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Draft:Hormel strikes

Strike of 1933

In early 1933, workers at Hormel had no labor union but reported bad working conditions: "raises habitually went to foremen's friends; workers were fired and then rehired in other departments at lower pay; before election day, foremen would threaten layoffs if Farmer–Labor Party candidates won, and employees who challenged the practices were told that they could quit." After owner Jay Hormel, son of founder George A. Hormel, "attempted to impose a weekly pay deduction for an insurance plan," and "a worker in Hog Kill was pressured to sign up," writes Don Fitz, "other workers shut down the floor for 10 minutes, until his insurance card was torn up." That night, workers met at a park to form an industrial union, the Independent Union of All Workers (IUAW).

Jay Hormel agreed to recognize the union, grant seniority rights and arbitrate grievances but would not put anything down in writing. This continued for six weeks until the IAUW voted to strike on November 10. The governor of Minnesota mobilized the National Guard to Owatonna. Support for the strike was overwhelming, especially among farmers.

Strike of 1985–86

Copied from Hormel#1950–2000

In August 1985, Hormel workers went on strike at the Hormel headquarters in Austin, Minnesota. In the early 1980s, recession impacted several meatpacking companies, decreasing demand and increasing competition which led smaller and less-efficient companies to go out of business. In an effort to keep plants from closing, many instituted wage cuts. Wilson Food Company declared bankruptcy in 1983, allowing them to cut wages from $10.69 to $6.50 and significantly reduce benefits. Hormel Foods had avoided such drastic action, but by 1985, pressure to stay competitive remained. Workers had already labored under a wage freeze and dangerous working conditions, leading to many cases of repetitive strain injury. When management demanded a 23% wage cut from the workers they decided to begin the strike. It became one of the longest strikes of the 1980s. The local chapter of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local P-9, led the strike, but was not supported by their parent union. The strike gained national attention and led to a widely publicized boycott of Hormel products. The strike ended in June 1986, after lasting 10 months.

Copied from Austin, Minnesota#History

In August 1985, 1,500 Hormel meatpackers went on strike at the Austin plant after management demanded a 23% cut in wages. A protracted battle between union employees and Hormel continued until June 1986, one of the longest labor struggles of the 1980s. In January 1986, some workers crossed the picket lines, leading to riots; the conflict escalated to such a point that Governor Rudy Perpich called in the National Guard to keep the peace. Hormel never gave in to the workers' demands, and when the strike ended in June 1986, 700 employees were left without work.

External links

• Bussel, Robert (2007). "United Food and Commercial Workers' Union". In Arnesen, Eric (ed.). Encyclopedia of U.S. labor and working-class history. NYC: Routledge. pp. 1425–1427. ISBN 978-0-415-96826-3.
• Compa, Lance A. (1986). "A second look at the Hormel strike". Ithaca, NY: Cornell University ILR School. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 July 2019. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Genoways, Ted (July–August 2011). "The Spam factory's dirty secret". Mother Jones. San Francisco. Archived from the original on 22 July 2019.
• Halpern, Rick (1998). "Local 9, Packinghouse Workers". In Buhle, Mari Jo; Buhle, Paul; Georgakas, Dan (eds.). Encyclopedia of the American Left (2nd ed.). Oxford Univ. Pr. ISBN 978-0-19-512088-2.
• Horowitz, Roger (1997). "'We worked for everything we got': the origins of packinghouse unionism in Austin, Minnesota". Negro and white, unite and fight!: a social history of industrial unionism in meatpacking, 1930–90. Champaign: Univ. of Ill. Pr. pp. 35–58. ISBN 978-0-252-06621-4.
• Kwik, Phil (1 May 1986). "Leaders of Hormel strike arrested; international holds trusteeship hearing". Labor Notes. Detroit. Archived from the original on 12 July 2019.
• Rachleff, Peter (2007). "Independent Union of All Workers". In Arnesen, Eric (ed.). Encyclopedia of U.S. labor and working-class history. NYC: Routledge. pp. 641–643. ISBN 978-0-415-96826-3.
• Rachleff, Peter (2007). "P-9 strike". In Arnesen, Eric (ed.). Encyclopedia of U.S. labor and working-class history. NYC: Routledge. pp. 1053–1054. ISBN 978-0-415-96826-3.
• Rachleff, Peter (19 August 2008). "Immigrant rights are labor rights". MR Online. NYC: Monthly Review Fdn. Archived from the original on 12 July 2019.
• Rachleff, Peter (21 August 2010). "Hormel strike a key event in nation's labor history". MR Online. NYC: Monthly Review Fdn. Archived from the original on 12 July 2019.
• Rogers, Ray (October 1986). "Ray Rogers' strategy for labor: learning from the Hormel strike" (PDF). Dollars & Sense (Interview) (123). Boston (published January–February 1987): 10–13. ISSN 0012-5245. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 August 2019.
• Schultz, Bud; Schultz, Ruth, eds. (2001). "Local P-9 strikers and supporters on the 1985–1986 meatpacking strike against the Hormel Company in Austin". The price of dissent: testimonies to political repression in America. Berkeley: Univ. of Calif. Pr. pp. 96–102, 104–08, 118. ISBN 978-0-520-22401-8. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019.
• Warren, Wilson J. (2007). "United Packinghouse Workers of America/Packinghouse Workers Organizing Committee". In Arnesen, Eric (ed.). Encyclopedia of U.S. labor and working-class history. NYC: Routledge. pp. 1437–1442. ISBN 978-0-415-96826-3.
• http://www.corporatecampaign.org/history_ufcw_hormel_1989.php
• http://www.ufcw.org/2019/10/17/hormel/

Mainstream news

• https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-01-15-8601040571-story.html
• https://www.nytimes.com/1986/05/09/us/union-takes-over-local-at-hormel.html
• https://www.postbulletin.com/news/local/years-since-beginning-of-hormel-strike/article_31cc1eee-a017-5e9c-a8a3-be3e29d6b27a.html
• https://www.nytimes.com/1986/01/21/us/guard-called-in-to-keep-peace-at-hormel-site.html
• https://www.postbulletin.com/austin/news/hormel-strike-where-are-they-now/article_2d28a2f8-348d-5b91-b702-76b073d5d2ab.html

LA Times articles

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29]

Marxists Internet Archive links

[30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39]

More references

• Boyce, Steve, Jake Edwards, and Tom Wetzel. "Slaughterhouse fight: a look at the Hormel strike". Ideas & Action, no. 7 (Summer 1986).
• Mayer, Gerald. Union membership trends in the United States. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service. August 31, 2004.
• Moody, Kim (1988). An injury to all: the decline of American unionism. London: Verso. ISBN 978-0-86091-929-2.
• Serrin, William. "Labor’s new militants are getting more pushy". New York Times, August 31, 1986.
• Tyson, James L. "Ray Rogers hits J. P. Stevens where it hurts". The Harvard Crimson, September 26, 1979.