All language subtitles for american.dream.1990

[ Pigs squealing ]

MAN: As President Reagan
was preparing to deliver

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.

PRESIDENT REAGAN:
My fellow Americans,

I've talked to you
about the economic problems

and opportunities
our nation faces.

I'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.

It comes at a time
when union officials

are charging there is a growing
campaign to break unions.

MAN:
The operation will be nonunion.

Salaries will be cut in half.

MAN #2: 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: These are hard times
for the meatpacking industry.

MAN: Union labor has taken
almost 50% wage-and-benefit cuts

to keep their jobs
and their companies afloat.

At least I'm taking some money
home instead of nothing.

WOMAN: In Waterloo, Iowa,
a shutdown.

At Iowa Beef,
a violent strike...

MAN: Striking meatpackers
facing 40% pay cuts

go packing bricks against
a truck at a Wilson Foods plant.

RATHER: Crossed picket lines in
spite of an automobile barricade

as Hormel's flagship plant,
open for a second week...

WOMAN: ...send in the guards
was reached after city officials

said the situation at Hormel
was beyond their control.

This is not Austin anymore!

It'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 I give you a pamphlet here?

So you can see what's going on
in the Austin plant. Thank you.

Can I give you one of these
about the Hormel injury rate?

- Okay, thank you.
- Thank you.

Aren't you Mr. Anderson?

Hi. I don't know
if you remember me.

- We had the good years.
- You did.

And this, I sure hope it comes,
gets straightened out.

I'd like to see
something settled.

And I understand
your side of it.

I really do. I wouldn't
like to take a cut either.

I wish everybody good luck.

I hope they don't have trouble
with the company.

I'm retired, and if I were
still working, if I lost my job,

that would be terrible.

MAN:
Could I talk to your husband?

WOMAN: No, but there's something
I 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 your job

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.

If we 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,

I grossed $637
for 47 hours' work.

After the incentive program
was taken away,

I went down to $409 a week.

Today I'm making $312.

Working twice as hard
for the same amount of hours.

It'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, I'm proud
to be a wife of a hog cutter.

I'm proud of the products.

But I 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 ]

JIM: It's a real quagmire
of a situation,

and people
are really getting hurt.

Their pride is hurt

because they can't fulfill
the needs of their 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:
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 I 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

In your community

NYBERG:
In 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.

FILM NARRATOR:
It's been written that Jay

was a born innovator

and remembered
for his social conscience.

His thoughtful understanding of

and concern for the welfare
of the working man

was surely what gave rise
to the benefits

that have been made available
to Hormel personnel.

He initiated the first
guaranteed annual wage.

There was also
a first-of-its-kind

profit-sharing plan
for the workers

that paid a share of
the profits to each of them.

Perhaps that explains
why everyone at Hormel

strives for quality
and efficiency.

WOMAN: I've worked for Hormel,
it'll be 43 years this year.

And if it were necessary
as a survival,

I would be all for it.

We've done it before
over the many, many times.

But this, I think, is just
the mood of the industry,

and they're jumping
on the bandwagon

to be one of them to say,
"We were able to do it, too."

Where, I think, if they
would have left our wages

at their present standard,

people would have really
used them as a shining example

that in hard times, if you
really have good productivity,

good relationship
with your employees,

that you're able to handle
the bad times.

I hope that they have
enough of the vision

that I think I must have
for the welfare

of the long-term future
of the company,

that would say,
"We can do no more."

If Jay Hormel were here today,
if George A. Hormel were here,

they probably would be doing
exactly the same thing

that we are.

I think unions are getting
their teeth kicked in.

I think if you're
into a situation

of where you're getting beat up,

you better try
something different.

MAN: Corporate campaigns
initiated by Ray Rogers...

MAN #2: Rogers
has been used to targeting

one enemy, the employer.

MAN #3: Rogers brought
his Corporate Campaign here...

JIM: We were very ineffective
in communicating our message.

MAN #4:
He managed to attract reporters

from the "New York Times,"
the "Chicago Tribune"...

JIM: I ran across an article on
Ray Rogers and gave him a call.

MAN #5: Tough-talking
labor consultant...

JIM: 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: 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 poker just went up.

In this game, because that's
the way the company views it.

It'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!
We're gonna win!

We're gonna win!
We're gonna win!

RAY: 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 of them.

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
of taking 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.

JIM: Ray told me you're never
going to outspend a company,

public-relations-wise.

My name is Ray Rogers.
I'm with Corporate Campaign.

JIM:
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.

