P-9 Fights the Odds

AUSTIN, MINNESOTA: 6:15 and they have at last dropped off the wood for the fire barrels. But until the sun comes up, nothing is going to be enough to keep us warm. The picket lines left the Austin Labor Center at four o’clock, and for the last two hours the men who are going to be arrested this morning have been waiting for the early morning shift to arrive. I keep thinking of what one of the strikers said to me yesterday. “When my Dad worked here we had a saving wage. Then it went to a living wage. Now it’s a survival wage. All you hear is, ‘Be thankful you’ve got a job. — 8:30 and the police and sheriff’s deputies have started the arrests. There is an unspoken understanding at work. The crowd (300)...