Features » May 21, 2009 » Web Only
Prairie Fire (cont’d)
'It had to make the company really wonder how that many middle-aged souls, tied up in a job that long, could have the courage to walk out that gate,' Lamb said.
‘Solidarity forever’
At six o’clock the next morning, over 1,000 workers and family members held a spirited one-hour rally outside the plant. Wearing their red union T-shirts and carrying banners and homemade signs, members shouted “Union!” and “Solidarity!” Spouses and children cheered the workers on as they headed back into work.
Staley management stopped the workers from entering the plant, however, declaring that each would be required to sign a statement agreeing to the terms in the contract the members had overwhelmingly rejected. The workers refused to sign and returned to the union hall, with the exception of two lone workers who entered the plant. Union leaders formally notified the company that the workforce was ready to return to work, but under no circumstances would they sign individual statements.
Advised by their lawyers that the agreements were blatantly illegal under the National Labor Relations Act—which prohibits employers from bargaining directly with individuals rather than with the union—the company relented. After 32 hours off the job, the unionists returned to the plant at 6 p.m. on June 17. The entire shift marched into the plant singing “Solidarity Forever” at the top of their lungs. “You would have thought we were all Johnny Cash,” recalled Dave Watts, “the way we were singing.”
A week later a ruling from the National Labor Relations Board forced the company to reinstate Gary Taylor and cancel the eleven suspensions.
Meanwhile, for weeks the Staley workers and UAW 751 had been planning a demonstration in which a 2.6-mile human chain would extend from the Staley plant to the Caterpillar plant [where a labor-management dispute was occurring]. The success of the walkout the week before gave new energy to the demonstration. On June 26, Staley and Cat workers and family members were joined by a 50-car caravan of Caterpillar workers from Peoria; over 100 AIW workers from the Milwaukee Harley-Davidson plant, who roared into town in a motorcycle caravan; Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers members from St. Paul, Minnesota; unionists from Chicago; and striking mine workers.
Four thousand people formed a human billboard of solidarity. A 20-foot banner declaring simply “Solidarity” was unfurled from a tall Staley building by a unionist working the weekend shift.
Allied Industrial Workers International president Nick Serraglio and regional director Danny Wirges spoke, encouraging the workers to continue their struggle. Dave Watts declared, “Today is the day that we send the union-busters…a message: You don’t belong in central Illinois. Go back to where you belong. This is our turf and we’re going to keep it that way.” Watts praised the solidarity of the spouses and families, declaring their courage “one-half of our battle.”
Within 24 hours, however, the lives of the Staley workers and their families would be forever changed.
To order or learn more about Staley: The Fight for a New American Labor Movement, visit the authors’ Web site.
More information about Stephen K. Ashby and C.J. Hawking
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