JIM: The strategy was
to go after the money

behind the corporation.

There's a lot of labor money
in First Bank's system.

MAN: 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.

JIM: Ray knows how to put
labor's best foot forward

so that John Q. Public would
sympathize with our cause.

There's some guy I'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, I'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 I'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 if you 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: We don't need
First Bank's greed!

If anybody doesn't have a sign,
just grab a sign here.

CROWD: 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 of things.

People are realizing we're
willing to fight that fight.

People recognize
that the labor movement

being a key factor
if we're gonna have

any real meaningful social --
economic -- Cut.

NARRATOR: Are you afraid
of Corporate Campaign?

We're not.

What happens if they persist?

Well, I don't know.

With our position,
I don't know what they can do.

I realize that they can say
a lot of things,

but they can't do
a lot of things.

And I think it's tragic, because
the only thing they end up doing

is destroying their jobs
and their company.

MAN: Thank you all very much.
Appreciate it.

NARRATOR: The United Food
and Commercial Workers

is the parent union
of Austin'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
of the 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 of the 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.

If they continue, they're
gonna become bigger losers

than what they are now.

It is gonna
cost them their jobs.

Instead of making $8.25 an hour,
or $9.25 an hour...

MAN ON RADIO:
Good one by Glen Campbell.

It's time for the
song of inspiration

brought to you by your friends

at Omaha Auto and Truck
Recyclers Association.

It 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:
Go!

Go! Go!

Go! Go!

Local unions like P-9

have complete autonomy
to carry on all union business

as long as they don't violate

their international
constitution.

The International Union
can only give strategic advice.

MAN: What can you do
that we can't do?

- So far, I haven't seen much.
- Really?

- [ Crowd groans ]
- There's your answer.

No, I want you to answer that.

I 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.
- I'm not dodging the question.

That's a question
that was asked.

I'm not gonna answer it.

What you do not have,

what the International
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.

I haven't seen anybody
from the International

come and give you
that kind of direction

or campaign literature.

One thing I'll credit you.
You're a hell of a motivator.

Millions of dollars worth
of free 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.

Is 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 of what is decided

by this organization,
you're going to go ahead

with that campaign
as you've outlined it?

If the rank and file dictates
they're gonna resist pay cuts,

we're gonna resist the pay cuts.

And I 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.

"I'll get mine, and the hell
with everybody else."

RAY: 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
of the 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.

It'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: Why won't the International
support the Hormel workers?

Is $10.69 an hour too much?

Look, I worked
in those packinghouses.

I worked for a very antiunion
employer as a beef skinner,

so I know what that work is.

And they deserve $10.69-plus,
believe me.

One of the things
that Local 9 has said

to the Packing Committee

is, "Well, if we
can get $10.69 there,

that's the shining star,
and everybody will go to that."

But I gotta tell you,

in some 10 or 15 years
of our experience,

that's not the case.

One of two things happens.

Those operators on the low end
of the scale get bigger,

or those on the high end
of that 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
if we could do that.

I'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.

I want to tell you,
I am disgusted

to be even associated
with this organization.

You've got to.

John, take your pen
if you're disgusted.

Yeah. You've got a lot
of gutless people here.

JIM: We pleaded
with the National Union

that if they couldn't support
us, get out of the way.

If you're gonna get in the way
and run interference for Hormel,

then we're gonna go right
through you if we have to.

So you've got the International
Union looking at it and saying,

"If these people are successful,

they may find that
an International Union

isn't necessary,

and all they need is a labor
consultant from time to time.

LEWIE:
Now we have a situation

where some of the people
from Local 9 and Ray Rogers

have a caravan
roaming across the country,

spieling out some of
the most antiunion venom.

JIM: 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:
$100,000 expense account,

and Lewie Anderson was making
his $70,000-plus salary

and his lavish expense account.

If you think
when the public sees that

that they understand
the complexities

of what'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?

LEWIE: Antiunionism is oozing
out of our own ranks.

That'll destroy us quicker
than anything will.

I know this is
definitely a union-made tent.

JIM: People who believe
in what they're doing

are the most dangerous kind
of folks 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: I want to thank
all you guys from P-9

because you have
performed a miracle

for the Hormel employees
of Ottumwa.

I 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.

JIM: 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."

If 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 hot dogs

We don't like Hormel
and their hot dogs

P-9 thanks you.

We'll be back!

Yeah!

LEWIE: 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.

If you want to gain
your union back,

you're gonna have to recognize
what you're up against.

