couple hundred dollars a month
l got a wife and three kids£¬ and l love them
They'll understand later
lf it comes down to losing this place£¬ we'll survive
just like a lot of people
l got to give R.J. credit
At least he made a stand£¬ you know
He put himself on one side or the other
l'm on the side that's commonly referred to as the P-10ers
That was my choice
R.J. decided he wanted to follow Ray Rogers and Jim Guyette
lt's a hard decision to make for some people
but it wasn't for me when we took that strike vote
Go out there and be willing to give up things
and make things better for us workers
and workers around the United States£¬ union people
We're tired of going backwards
But then you have to look at the rest ofthe economy
Throughout the nation£¬ that's what's happening
And l guess maybe you have to swallow hard
but ifyou want a job¡­
You're gonna have to take it£¬ l guess£¬ a little bit
NARRATOR£º So£¬ are you having problems with your brother?
Oh£¬ l won't have any problems£¬ really
until he crosses that line£¬ to scab
There's nothing worse than a scab
so how can you have anything to do with a scab?
You guys have been giving in and giving in for 23 years
And we got unions all over the country watching us
counting on us
People are counting on us
RON£º To hell with them
You know£¬ we got 1£¬400 workers here
We got thousands of people counting on us
And sending in money£¬ you know
But it's ourjob. lt's not theirs
We knew this strike was coming
We should've avoided it
They didn't want to talk
The lnternational said£¬ lt's ill-advised
You're on a suicide mission
They told us that
MAN£º So far£¬ l think l've seen about five
Let's see one£¬ two¡­
Three£¬ four¡­
Five£¬ six¡­
l think l've seen seven
l had to come today
l had to know what it'd be like to see people
coming into the place that l spent my whole life in
going in and doing myjob
lt's really£¬ really hard to watch this happen
l'm never gonna let myself get in a position like this again
where a group of a minority of assholes
dictate how l handle the rest of my life
Sometimes ignorance is bliss
l'll tell you there will be no blocking
ofthe ingress and egress ofthat plant
That plant will operate
The state police will come down on them and crush them
You can't win that fight there
lfthe police can't do it
then they'll bring the National Guard in
That will demoralize the piss out ofthem
They'll be standing there
3 people every 50 feet with their dick in their hands
watching people take theirjobs
Now£¬ that is very demoralizing
[ Laughter ]
All right£¡
Look£¬ you got to do it and be effective
MAN£º l'd like to know how many people
think they could get up at 3£º30£¬ 4£º00
whenever the traffic comes in£¬ and do it
l'm ready right now
All right£¬ then let's do it Friday morning£¡
Let's do it£¡
Then we'll see you at 4£º00 in the morning£¡
[ Cheers and applause ]
[ Car horns honking ]
MAN ON RADlO£º We might mention£¬ ifyou are driving in the area
you will be diverted away from the plant£¬ westbound
lfyou're moving up the east side ofthe Hormel plant
you will be asked to turn your car around and go back
MAN #2£º We just heard from the Austin Law Enforcement Center
that all the roads surrounding the Hormel company itself
have been blocked off
MAN #3£º We'll get further reports£¬ Dan-o. Thank you
One thing we should probably tell everybody
lfthe police ask who's in charge£¬ nobody's in charge
Nobody's in charge
No one's in charge£¡
lt's cold out today. God£¡
There's gonna be a lot of cars that's gonna freeze up
lf anybody comes£¬ the police come and ask who's in charge
there's no one in charge£¡
There just happens to be a breakdown and a traffic jam
So there's nobody in charge here£¡
MAN£º lfthere's any interference with our police duties
we do not want to make arrests
WOMAN£º l lost eight hours' pay today because ofthat
[ Crowd groaning ]
And while that might not seem like a lot
to the P-9 members who have been on strike for 5 months
it wasn't a thing l chose to do without
l have every right to go in and do myjob
just as they have every right to picket
Mr. Mayor£¬ this isn't a hostage situation
This isn't Tehran£¬ lran. This is Austin£¬ Minnesota
They told us that they would not let us in
That is a lockout£¡
Don't be mad at us
Blame it on the people causing the problem
That's across the tracks
lt's them that put you in this position
because they put us in this position
We don't know who's going in there to do what£¬ so to stop it
we had to stop everybody that goes in that plant
We had to close it down
l don't want to merit right or wrong
l'm not gonna pick sides
But l got a question
ls what the company's doing¡­
l don't want to discuss moralities
ls what the company doing legal?
