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Martial Law in Albert Lea, 1959

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Members of the National Guard confront striking meatpacking plant workers in Albert Lea. Printed in the Minneapolis Morning Tribune, December 12, 1959. Original caption: “National Guardsmen dispersed crowds at Wilson Gate early Friday morning.” Photograph by Charles Brill.

Members of the National Guard confront striking meatpacking plant workers in Albert Lea. Printed in the Minneapolis Morning Tribune, December 12, 1959. Original caption: “National Guardsmen dispersed crowds at Wilson Gate early Friday morning.” Photograph by Charles Brill.

In the winter of 1959–1960 a bitter packing-house workers’ strike against Wilson & Company in Albert Lea descended into such disorder that Governor Orville Freeman declared martial law. A federal district court later ruled his order unlawful.

Wilson & Co., with 1100 workers in a city of 17,000, was one of Albert Lea’s major employers. It was also the most anti-union of the nation’s four major meat-packing firms, and bad blood between the company and union workers had been building for weeks over forced overtime.

When the national collective bargaining agreement with the United Packing House Workers of America (UPWA) expired on September 1, 1959, the differences between the two sides centered not on wages but on power. The union demanded the rehiring of seventeen union men fired in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and the creation of a union-controlled fund as a hedge against job losses caused by automation.

Wilson would not budge on either issue—it considered them management territory—and so a strike began on November 3. This was a national strike against Wilson in Albert Lea and six other plants in cities around the country: Omaha, Cedar Rapids, Memphis, Kansas City, and Los Angeles. The company kept the Albert Lea plant open, with much lower production, using, at first, mostly management workers.

Tensions rose dramatically the first weekend of December when the company announced that it would hire permanent replacement workers and not rehire strikers. Many of the roughly 500 replacement workers it hired were local farmers, idled by winter and in need of money due to low farm prices. Acts of violence began to pop up—tires slashed, corn cribs damaged, cars stoned. On December 9 a thousand picketers crowded the plant entrance, intimidating the replacement workers. The Albert Lea Evening Tribune called the incident “a violent three-hour siege.” Freeborn County law enforcement officers wrote Governor Orville Freeman that they feared an explosion of violence.

Freeman had the power to call out the National Guard to keep the plant open and separate “scabs” from strikers. He reasoned, however, that this would do nothing to diminish the resentment felt by union workers who feared permanent loss of long-held jobs. So on December 11 Freeman declared martial law in Albert Lea and moved in the National Guard. In his proclamation he repeated words from a plea he had received from Albert Lea and Freeborn county officials:

Night prowling and acts of vandalism away from the plant area and extending into the surrounding countryside, with danger and damage occurring to innocent persons…cannot be stopped, so long as the plant continues operation…

And so he also ordered the plant closed. Soldiers with bayonets drawn appeared in Albert Lea. This had the desired effect of reducing tensions, but it also moved the Wilson Company to take Freeman to federal district court.

The hearing was held December 16 in Minneapolis before a panel of three veteran judges (all Republicans): John Sanborn and Edward Devitt of St. Paul, and Gunnar Nordbye of Minneapolis. Attorney General and future federal judge Miles Lord argued the case for Freeman. The court found that “mob rule” existed in Albert Lea, but that Freeman had exceeded his authority in declaring martial law and closing the Wilson plant. The strikers had the right to strike, but the company also had the right to keep its plant open: Freeman had gone too far. The standard for the extreme measure of martial law (implied but not expressly authorized by the Constitution of Minnesota) was “dire necessity,” and that standard had not been met. The plant reopened December 28.

Contract negotiations reopened too, and closed, and opened, back and forth for six more weeks, with plenty of friction between the union and Wilson, before a new contract was finally signed. The union did not get its automation fund, but all but a handful of the striking union members in Albert Lea were rehired without loss of seniority.

Governor Freeman probably paid a price for his martial law decision. He sought a fourth term in the elections of 1960 but was defeated by Republican Elmer Anderson. President John F. Kennedy appointed him secretary of agriculture in early 1961.

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“12,000 Packers Strike in Area.” Minneapolis Morning Tribune, March 16, 1948.

“The Big Strike Ends.” Albert Lea Tribune, February 24, 2009.

Davis, Lindy. “Ruling of Board Restores Jobs of Wilson Strikers On Basis of Seniority.” Albert Lea Evening Tribune, March 10, 1960.

——— . “Wilson Requests Criminal Contempt Against Union.” Albert Lea Evening Tribune, December 9, 1959.

——— . “Picket Line Quiets Down at Wilson Plant.” Albert Lea Evening Tribune, December 10, 1959.

——— . “Martial Law Declared in Freeborn County.” Albert Lea Evening Tribune, December 11, 1959.

Freeborn County, Minnesota, Historical and Genealogical Societies. Freeborn County Heritage. Albert Lea: Freeborn County, Minnesota, Historical and Genealogical Societies, 1988.

“Here is Text Asking State to Close Plant.” Minneapolis Morning Tribune, December 12, 1959.

Masica, Mark A. “The Albert Lea Strike, Wilson and Company v. Freeman.” Paper presented to the University of Minnesota Department of History, 1979. Gale Family Library, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul.