This meeting is somewhat
clandestine in that

if you're going to put
together a committee,

then you need time
to get it off the ground

without them branding you
at this moment

that the International
is behind it.

It started with four of us that
met two weeks ago with Lewie.

It started off with that group.
We expanded to 16.

Now we're going to go
in a meeting here.

All of us are gonna try to sing
off the 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:
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: What are we doing
that's so antiunion?

I see more union people here and
more support than I do anywhere.

That's not antiunion.
That's going forward.

I want to be
a union of the '80s.

I 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 Iron 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:
Yeah!

Let's stand up!

Give me a "W"!

- "Give me an "I"!
- "I"!

- Give me an "N"!
- "N"!

- What do you got?
- Win!

We're gonna win it!

- Yeah!
- We're gonna win it!

MAN:
To some, he is a prophet.

A messiah
who has assembled the tools

that can bring corporate giants
to their knees.

MAN: 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 of things
that are going on

in that union hall that
should have gone on years ago.

He's kept the hands and minds
busy of the people.

MAN: 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, I want to say this
very clear.

Lewie is lying.

I 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,
I 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!

I 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.

It was doomed
from the beginning,

and we tried
to impress that on them.

Being militant and standing up
if you'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
for three years

at $10 per hour.

And any new employees would be
paid $2 less for the same work.

Hormel's final offer
is rejected

by both the local union
and the International.

NYBERG:
If we'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 of those 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:
We'll tell them that.

You want to get that set up
in the main hall?

RAY:
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 ]

JIM: 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 ]

For the first time in 52 years,

Hormel's Austin plant was about
to be shut down by a strike.

You're looking
pretty chipper today.

- Hi, Bill.
- Hiya, Jim.

Too bad we can't meet
under better circumstances.

I need you to sign.

In fact, if you want to sign
a couple of them, 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
of just how much muscle

organized labor
can or cannot flex.

Kevin Berger, Channel 5
Eyewitness News, St. Paul.

NYBERG:
I 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.

JIM: The company's strategy
is a clear one.

They want to freeze us out.

They want to starve us out.

And I 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 I 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.

I see people working together,
people willing to share,

people borrowing clothes.

I see people opening up.
I see people crying.

It'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.

If 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 of those
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.

I can't even add.

I 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.

JIM: This money will be very
much needed by our membership.

And I thank you
from the bottom of my heart.

Hey, Joe. They lost
their power over there.

JIM: Our union hall
became a fun place to be at.

There was a lot of things
going on.

It became a place
where families could come.

We had a lot of folks
who liked to work on cars.

Instead 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.

I 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."

"I 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.

LEWIE: 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.

who has yet to do
one positive thing.

We can't be jacking
around here forever.

This is a mess.
That's what I'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.

JIM: 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 of the way.

We'll deal
with our own negotiations."

It don't mean anything.

NYBERG:
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.

Instead of just basing it
blindly on the old contract,

we looked at every provision
of that agreement and said,

"What would make sense here?"

WOMAN:
Who's gonna pay for that?

MAN:
The company.

What is it?

Joint Management Labor.

LEWIE: 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 I'm speaking to 40 years
of bargaining gone as a result

of these 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.

LEWIE: All I can do is take
a peek at their vaults

and see if there's any money.

If there 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.

LEWIE: 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.

JIM: 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 another job!

You want to come back
to these meetings?

I worked out in that plant,
and I 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!

I won't take it anymore!

I won't have the courtesy
of letting you ask questions.

I'll walk out the next time
you open your mouth.

LEWIE: The more that the
membership seems unreasonable,

the more the bargaining
committee seems unreasonable,

the tougher they are...

Hello.

LEWIE: 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.

I'd like to carve out
numbers one and two

and continue to talk with you

to see if there's
something we can do,

but I haven't come up
with anything.

LEWIE: 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!

LEWIE: 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.

If you don't meet them,

they believe
you haven't done your job

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.

I say, "Fuck them."

If they 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.

LEWIE:
If you take workers who feel

that they're
been mistreated or misused,

they want to get
at the heart of the matter.

They want to get
to that employer.

It's their obligation
to give it to us.

If they don't want to,
then piss on them. Let them go.

Look, between both of you,
you want a strike.

You keep snapping
at everything for one.

- lf you want one.
- MAN: Some results, Lewie.

You think it's us?

I can't deliver, and I don't
intend to carry this on.

I can't deliver something
that's not there at this time.

I'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!

I did not come here and act
like I 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.

LEWIE: 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.

If I get emotional.
I seem tired about this.