They're not out there because they like to holler
and fight and they want to kill somebody
They're out 'cause they want a contract
where they can go to work
We want to work
This is a tragedy for all of us
l was born and raised here
Members of my family that are buried here
These people are my friends on all sides ofthis issue
l've graduated from high school with them
l went to college with some ofthese people
This isn't some impersonal thing
We're personally involved whether we want to be or not
We would do anything in our power to try to resolve this
lt's a difficult situation
for both Chief Hoffman and l to deal with
l can't tell you what it's like. lt's tearing us up
MAN£º Left£¡ Left£¡
Left£¬ right£¬ left£¡
Left£¡ Left£¡
Left£¬ right£¬ left£¡
Minnesota governor Rudy Perpich
called the National Guard£¬ trying to help maintain order
as striking union meatpackers and their supporters
blockaded the Hormel plant in Austin£¬ Minnesota
-Hey£¬ your clubs are cracked£¡ -Holy shit£¡ Look at them go£¡
Behind the barricades
MAN£º l don't know ifyou know£¬ but this is your community
not two or three ofthem greedy executives£¡
What the hell's the matter with you? Shut it down£¡
Shut her down£¡
l want£¬ no matter what happens
if anybody gets hit£¬ if anybody gets hit
you simply try to identify who it is
but get back to that hall£¡
Wait a minute. You see what they got here?
There ain't no way you got a chance
on dealing with those clubs£¡
So you better think rationally£¡
l don't want to see you in a fight with the National Guard£¡
Okay£¬ remember£¬ if anybody moves on you
just go back to the office
There's varying opinions from everyone here
as to how many people are gonna cross the line
But it sounds as though
you're gonna have a stampede situation
lfwhat everybody is reflecting is accurate
MAN£º Let's get our people
and tell 'em the straight shot£¬ like they deserve
We got lots offolks that are gonna go in there tomorrow
because the Guard's gonna let everybody in
So let's all go back in tomorrow
l don't think there's gonna be that many going in tomorrow
l don't think we've shown our last shot
l'm not ready to give up
-No. -Shit£¬ not me
l got some real problems
because l can see tomorrow and you guys can't
But£¬ boy£¬ that's what makes me sick
Go home and take a couple aspirin
You'll feel better in the morning
Jesus Christ£¬ l won't feel a bit better
Left£¬ left£¬ right£¬ left
l've been out ofwork for six years. l need a job
NARRATOR£º How have you been getting by?
Just doing odd jobs
Must be hard. You ever worked in a packinghouse?
No
-Where are you from? -Mclntyre
-How'd you hear about it? -Been on the news
l got neighbors that work here
Does it feel hard to go across the picket line?
No
-Scab£¡ -Hey£¬ you lowlife£¡
When you go across that line£¬ that's your decision
You just don't let it bother you
You'd better be able to stand it
or you should have never went across
NARRATOR£º Why are you doing this?
Because l need a job
When was the last time you worked?
Oh£¬ last spring
-Where are you from? -Austin
Okay
You're crossing a picket line£¡
You're a scab£¡
Hey£¬ scab£¬ go home£¡
Go home£¬ scab£¡
JlM£º Some people may be looking for excuses to cross
But remember that your self-respect will be left behind
if anyone decides to cross the picket line
You know£¬ my family is starving
l'm not getting a thing from anybody other than $40 a week
just like everybody else in here
l want myjob
just like everybody in here wants theirjob
l'm seriously considering crossing
l'd be a liar if l said l wasn't
Don't do it£¡
l didn't say l was
l said l was considering
What l'm saying is£¬ a lot ofyou people
and you'd be liars ifyou say you didn't
haven't considered crossing
Because we all need jobs
What plan of action is everybody here looking for?
l think we're all looking for some plan of action
Either we gotta shut down every plant
that Hormel owns Monday morning
Or Tuesday or Wednesday we might as well all go back
ifwe don't shut down their goddamn plants
and shut 'em down fast
l think that you guys can't keep going and saying£¬ ¡°l agree.¡±
The company says they're not gonna meet
The company says they're not gonna give
They're not gonna give Monday£¬ not Tuesday£¬ not Wednesday
And all that time£¬ you got some more guys going in
and so what we're all saying is
you gotta either shut down the other plants
or£¬ like you said£¬ all go in en masse
and work without a contract
But it's gotta be one or the other
lt can't be dragged out
and waiting for the company to give you something
They told you they ain't gonna give you anything else
Now we're looking at shutting the other operations down
Don't you feel
that that's a much more pressurizing strategy
on this company at this time?
