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Slideshow: Photos from the Hormel strike in Austin

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Conflict during the Hormel strike in Austin
A photo taken from a bystander dated 1985 during the Hormel strike in Austin, Minnesota. On August 17, 1985, about 1,500 workers with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local P-9, in Austin walked off the job.
Mower County Historical Society

In the '80s, Hormel felt pressure to remain competitive in the meatpacking industry. When the company demanded a 23 percent wage cut, on August 17, 1985, about 1,500 workers with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local P-9, in Austin walked off the job. The 10-month strike made national headlines and devastated the city. Families stopped talking. National Guard soldiers patrolled the streets to keep the peace. Red-faced screaming matches happened almost daily on the picket line. Check out the complete series "Austin at a Crossroads, 25 Years after the Hormel Strike"

Gallery
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Protest use of National Guard to break P-9 strike
A poster protesting the use of the National Guard to assist breaking the P-9 Hormel plant strike in Austin, 1984, which lasted months.
Image courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society
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Conflict during the Hormel strike in Austin
A photo taken from a bystander dated 1985 during the Hormel strike in Austin, Minnesota. On August 17, 1985, about 1,500 workers with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local P-9, in Austin walked off the job.
Mower County Historical Society
2 of 11
Police confront strikers during 1985 Hormel strike
Austin Police move in on P-9 strikers during the 1985 Hormel strike.
Austin Daily Herald Photo