by Steven K. Ashby and C.J. Hawking

“Wielding cans labeled ‘Commando BodyGuard,’ police sprayed pepper gas on union members outside the A.E. Staley corn processing plant in Decatur, Illinois, June 25. The chemical attack followed a march and rally attended by about 4,000 supporters aimed at pressuring Staley to end its year-long lockout of 760 members of Paperworkers Local 7837.” -- Labor Notes, August 1994

The police attack described by Labor Notes was only the most dramatic event in the nearly-three-year struggle of Staley workers in what came to be known as “the War Zone.” In Staley: The Fight for a New American Labor Movement. Steven Ashby and C.J. Hawking tell in fine detail about the workers’ run-the-plant-backward inside campaign, their months on the picket line and civil disobedience, the Road Warriors who took their story to union halls around the country, their several corporate campaigns, and finally their International union’s decision to pull the plug.

Staley is a masterpiece not only because of the host of worker voices we hear; you will get to know Staley workers intimately as you read what happened in their own words. The authors have also masterfully analyzed why the workers lost. When the local used so many good tactics and won so much support, why did the corporation prevail? The answers are 100 percent relevant for workers today.

From the reviews

"In Staley, Ashby and Hawking point the way forward for American labor."
--Kim Moody, cofounder of Labor Notes and author of U.S. Labor in Trouble and Transition: The Failure of Reform from Above, The Promise of Revival from Below

"One of the best accounts of a labor conflict ever written. Essential reading."
--Jeremy Brecher, author of Strike!

384 pages