Especially in light ofthe fact that those people know
that whatever happens here is gonna happen to them
We need to communicate that
Mm-hmm
Don't you think that that's a better position to be into?
lfyou can't shut them down completely
you've accomplished nothing
other than getting a whole lot of people fired and out ofwork
What l'm saying to you is£¬ at what cost are you prepared
to take roving pickets to that plant?
What are you gonna do when they say
¡°You screwed me out of a job. Now what are you gonna do?¡±
l'll say it. Hell£¬ there's nothing we can do for them
That's the risk we take
Not we take. They take
Okay. lt's the risk they take
We all take
Yeah£¬ we took it willingly£¬ and we took it to start with
Now for our fight£¬ we're dragging them in
JlM£º When does the realization come to those folks
that our fight is indeed their fight?
When are we gonna do it ifwe don't do it now?
Mr. Nyberg£¬ what will Hormel do
if P-9 sets up picket lines at your other plants?
Our employees know that it is our position
that they'd be in violation ofthe contracts
ifthey voluntarily stay out
and honor the picket line of Local P-9
or however many pickets there might be
We know that ifthey do stay out
that they will be subject to replacement
just as employees in Austin are subject to replacement
The Executive Board ofLocal P-9
decided to recommend that the picketline be extended
to all otherHormelplants in an attempt to shut them down
With thatcame the promise that ifanyone at the otherplants
gotfiredforhonoring P-9's picketline
no P-9ers wouldreturn to theirjobs
until the companyagreed to rehire everyone
You know£¬ when you talk about being illegal
at one time£¬ it was illegal to go out on strike
At one time£¬ it was illegal to join a union
l guess at one time
it was illegal for America to even exist
The Executive Board has passed a motion
Roving pickets will be sent to other plants
lfthis is approved£¬ it'll send a message to the company
to everyone else
We made a promise
We swore we'd always remember. No retreat£¬ no surrender
Speaking on the motion¡­
lt's a unanimous Executive Board recommendation
All those in favor signify by saying ¡°aye.¡±
CROWD£º Aye£¡
Those opposed
Ayes have it
l repeat. This is a union picket line
We ask that you do not cross it
Take the day off. One damn day is all we ask
All Hormel plants will be shut up tight as a drum by Friday
There will be none running£¬ to our knowledge
We'd appreciate your support
Go home and have a cup of coffee
Go talk to Ma and the kids before they go to school
MAN£º There's no way on God's creation
that l'm gonna cross their picket line£¡
When l looked at a guy l worked with for seven years
l live in the same town he does£¬ 22 miles up the road
And l said to him£¬ ¡°How do you feel?¡±
He said£¬ ¡°My heart's pumping.¡±
l looked at another guy l worked with for seven years
l said£¬ ¡°How do you feel?¡± He said£¬ ¡°My heart's pumping.¡±
l said£¬ ¡°Guess what? You're union people.¡±
We ain't crossing no picket lines£¡
We ain't crossing them£¡
What miracle do we expect to happen in the next three days?
That's the question
What miracle? How or why?
We have tremendous spirit£¬ we've got a wonderful program
And we seem to think that ifwe just go one day at a time
like an alcoholic
Just keep the strike going one more day
and after today's over£¬ it'll keep going tomorrow
What do we expect is gonna happen?
l'm mystified
Scabs£¡
Go back to your own town£¬ scabs£¡
Asshole£¡ Go to hell£¡ l hope you rot in hell£¡
You're the one that really hurts£¬ Steve
All these other guys are dicks
When you went across there£¬ you really hurt
What the hell's the matter with you?
How can you work with those scabs?
Doesn't it bother you to go in there with guys like that?
Then you got no class
l don't know you
Who's your smiley partner?
l've known that guy since we were in grade school
lt's killing him inside. He's told me that
l tried to talk him out of it
He said no. lt's what he had to do
My wife and children have been my backbone
They've just. ¡°No way.¡±
They knew in their minds that if l did
l couldn't live with myself
RON£º lfthings haven't changed substantially
in two or three days
l will base my decision on the fact
that my family is number one in my life£¬ not my union
NARRATOR£º Are you gonna go across the picket line?
