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Prairie Fire

A bitter labor conflict ultimately failed in Decatur, Ill., during the mid-’90s. But a new book argues that tactics developed there by locked-out workers strengthen today’s labor movement.

By Stephen K. Ashby and C.J. Hawking

On December 22, 1995, a slim majority of workers locked-out out of the A.E. Staley Co. plant in Decatur, Ill. voted to accept a company proposal that spelled their own defeat. So ended what was perhaps the longest and most high-profile conflict between a corporation and organized labor to occur during the 1990s. The workers, locked out of their jobs over… return to article

Also by Stephen K. Ashby and C.J. Hawking
  • Prairie Fire
    A bitter labor conflict ultimately failed in Decatur, Ill., during the mid-'90s. But a new book argues that tactics developed there by locked-out workers strengthen today's labor movement.
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