United States 1985-1986

Synopsis

On 19 August 1985 Local P-9 of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) went on strike against Geo. A. Hormel and Company's Austin, Minnesota, flagship plant. The strike attracted widespread support among rank-and-file workers in the U.S. labor movement despite the reluctance of the UFCW to endorse its objectives. In January 1986 Hormel reopened the plant with strikebreakers, leading P-9 to widen its efforts to secure support from other workers. In April 1986 the UFCW terminated its support for the strike, removed the local union officers, and ended the strike by signing a contract very similar to the one P-9 had rejected when it walked out. Most strikers never regained their jobs.

Timeline

• 1965: African Americans in the Watts section of Los Angeles riot for six days. Thirty-four people are killed, over 1,000 injured, and fires damage $175 million in property.
• 1974: In a bout with George Foreman...