As the 19th century prepared to turn into the 20th, a
cataclysmic confrontation between labor and management occurred
in the steelmaking town of Homestead, Pa., pitting the wealthy
Carnegie Steel Co. against one of the strongest unions of the
day. The workers lost, setting the stage for exploitation,
miserable working conditions and depressed wages that would
finally be broken in steel by the organizing campaigns of the
1930s. And as the 20th century shambled toward the 21st, a
similar confrontation occurred in Decatur, Ill. This time the
combatants were the powerful, multinational corporation, London-
based Tate & Lyle, owner of the then-A.E. Staley Mfg. Co. Waging
a determined fight against the rotating, 12-hour shifts demanded
by Tate & Lyle was Local 7838 of the United Paperworkers
International Union. One of three labor disputes in Decatur —
Caterpillar Tractor Co. and the United Autoworkers were engaged
in a multi-year dispute, as was the United Rubber Workers of
America and Bridgestone/Firestone Tire Co