So it appears it
At this stage ofthe game£¬ well£¬ it would be tough
but l can't see any alternative
Now that we've been working on this for a year and a half
trying to figure out the difference
between right and wrong
l believe that l was a dupe£¬ l was lied to originally
And now he's got control of my whole life
On the other hand£¬ it's a question of morality
because l was brought up
that you do not cross a picket line£¬ no matter what
lt's something that you do not do
Because you don't belong to a union all these years
and develop all these principles
lt isn't like a dollar bill
You can't throw it on the ground and be rid of it
As much as l want myjob back
l've still been a good union member for many years
But l don't know
My family comes first
My daughter goes to work. She's got a part-time job
My boy£¬ he works at McDonald's£¬ part-time job
My wife goes to work. She's got a job
And what do l do? l sit home£¬ and l play with the cat
What kind of provider is that?
lt may sound corny
but a person takes pride in being a breadwinner
and providing for your family
When you can't do that
when you say to them£¬ ¡°All l want to do is work£¬¡±
and they¡­
lt's tough
But l spent more than we should have
But l want to go back to work
And the hell with P-9
l'm ready
NARRATOR£º ls that hard for you?
You bet
Why?
Not being able to -- excuse me
[ Voice breaking ] Provide for my family
[ Crying ]
l just can't talk no more
You're scared to see all them people you've worked with
All these people are standing there hollering at you
Yet£¬ you know you have to go across
there's some in there£¬ you think
¡°l don't care ifyou ever come back.¡±
You see people you talk to every day
and it almost makes you cry
There are some good friends of mine
That's the ones you feel like you're betraying
-Where you guys going? -To work
-You got a pass for that? -You want to see our cards?
Just Hormel cards? You want to see them?
Yeah. You new employees?
No£¬ no. Not by any stretch ofthe imagination
WOMAN£º To some£¬ staying out no longer makes sense
There is more here than a town divided
as brother watches brother cross the line
in a place not big enough for anyone to hide for very long
He won't be my brother if he crosses the line
For me£¬ it wasn't tough to get to the point ofthe gate
l was ready
But the minute we crossed that line
part of me just stayed back there
Well£¬ unionism£¬ to me£¬ is watching out
not only for your own job£¬ but you're an organization
for the welfare and benefit of all the workers
And now£¬ you know£¬ for this moment£¬ we aren't
Because we left them
You know£¬ l wasn't always lnternational president
l used to work in the grocery stores£¬ you know
And l know what it is to work for peanuts
And you think l like the fact
that our people got to roll their wages back a bit?
l don't
But l tell you what
l don't take people over a cliff
There's an old rule in the labor movement
Anybody can put people on the street
lt takes a man to put them back to work. l'm sorry
lt takes a man or a woman to put them back to work
Now is the time to settle it
Hopefully£¬ we can work it out
through the course of our local union
lfwe don't£¬ then in a short period oftime£¬ l'll settle it
-Question. -l'll settle it
-How will you settle it? -l told you l'll settle it
l have a meeting. Thank you
The United Food and Commercial Workers Union
ordered 1£¬000 members of its meatpackers local
to end their bitter seven-month strike
against Hormel in Austin£¬ Minnesota
The lnternational Union said it had lifted its sanction
ofthe walkout
and cut off $40-a-week benefits to strikers
But pickets remained in place through the day
WOMAN£º lt is a strike£¬ those on the line say
is becoming symbolic ofthe struggle
to keep trade unions alive
lfthey end up operating that plant nonunion
and your guys never get back in there
will you consider that a big defeat for you?
Or not?
Number one
if l say there's no way l could look at this as a defeat
then you're gonna say£¬ How can you say that?
Now£¬ you either win or you're gonna lose
And let's talk about what has happened here
and about the types of victory and defeat you can have
lf all the workers lose theirjob here
okay£¬ ifthat's a scenario that you're playing
yeah£¬ that is certainly a defeat that way
But when you consider the fight these people have fought
Are you saying that 1£¬000 guys lose theirjobs
and because they've got intense national attention
on these important problems that confront labor
that could still be a victory?
