Picket Line Blues: Prelude to a Riot

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.