This Oscar-winning 1991 documentary is captivating, personal, and heartfelt. It is also, however, a bleak and dark film, and the vantage it provides into American capitalism is a haunting one. Much like Kopple's previous documentary: "Harlan County, U.S.A.," "American Dream" is more than an examination of a labor dispute. (Specifically, the 1984 strike of Hormel, Inc. meatpackers in Minnesota). This film asks that we look at the bigger picture, and it was made during a time when the American economy was faltering. Through her frank and journalistic interactions with various stakeholders, Kopple presents a riveting deconstruction of the working class in America, as well as big business and the interworkings of organized labor. Underneath it all, though, this is a human interest story, and watching the strike unfold chronologically - from various viewpoints - is magnetizing. Brother is pitted against brother, union against union, and Kopple's delicate political handling is masterful. Anyone interested in organized labor in America, as well as the sometimes fleeting notion of the American Dream, this is one you SHOULD NOT MISS. This is gripping, psyche-dwelling stuff. (PS: During the film's closing credits, take note of the huge amount of organizations and people who contributed their money, and volunteeered their talent to this project. Perhaps nothing else is greater testament to its importance). ---|--- Was this review helpful?
20 Reviews
Always think of this doc when I see a Hormel product at the store.
dlsperl13 February 2013
I definitely liked this documentary. I usually think of it a little when I see a Hormel product at the grocery store. It was impressively done and it really has an authentic feel to it. For some reason I have not yet seen Harlan County USA, but will certainly do so sometime this year.
I have seen this twice and it is definitely worth more than one viewing. While the tone starts as pro-union, there seems to be at least some hints about their limitations as well later in the film. I spent my childhood in a town nearly 100 miles north of Austin and the film made me appreciative that my father had access to more opportunities when he got laid off (we were much closer to the Minneapolis region than Austin). I could feel for the families of those in Austin during this film as it was primarily a one company town at that time and for all I know it may still be the case.
Documentaries work best when there is a focus on "real" people rather than well known celebrities IMO. This is evidence of that and I recommend this film.
I have seen this twice and it is definitely worth more than one viewing. While the tone starts as pro-union, there seems to be at least some hints about their limitations as well later in the film. I spent my childhood in a town nearly 100 miles north of Austin and the film made me appreciative that my father had access to more opportunities when he got laid off (we were much closer to the Minneapolis region than Austin). I could feel for the families of those in Austin during this film as it was primarily a one company town at that time and for all I know it may still be the case.
Documentaries work best when there is a focus on "real" people rather than well known celebrities IMO. This is evidence of that and I recommend this film.
Stirring
ohara82517 November 2005
Warning: Spoilers
I got this documentary reluctantly and didn't regret a minute of it. It's the best documentary I have ever seen. Harlan County USA, another documentary by Barbara Kopple, is quite good as well. The workers at Hormel may have shot themselves in the foot, but corporate greed loaded the gun. It left me with a bitter taste in my mouth for corporate America, I can only imagine the bitterness the people in and around Austin, MN. must have felt. This isn't a documentary about a bunch of strikers looking to upgrade their lot in life, it's about people that had the spoils of sweat and hard work ripped from their very hearts. I buy Hormel products and now I have to wonder if I am doing the right thing. This is an American tragedy.
First-class documentary on a labor strike by blue-collar workers in 80's America
amire3 March 2002
"American Dream" is a sobering and fascinating documentary depicting the social, economic and emotional ramifications of a labor strike initiated by employees at a Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin, Minnesota. Although the film depicts events that take place in 1986, the content is every bit as relevant today on the subject of the perennial gap that exists between rank-and-file workers and top executives at major U.S. corporations, and the general greed and mercenary attitude that drives said corporations at the expense of hard-working employees. Like "Roger & Me," the acclaimed documentary by Michael Moore that savaged General Motors and the 80's corporate ethos of "profits above everything else," "American Dream" is a priceless portrait of blue-collar work and life in small-town America, the kind of place that people who live in New York, Washington D.C., Los Angeles or any other major metro area will probably never see.
Austin is a town where one company is the largest employer (in this case, the Hormel meat company), on whom generations of workers depend for their livelihood. The film puts a human face on the repercussions that result when Hormel, despite record profits, cuts the salaries of its workers. If the balding, grey-suited, humorless Hormel executives depicted here (wearing huge eyeglasses in the style of Lee Iaccoca) are not the epitome of 80's greed, I don't know what is. They are Gordon Gekko come to life, caring only about their bottom line and how to maximize profit, completely indifferent to the plight of their workers. The Enron debacle shows that, for all their economic might and wealth creation, there is a dark side to corporate America. "American Dream," its ironic title aside, is a journey to that dark side that should be seen by every worker, blue-collar or white-collar. Try to catch it on the Sundance or Independent Film Channel.