Papers regarding the Wilson & Co. strike in Albert Lea. Governor Orville Freeman papers, Box 38 (145.C.2.1B), Manuscripts Collection, Minnesota Historical Society.
http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00372.xml

Romer, Sam. “Troops Ordered to Quell Violence at Wilson Plant.” Minneapolis Morning Tribune, December 11, 1959.

——— . “5 Albert Lea Strikers Are Ordered Fired.” Minneapolis Morning Tribune, August 27, 1960.

Vanderpoel, Pete. “300 Workers Return to Wilson Plant.” Albert Lea Evening Tribune, December 14, 1959.

Wickland, John. “Union Calls Off Meat Strike at South St. Paul.” Minneapolis Morning Tribune, May 22, 1948.

Wilson & Co. v. Orville Freeman, et al., 179 F. Supp 520 (D. Minn. 1959).

Related Images

Members of the National Guard confront striking meatpacking plant workers in Albert Lea. Printed in the Minneapolis Morning Tribune, December 12, 1959. Original caption: “National Guardsmen dispersed crowds at Wilson Gate early Friday morning.” Photograph by Charles Brill.
Members of the National Guard confront striking meatpacking plant workers in Albert Lea. Printed in the Minneapolis Morning Tribune, December 12, 1959. Original caption: “National Guardsmen dispersed crowds at Wilson Gate early Friday morning.” Photograph by Charles Brill.
The president of the United Packing House Workers of America (UPWA) union Local 6, Charles Lee (second from left), with Freeborn County attorney O. Russell Olson (far left), sheriff Everette Stovern (third from right), police lieutenant Woodrow Chrz (second from right), and union lawyer Doug Hall (far right), 1959. Minneapolis Star Tribune portraits collection (news photos, box 108), Minnesota Historical Society.
The president of the United Packing House Workers of America (UPWA) union Local 6, Charles Lee (second from left), with Freeborn County attorney O. Russell Olson (far left), sheriff Everette Stovern (third from right), police lieutenant Woodrow Chrz (second from right), and union lawyer Doug Hall (far right), 1959. Minneapolis Star Tribune portraits collection (news photos, box 108), Minnesota Historical Society.
Aerial view of Wilson & Company meatpacking plant, Albert Lea, 1955.
Aerial view of Wilson & Company meatpacking plant, Albert Lea, 1955.
Minnesota Governor Orville Freedman, 1957.
Minnesota Governor Orville Freedman, 1957.
: Attorney General Miles Lord (left) and Minnesota Governor Orville Freeman (right), 1958.
: Attorney General Miles Lord (left) and Minnesota Governor Orville Freeman (right), 1958.
The president of the United Packing House Workers of America (UPWA) union Local 6Local 6, Charles Lee, 1959. Minneapolis Star Tribune portraits collection (news photos, box 108), Minnesota Historical Society
The president of the United Packing House Workers of America (UPWA) union Local 6Local 6, Charles Lee, 1959. Minneapolis Star Tribune portraits collection (news photos, box 108), Minnesota Historical Society

Turning Point

On December 9, 1959, striking union workers threaten, harass, and engage in sporadic acts of violence against replacement workers in Albert Lea. Law enforcement fears worsening violence.

Chronology

1916

Wilson & Co. of Chicago buys the nearly defunct Albert Lea Packing Company.

1943

The union United Packing House Workers of America (UPWA) takes over as bargaining agent for Wilson & Co. employees in Albert Lea.

May 1948

Striker Wilson & Co. workers in Albert Lea settle for the company’s wage offer after a two month strike, effectively losing the strike.

September 1, 1959

The UPWA national contract with Wilson & Co. expires.

November 3, 1959

The strike begins. The plant stays in operation with management workers moving into production roles.

November 10, 1959

Wilson & Co. gets a state court temporary restraining order against the union workers’ interference with workers entering the plant.

November 30–December 7, 1959

Wilson & Co. hires 500 non-union workers to replace the strikers.

December 9, 1959

Violence begins to break out. Some 1,000 pickets and supporters gather at the plant, stoning cars of arriving scab workers.

December 10, 1959

Violence continues. Freeborn County district judge John Cahill issues an order banning mass picketing.

December 11, 1959

Governor Orville Freeman declares martial law in Albert Lea and orders the Wilson & Co. plant closed.

December 12–14, 1959

Wilson & Co. sues Freeman in federal district court, seeking to overturn the martial law order. Wilson and the union resume negotiations. 300 non-union workers are allowed into the plant to prevent spoilage of meat.

December 22, 1959

A panel of three federal judges rules Freeman’s declaration of martial law invalid.

December 28, 1959

The plant reopens and negotiations resume.

January 4, 1960

Negotiations break off, the National Guard is withdrawn, violence resumes.

January 11, 1960

Negotiations resume in Chicago.

January 30, 1960

3,000 people rally in Albert Lea in support of the strikers.

February 19, 1960

Wilson and the union reach agreement on a new contract.

March 10–August 26, 1960

An arbitration panels restores jobs to all but a handful of strikers, including union leaders, to employment and full seniority.