This is not jerk-off time.
This is serious business.

You better be able
to inflict some economic damage

on that employer.

If you 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 not been stopped.

The company shifted production
to their other plants

that are still in operation.

In Austin, they are using
their own management personnel

to turn out thousands
of cans of Spam a day.

MAN: It's got to be
blatantly obvious to everyone

that this company
doesn't want a contract.

MAN #2:
We're at the crossroads.

JIM:
I want to win.

MAN: I don't think there's a guy
who don't want to win.

That's no excuse for doing
something you shouldn't.

All I'm saying is,

whatever it takes to win,
I want to do it.

LEWIE: 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

if they get stuck
with a bad settlement up there.

MAN:
You people are believing

that we've got the power
to get them to the table.

It 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 I just wish that we could
act concerted.

The fact is, I think
we all realize right now

the company is in a very solid
and very legal position

to start that packinghouse up
without us

if we don't go back to work.

Now, I 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 I don't care if we 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 I'm not part of the
negotiating board. That's why.

WOMAN:
You're out of order!

Hey, you can rule me
out of order all you want.

I'm gonna tell you one thing.

Rule me out of order
all you want.

JIM:
Security?

Did you call 911?

Get them in here.
Get them in here.

MAN:
Will you sit down?

What the hell
is the matter with you?

Back off, you guys!

I relent!

If you have come to fight

and not get any damn answers,
continue!

Otherwise, sit down!

It's a union meeting!

We have said
until we're blue in the face.

I don't know
how we say it again.

We have gone as far
as we're going to go.

If you 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.
I don't think you're winning.

The company, I 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.

I have a family like you have.

And I want to be able
to say to them,

as Hubert Humphrey said,

"I'd rather live 50 years
like a tiger

than 100 years like a chicken. "

NYBERG: 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 their jobs

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.

I got a wife and three kids,
and I love them.

They'll understand later.

If it comes down to losing
this place, we'll survive,

just like a lot of people.

I got to give R.J. credit.

At least he made a stand,
you know.

He put himself
on one side or the other.

I'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.

It'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 of the economy.

Throughout the nation,
that's what's happening.

And I guess
maybe you have to swallow hard,

but if you want a job...

You're gonna have to take it,
I guess, a little bit.

NARRATOR: So, are you having
problems with your brother?

Oh, I 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:
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 our job.
It's not theirs.

We knew this strike was coming.

We should've avoided it.

They didn't want to talk.

The International said,
"It's ill-advised.

You're on a suicide mission."

They told us that.

MAN: So far, I think
I've seen about five.

Let's see one, two...

Three, four...

Five, six...

I think I've seen seven.

I had to come today.

I had to know what
it'd be like to see people

coming into the place that
I spent my whole life in,

going in and doing my job.

It's really, really hard
to watch this happen.

I'm never gonna let myself get
in a position like this again,

where a group of
a minority of assholes

dictate how I handle
the rest of my life.

Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

I'll tell you
there will be no blocking

of the ingress and egress
of that plant.

That plant will operate.

The state police will come down
on them and crush them.

You can't win that fight there.

If the police can't do it,

then they'll bring
the National Guard in.

That will demoralize
the piss out of them.

They'll be standing there,

3 people every 50 feet
with their dick in their hands,

watching people take their jobs.

Now, that is very demoralizing.

[ Laughter ]

All right!

Look, you got to do it
and be effective.

MAN:
I'd like to know how many people

think they could get up
at 3:30, 4:00,

whenever the traffic comes in,
and do it.

I'm ready right now.

All right, then let's do it
Friday morning!

Let's do it!

Then we'll see you
at 4:00 in the morning!

[ Cheers and applause ]

[ Car horns honking ]

MAN ON RADIO: We might mention,
if you are driving in the area,

you will be diverted
away from the plant, westbound.

If you're moving up the east
side of the Hormel plant,

you will be asked to turn
your car around and go back.

MAN #2: We just heard from the
Austin Law Enforcement Center

that all the roads surrounding
the Hormel company itself

have been blocked off.

MAN #3: We'll get further
reports, Dan-o. Thank you.

One thing we should probably
tell everybody.

If the police ask who's in
charge, nobody's in charge.

Nobody's in charge.

No one's in charge!

It's cold out today.
God!

There's gonna be a lot of cars
that's gonna freeze up.

If 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: If there's any interference
with our police duties,

we do not want to make arrests.

WOMAN: I lost eight hours' pay
today because of that.

[ 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
I chose to do without.