Austin is a town where one company is the largest employer (in this case, the Hormel meat company), on whom generations of workers depend for their livelihood. The film puts a human face on the repercussions that result when Hormel, despite record profits, cuts the salaries of its workers. If the balding, grey-suited, humorless Hormel executives depicted here (wearing huge eyeglasses in the style of Lee Iaccoca) are not the epitome of 80's greed, I don't know what is. They are Gordon Gekko come to life, caring only about their bottom line and how to maximize profit, completely indifferent to the plight of their workers. The Enron debacle shows that, for all their economic might and wealth creation, there is a dark side to corporate America. "American Dream," its ironic title aside, is a journey to that dark side that should be seen by every worker, blue-collar or white-collar. Try to catch it on the Sundance or Independent Film Channel.
One of the best documentaries ever made.
jgtoms10 August 2000
This film is absolutely stunning. It centers around union meatpacking workers at a Hormel plant in Austin, Minnesota in the mid-80's. The trouble started when Hormel cut worker pay from $10.69 an hour to $8.25 an hour. The problem? Hormel had just posted a net profit of $30 million. As one worker at a union meeting put it, "If we have to take a cut of $2.45 an hour when the company just made $30 million, I hate to think of what's gonna happen when they actually post a loss." With no help from their parent union, International Food and Commercial Workers Union, the local union (P-9) goes on strike alone trying to bring Hormel to its knees. Director Barbara Kopple, who also made the great "Harlan County, USA", does an outstanding job of capturing every important moment. She has the camera there at every union meeting, press release, Hormel press release, etc. She also shows the very personal aspects of a strike going into people's homes and showing their innermost feelings about what's going on. In the end, the strike is long, drawn out, and things appear bleak. The constant Minnesota cold, snow and ice are always in the background as well. If one doesn't have a greater appreciation for unions and what they have to sometimes endure after watching this film, he/she probably didn't pay very good attention.
staggering but honest, you can watch this and get something out of it however you feel about unions
Quinoa198419 May 2013
Barbara Kopple's American Dream is a painful but honest on all sides look at what labor unions have to go through when they go into strike- mode, and how corporations, starting in the 80's, say the unions flaws in negotiating as a means to get in to change things for their benefit. It's that kind of movie though that doesn't discriminate in a key way - I think if you're pro-union or anti-union even, you can get something out of this take by how Kopple presents everything. The characters here all want what's best, but it's not so simple as'let's negotiate a contract'. Sides become fractured, tempers get flared, and a 'labor consultant' arguably muddies the waters early on in the negotiating. By the time it gets to be many weeks into the strike, some of the folks on the picket lines get desperate, cross and go back to work, and the sides become even more fractured.
It's about the Hormel meat-packing district, but the staying power of the film is this: it could be anywhere. Is it just about if wages decrease by two dollars, or four dollars, or about something more when it comes to bargaining, the rights of workers, and who is really in control? The interviews and perspective are in large part on Lewie Anderson, who probably has the most common sense as we can see it (or rather in comparison with the Consultant Ray Rogers, who is technically a corporate guy as well), and how he has to approach the union and the chief committee about where to go with Hormel - and of course the flaws are there, like rewriting the contract that has forty years of bargaining in it for the rights of the workers.
This is not to say that, for the warts-and-all approach Kopple takes, that she is on the side of the corporate masters at Hormel. We see one of their spokesman, who is a down-the-line party guy, talk to the camera(s) with the candor that one expects from such a corporate man about dealing with the union leaders (maybe not as villainous as, say, a Roger Smith from Roger & Me, but what is). But it's mostly there, in those halls and on the picket lines and in those smokey, emotional offices that Kopple takes her sights and tells this story. How it becomes a tale for almost everyone (not to say that, probably, those who have worked in unions or know people who have, that makes up a good lot of Americans, will connect deeper with it) is that it's not about complex legal wrangling. It's about what people do when pushed up against a wall, and put themselves into a war.
It is a complicated tale to tell, that is without easy answers, but by the end you can't say you don't see how things did not turn out well, especially with the greater picture (albeit not shown really or at least on the level of the 'smaller-but-bigger' picture the director paints) that the country was in at the time, and still are. What happens to these Americans, all hard workers, when faced against corporate pressures, and then other workers are brought in across the picket lines. What happens to society?
It's about the Hormel meat-packing district, but the staying power of the film is this: it could be anywhere. Is it just about if wages decrease by two dollars, or four dollars, or about something more when it comes to bargaining, the rights of workers, and who is really in control? The interviews and perspective are in large part on Lewie Anderson, who probably has the most common sense as we can see it (or rather in comparison with the Consultant Ray Rogers, who is technically a corporate guy as well), and how he has to approach the union and the chief committee about where to go with Hormel - and of course the flaws are there, like rewriting the contract that has forty years of bargaining in it for the rights of the workers.
