Overview

Although International Paper, the richest paper company and largest landowner in the United States, enjoyed record profits and gave large bonuses to executives in 1987, in the same year the company commanded that employess take a substantial paycut, sacrifice hundreds of jobs and forego their Christmas holidays. At the Adroscoggin Mill in Jay, Maine, 1200 workers responded by going on strike from June 1987 to October 1988. Local union members mobilized an army of volunteers but International Paper brought in permanent replacement workers and the strike was ultimately lost. Julius Getman tells the story of that strike and its implications - a story of a community changing under pressure; of surprising leaders, strategists and orators emerging; of lifelong friendships destroyed and new bonds forged. At a time when the role of organized labour is in transition, Getman suggests, this strike has particular significance. He documents the early negotiations, the battle for public opinion, the heroic efforts to maintain solidarity and the local union's sense of betrayal by its national leadership.

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9780801434761

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Reviews

'This book is rousing proof that the spirit of an entire community can be revitalized by the fight for a worthy cause. The strike by the paperworkers in Jay, Maine, brought out extraordinary and untapped qualities of bravery, loyalty, and intelligence in working families and their allies. This book is a well-told story of betrayal and survival that has lessons for all Americans and their own communities.' Senator Edward M. Kennedy

Author Information

Julius Getman is the Earl E. Sheffield Regents Professor at the University of Texas Law School, Austin. He is author or coauthor of eleven books.

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