I have every right
to go in and do my job,

just as they have
every right to picket.

Mr. Mayor, this isn't
a hostage situation.

This isn't Tehran, Iran.
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.

It'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.

I don't want to merit
right or wrong.

I'm not gonna pick sides.

But I got a question.

Is what the company's doing...

I don't want
to discuss moralities.

Is 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.

I was born and raised here.

Members of my family
that are buried here.

These people are my friends
on all sides of this issue.

I've graduated
from high school with them.

I went to college
with some of these 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.

It's a difficult situation

for both Chief Hoffman and I
to deal with.

I can't tell you what it's like.
It's tearing us up.

MAN:
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: I don't know if you know,
but this is your community,

not two or three of them
greedy executives!

What the hell's the matter
with you? Shut it down!

Shut her down!

I 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!

I 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.

If what everybody
is reflecting is accurate.

MAN:
Let's get our people

and tell 'em the straight shot,
like they deserve.

We got lots of folks that
are gonna go in there tomorrow

because the Guard's gonna
let everybody in.

So let's all
go back in tomorrow.

I don't think there's gonna be
that many going in tomorrow.

I don't think
we've shown our last shot.

I'm not ready to give up.

- No.
- Shit, not me.

I got some real problems

because I 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,
I won't feel a bit better.

Left, left, right, left.

I've been out of work
for six years. I need a job.

NARRATOR:
How have you been getting by?

Just doing odd jobs.

Must be hard. You ever worked
in a packinghouse?

No.

- Where are you from?
- McIntyre.

- How'd you hear about it?
- Been on the news.

I 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:
Why are you doing this?

Because I 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!

JIM: 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.

I'm not getting a thing from
anybody other than $40 a week,

just like everybody else
in here.

I want my job,

just like everybody in here
wants their job.

I'm seriously considering
crossing.

I'd be a liar
if I said I wasn't.

Don't do it!

I didn't say I was.

I said I was considering.

What I'm saying is,
a lot of you people,

and you'd be liars
if you say you didn't,

haven't considered crossing.

Because we all need jobs.

What plan of action is
everybody here looking for?

I 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

if we don't shut down
their goddamn plants

and shut 'em down fast.

I 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.

It 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 of the 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?

If you can't shut them down
completely,

you've accomplished nothing,

other than getting a whole lot
of people fired and out of work.

What I'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?"

I'll say it. Hell, there's
nothing we can do for them.

That's the risk we take.

Not we take.
They take.

Okay.
It'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.

JIM: When does the realization
come to those folks

that our fight
is indeed their fight?

When are we gonna do it
if we 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
of the contracts

if they voluntarily stay out

and honor the picket line
of Local P-9

or however many pickets
there might be.

We know that if they do stay out

that they will be subject
to replacement

just as employees in Austin
are subject to replacement.

The Executive Board
of Local P-9

decided to recommend that
the picket line be extended

to all other Hormel plants in
an attempt to shut them down.

With that came the promise that
if anyone at the other plants

got fired for honoring
P-9's picket line,

no P-9ers
would return to their jobs

until the company agreed
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.

I 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.

If this 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...

It's a unanimous
Executive Board recommendation.

All those in favor
signify by saying "aye."

CROWD:
Aye!

Those opposed.

Ayes have it.

I 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:
There's no way on God's creation

that I'm gonna cross
their picket line!

When I looked at a guy
I worked with for seven years.

I live in the same town he does,
22 miles up the road.

And I said to him,
"How do you feel?"

He said, "My heart's pumping."

I looked at another guy
I worked with for seven years.

I said, "How do you feel?"
He said, "My heart's pumping."

I 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
if we 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?

I'm mystified.

Scabs!

Go back to your own town, scabs!

Asshole! Go to hell!
I 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.

I don't know you.

Who's your smiley partner?

I've known that guy
since we were in grade school.

It's killing him inside.
He's told me that.

I tried to talk him out of it.

He said no.
It'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 I did,

I couldn't live with myself.

RON: If things haven't changed
substantially

in two or three days,

I will base my decision
on the fact

that my family is number one
in my life, not my union.

NARRATOR: Are you gonna go
across the picket line?

So it appears it.

At this stage of the game,
well, it would be tough,

but I 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,

I believe that I was a dupe,
I 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 I was brought up

that you do not cross a
picket line, no matter what.

It's something
that you do not do.

Because you don't belong
to a union all these years

and develop
all these principles.

It isn't like a dollar bill.

You can't throw it on the ground
and be rid of it.

As much as I want my job back,

I've still been a good
union member for many years.

