Picket Line Blues: Prelude to a Riot - Paperback

by Nino E. Green (Author)

Construction of the world's largest shopping mall was expected to revive the economy of southern Minnesota. Four hundred miles to the north, in International Falls, Boise-Cascade was preparing to expand its paper mill. Boise's announcement of a multi- million dollar investment was delivered with the punch line of a cruel joke. The contract for the construction had been awarded to a southern company whose non-union workers would be coming to Minnesota in vehicles with Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas license plates. Only a small amount of work was to be given to local subcontractors. On July 18, 1989, union tradesmen began a wildcat strike and stationed pickets at the construction gate where they were joined by trade union members from Michigan's Upper Peninsula. On September 9, 1989, strikers and their allies rioted.