PETER J. RACHLEFF:

Local P-9, headquartered in Austin, Minnesota, was the bargaining agent for the workers at the George A. Hormel & Company meat packing plant in Austin. It was constituted in 1933, and was originally affiliated with the Independent Union of All Workers. After a 1979 merger between the Retail Clerks International Union and the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America, Local P-9 became affiliated with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW). James Guyette became president of Local P-9 in January 1984.

George A. Hormel & Company, a multinational food and consumer products company, was established in 1891 in Austin, Minnesota. Its principal products are meat and food products, including fresh and frozen meats, sausages, hams, wieners, bacon, Spam and other canned luncheon meats, microwavable entres, stews, hash, chilies, and meat spreads. In 1991 the name of the company was changed to Hormel Foods Corporation.

Local P-9 struck the company on August 17, 1985 over wage and benefit concessions and other issues. Local P-9 hired Corporate Campaign, Inc. to assist it in the strike. The strike dragged on with no resolution, and the company eventually hired permanent replacements for striking workers. In March 1986 the UFCW ordered Local P-9 to end its strike, boycott, and related activities against Hormel. P-9 refused to do so. On May 7, 1986 the UFCW imposed a trusteeship on Local P-9 and appointed Joseph T. Hansen as trustee, removing Guyette and the other officers. A tentative agreement was reached with Hormel by September 1986.

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The collection includes background materials, correspondence and related papers, legal files, newsletters, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, printed materials, flyers, snapshot photographs, and the script of a play.

Extensive minutes and related papers document the activities of the main support group, the Metro Area Hormel Workers Support Committee. Newspaper clippings, newsletters, and ephemera contain information on the other support groups, which include the Austin Emergency Appeal, the Austin United Support Group, and the local affiliate of the National Rank-and-File Against Concessions. There is a large file of newspaper and magazine articles taken largely from left-wing publications.

There is information about efforts to raise money and public support for the striking workers, extensive documentation of contacts with other unions around the state and nation asking for support, and records of a fund raising appeal for the legal defense of arrested strikers, including solicitation of "celebrity" endorsements. There is information about the UFCW International Union's takeover of Local P-9 when the local refused to end the strike (1986), the ouster by the International of P-9's officers and its appointment of Hansen as trustee, and the former officers' subsequent legal action against the International. There is information about a boycott of Hormel products led by Guyette and others, and charges of criminal syndicalism brought against Guyette and consulting "union strategist" Ray Rogers following a riot outside the Austin plant.

The materials were gathered by Peter J. Rachleff and David Riehle, active supporters of the strike and leaders of the Metro-Area P-9 Support Committee.

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These records are divided into the following two sections:

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Rachleff, Peter J. Papers relating to Hormel strike support groups. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 14,357; 15,396

Processing Information:

Processed by: Kathryn A. Johnson, February 1991 and David B. Peterson, January 1999

Catalog ID number: 990017135570104294

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A video documentary about the strike is in the Minnesota Historical Society sound and visual collections.

Bumper and other strike-related stickers are in the Minnesota Historical Society museum collections.

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Boycotts -- United States.

Criminal Syndicalism -- Minnesota -- Austin.

Geo. A. Hormel & Company Strike, Austin, Minn., 1985-1986.

Industrial relations -- Minnesota.

Meat industry and trade -- Minnesota -- Austin.

Riots -- Minnesota -- Austin.

Spam (Trademark).

Strikes and lockouts -- Meat industry -- Minnesota -- Austin.

Strikes and lockouts -- Packing-house workers -- Minnesota.

Trade-unions -- Packing-house workers -- Minnesota -- Austin.

Places:

Austin (Minn.).

Persons:

Guyette, James V.

Riehle, David J.

Rogers, Ray.

Organizations:

Austin Emergency Appeal (St. Paul, Minn.).

Austin United Support Group.

Geo. A. Hormel and Company.

Metro Area Hormel Workers Support Committee.

National Rank-and-File Against Concessions.

United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. Local P-9 (Austin, Minn.).

Types of Documentation:

Photographs.

Occupations:

Packing-house workers -- Minnesota -- Austin.

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