But I 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 I do? I sit home,
and I play with the cat.

What kind of provider is that?

It 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 I want to do is work,"

and they...

It's tough.

But I spent more
than we should have.

But I want to go back to work.

And the hell with P-9.

I'm ready.

NARRATOR:
Is that hard for you?

You bet.

Why?

Not being able to -- excuse me.

[ Voice breaking ]
Provide for my family.

[ Crying ]

I 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,

"I don't care
if you 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
of the imagination.

WOMAN: 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 of the gate.

I 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, I wasn't always
International president.

I used to work
in the grocery stores, you know.

And I know what it is
to work for peanuts.

And you think I like the fact

that our people got to roll
their wages back a bit?

I don't.

But I tell you what.

I don't take people
over a cliff.

There's an old rule
in the labor movement.

Anybody can put people
on the street.

It takes a man to put them
back to work. I'm sorry.

It 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.

If we don't, then in a short
period of time, I'll settle it.

- Question.
- I'll settle it.

- How will you settle it?
- I told you I'll settle it.

I 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 International Union said
it had lifted its sanction

of the walkout

and cut off $40-a-week benefits
to strikers.

But pickets remained in place
through the day.

WOMAN: It is a strike,
those on the line say,

is becoming symbolic
of the struggle

to keep trade unions alive.

If they 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 I say there's no way I 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.

If all the workers
lose their job here,

okay, if that'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 their jobs,

and because they've got
intense national attention

on these important problems
that confront labor,

that could still be a victory?

No, what I 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.

JIM:
I think that we at P-9

started
this small labor dispute.

It quickly escalated
into a labor dispute

that represented
a lot of things.

Taking on one of the corporate
giants in an industry.

Taking on one of the largest
international unions

in the country.

And really recognizing
the forces

that working people
have to deal with.

If a small union in the middle
of a cornfield in Minnesota

can do the kinds of things
we do...

We just need to get about
the business of doing it.

LEWIE: I 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.

In June of 1986,

the International took over
the local union

and threw out the elected
leadership of Local P-9.

The main things
that the order covers is

if anybody physically confronts
the UFCW, if they remove assets,

or if they hold themselves out
to be representing Local P-9

rather than just saying
they're a member of P-9.

Do I have to say I'm suspended?

The order's
pretty clear on that.

I got to say I'm suspended?

The International Union

negotiated a settlement
with Hormel,

whereby the people
who crossed the picket line

would receive the same wages
and benefits as workers

at the other Hormel plants.

$10.25 per hour.

We didn't stand by the company.

We stood by
the International Union.

Kiss my ass!
Kiss my ass!

You're full of shit.

You went back to save
your ass and save your job.

By God, we needed our jobs.

We took our chances
with Hormel with the hope

that unionism
would somehow survive.

We left the union
and we went back to our jobs.

That's where it was.

[ Booing and jeering ]

Go ahead.
You can scream and holler.

Get that out of your system.
Then we can proceed.

There's one part in the contract
that I must have missed.

It's the part that says
they have to take me

and the rest
of all these guys back.

This is the way I feel.

Hormel's will never take me back
unless I put it in the contract

or you put it in the contract.

And if that'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 of this they get.

I don't get none of it, because
I didn't get back in the plant.

The contract did not contain
any provisions

for the people
who honored the picket line.

These people were placed
on a waiting list.

It's time, and I think you
people have realized, too.

Had we pulled together
two years ago,

I don't think you or us
would be faced with this.

But I think it's the thing
that's going on in America,

and I think we as men and women
have to realize

we better start pulling
together,

or, by God,
they're gonna bury us.

Part of why
it's gonna be so hard to leave

is because I'm gonna have to
leave my mom and dad.

My dad's still out on strike,

and I feel like
I'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.

I 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.

It was past time.

Mike took a stand and refused
to go across the picket line.

I'm glad he wouldn't, because
I wouldn't have wanted him to.

LEWIE: 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."

It'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?

It 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 power greater

Anywhere beneath the sun

Yet, what force on Earth
is weaker

Than the feeble strength
of one

And the union
makes us strong

Solidarity forever

Solidarity forever

Solidarity forever

And the union
makes us strong

In our arms
is placed a power

Greater
than their hoarded gold

Greater
than the might of armies

Magnified a thousand fold

We can bring together
the new world

From the ashes of the old

And the union
makes us strong

Solidarity forever

Solidarity forever

Solidarity forever

And the union
makes us strong

Solidarity forever

Solidarity forever