With Peter Rachleff, Co-Executive Director at ESFL

Register here to join this event on Zoom.

The Hormel strike of 1985-1986 captured the nation’s attention. The most important strike since the PATCO (Air Traffic Controllers) strike of 1981, it represented, on the one hand, the further deterioration of unions’ power during the Reagan era, but, on the other hand, the power and appeal of working people’s passion for justice and fairness. In a recent article in the NEW LABOR FORUM, ESFL’s Peter Rachleff asked whether the strike is best remembered as a triumph or a tragedy. Peter was chairperson of the Local P-9 Solidarity Committee during the strike, and, in 1993, he published a book about it, HARD-PRESSED IN THE HEARTLAND: THE HORMEL STRIKE AND THE FUTURE OF THE LABOR MOVEMENT.

For the past several months, ESFL’s Labor History discussions have focussed on films, but this month, we offer you Peter’s recent article (we will send you a pdf when you register for the Zoom link) and invite you to join him and each other for a conversation about the meaning and legacy of this important struggle.

Free and open to all