No£¬ what l am saying
there's been a set of dynamics that has occurred
both with all the people in this area£¬ within this community
and within the labor movement
That cannot be considered anything but positive
JlM£º l think that we at P-9
started this small labor dispute
lt quickly escalated into a labor dispute
that represented a lot ofthings
Taking on one ofthe corporate giants in an industry
Taking on one ofthe largest international unions
in the country
And really recognizing the forces
that working people have to deal with
lf a small union in the middle of a cornfield in Minnesota
can do the kinds ofthings we do¡­
We just need to get about the business of doing it
LEWlE£º l don't believe the membership elects leaders
to be heroes at their expense
Talks about dignity and everybody going back together
What dignity is there when you don't have a job?
There's no dignity at all
ln June of 1986
the lnternational took over the local union
and threw out the elected leadership ofLocal P-9
The main things that the order covers is
if anybody physically confronts the UFCW£¬ ifthey remove assets
or ifthey hold themselves out to be representing Local P-9
rather than just saying they're a member of P-9
Do l have to say l'm suspended?
The order's pretty clear on that
l got to say l'm suspended?
The lnternational Union
negotiateda settlement with Hormel
whereby the people who crossed the picketline
wouldreceive the same wages andbenefits as workers
at the otherHormelplants
$10.25 perhour
We didn't stand by the company
We stood by the lnternational Union
Kiss my ass£¡ Kiss my ass£¡
You're full of shit
You went back to save your ass and save yourjob
By God£¬ we needed ourjobs
We took our chances with Hormel with the hope
that unionism would somehow survive
We left the union and we went back to ourjobs
That's where it was
[ Booing and jeering ]
Go ahead. You can scream and holler
Get that out ofyour system. Then we can proceed
There's one part in the contract that l must have missed
lt's the part that says they have to take me
and the rest of all these guys back
This is the way l feel
Hormel's will never take me back unless l put it in the contract
or you put it in the contract
And ifthat's not in the contract
all this bullshit of a contract don't mean nothing to me
Because how many days' vacation or how much ofthis they get
l don't get none of it£¬ because l didn't get back in the plant
The contractdidnotcontain anyprovisions
forthe people who honored the picketline
These people were placed on a waiting list
lt's time£¬ and l think you people have realized£¬ too
Had we pulled together two years ago
l don't think you or us would be faced with this
But l think it's the thing that's going on in America
and l think we as men and women have to realize
we better start pulling together
or£¬ by God£¬ they're gonna bury us
Part ofwhy it's gonna be so hard to leave
is because l'm gonna have to leave my mom and dad
My dad's still out on strike
and l feel like l'm abandoning him£¬ almost
But we feel like we have to get on with our lives for the kids
They need a normal atmosphere they can grow up in
l know my dad will be okay£¬ 'cause he's a survivor
And he knows that we're still behind him 100%
We're not abandoning him
We're just taking our fight somewhere else
As far as the strike goes£¬ it was time
lt was past time
Mike took a stand and refused to go across the picket line
l'm glad he wouldn't£¬ because l wouldn't have wanted him to
LEWlE£º You hear this business of Old Jay Hormel
if he was around£¬ things wouldn't run this way
or We got this new crop of executives
and they've changed the direction
They didn't change nothing
Hormel changed because it was to their advantage to change
They realized there was profits and growth
by pursuing this strategy
And they did it
All of a sudden£¬ they're not benevolent anymore
and they're not so paternalistic
They become barracudas£¬ just like everybody else
We can't look to unions and say£¬ ¡°You gotta stop this.¡±
lt's gonna take a combination of outrage from people
Whether you support a union or you don't
is it right for these companies to do this?
lt can't be dealt with just on the picket line
and just at the bargaining table
You're not looking at short-term fixes here
& When the union's inspiration &
& Through the workers'blood shall run &
& There will be no powergreater &
& Anywhere beneath the sun &
& Yet, whatforce on Earth is weaker &
& Than the feeble strength ofone? &
& And the union makes us strong &
& Solidarityforever &
& And the union makes us strong &
& ln ourarms is placeda power &
& Greater than theirhoardedgold &
& Greater than the mightofarmies &
& Magnifieda thousandfold &
& We can bring together the new world &
& From the ashes ofthe old &
& And the union makes us strong &
& Solidarityforever &
& And the union makes us strong &
& Solidarityforever &