American Dream Barbara Kopple Cathy Caplan, 1990

Chronicles the sixmonth strike at Hormel in Austin, Minnesota, in 198586. The local union, P9 of the Food and Commercial Workers, overwhelmingly rejects a contract offer with a 2, hour wage cut. They strike and hire a New York consultant to manage a national media campaign against Hormel. Despite support from P9 s rank and file, FCWU s international disagrees with the strategy. In addition to unioncompany tension, there s unionunion infighting. Hormel holds firm; scabs, replacement workers, brothers on opposite sides, a union coup d état, and a new contract materialize. The film asks, was it worth it, or was the strike a longterm disaster for organized labor