This is not to say that, for the warts-and-all approach Kopple takes, that she is on the side of the corporate masters at Hormel. We see one of their spokesman, who is a down-the-line party guy, talk to the camera(s) with the candor that one expects from such a corporate man about dealing with the union leaders (maybe not as villainous as, say, a Roger Smith from Roger & Me, but what is). But it's mostly there, in those halls and on the picket lines and in those smokey, emotional offices that Kopple takes her sights and tells this story. How it becomes a tale for almost everyone (not to say that, probably, those who have worked in unions or know people who have, that makes up a good lot of Americans, will connect deeper with it) is that it's not about complex legal wrangling. It's about what people do when pushed up against a wall, and put themselves into a war.
It is a complicated tale to tell, that is without easy answers, but by the end you can't say you don't see how things did not turn out well, especially with the greater picture (albeit not shown really or at least on the level of the 'smaller-but-bigger' picture the director paints) that the country was in at the time, and still are. What happens to these Americans, all hard workers, when faced against corporate pressures, and then other workers are brought in across the picket lines. What happens to society?
Barbara Kopple's bleak follow up to "Harlan County, USA"
larma710 July 2011
Remaining in obscurity, this is another Union strike documentary from director Barbara Kopple, the brilliant filmmaker who brought us the landmark masterpiece documentary "Harlan County, USA", this time chronicling a strike of meat-packers in Austin, Minnesota -- around the time where Reagan put the clamp down on Unions, with his decision to fire the striking air-traffic controllers. Is it as great as "Harlan County, USA"? No. Is it worth seeing? Most definitely, especially for those who were fans of the previously mentioned film, for while it is not on the same level, American Dream is a very fine film in its own right, bringing some more interesting things to the table.
It starts a little slow, and I am not sure how relevant the film remains today, but it slowly becomes more and more absorbing. If Kopple's previous film, 14 years earlier, was a profound documentation of the power of the working class and the success of the Unions and people working together -- then "American Dream" is a documentary about the FAILURE of the Unions. This is a rather bleak film, augmented by the shots of the snow-covered, frozen land of Minnesota winter, giving the film at times a very cold mood. I would say that this film, although obviously taking sides with the strikers, is fairly even-handed. More importantly, however, it shows the major divisions in the Unions in how to achieve their goals and how to avoid the worst outcome, which is everyone losing their jobs and in essence being crushed by the companies.
As in "Harlan County, USA", the film is at its best when dealing with individual dramas and human moments between the people. While Kopple does offer some occasional narration and an added musical score, her presence is often unseen, allowing the people to tell the story, with the drama ultimately being created by the film's editing. We essentially see how the people of the Union, from the top down, are basically torn apart as their cause becomes more and more hopeless. How people of the community have to pick between crossing the picket line and reviving their job, or keeping their promises and integrity to the Union and to the community. We see people in heated arguments, we see people in brawls, best friends against best friends, brothers against brothers. There are some fantastic moments of drama. Like in "Harlan County, USA" where we feel the overwhelming feeling of a people united, standing up against the powers that be, here we see it all crumbling and falling down. For this alone it, it makes "American Dream" very much so worth seeing, as it is works as a very interesting continuation of Kopple's previous film, only 14 years later, and this time the vision of the American worker and the community it creates is only ever more bleak.
It starts a little slow, and I am not sure how relevant the film remains today, but it slowly becomes more and more absorbing. If Kopple's previous film, 14 years earlier, was a profound documentation of the power of the working class and the success of the Unions and people working together -- then "American Dream" is a documentary about the FAILURE of the Unions. This is a rather bleak film, augmented by the shots of the snow-covered, frozen land of Minnesota winter, giving the film at times a very cold mood. I would say that this film, although obviously taking sides with the strikers, is fairly even-handed. More importantly, however, it shows the major divisions in the Unions in how to achieve their goals and how to avoid the worst outcome, which is everyone losing their jobs and in essence being crushed by the companies.
As in "Harlan County, USA", the film is at its best when dealing with individual dramas and human moments between the people. While Kopple does offer some occasional narration and an added musical score, her presence is often unseen, allowing the people to tell the story, with the drama ultimately being created by the film's editing. We essentially see how the people of the Union, from the top down, are basically torn apart as their cause becomes more and more hopeless. How people of the community have to pick between crossing the picket line and reviving their job, or keeping their promises and integrity to the Union and to the community. We see people in heated arguments, we see people in brawls, best friends against best friends, brothers against brothers. There are some fantastic moments of drama. Like in "Harlan County, USA" where we feel the overwhelming feeling of a people united, standing up against the powers that be, here we see it all crumbling and falling down. For this alone it, it makes "American Dream" very much so worth seeing, as it is works as a very interesting continuation of Kopple's previous film, only 14 years later, and this time the vision of the American worker and the community it creates is only ever more bleak.
add this to your list
aptpupil7916 June 2004
the most obvious parallel is michael moore's "roger & me." both films look at one community dealing with a corporation's decision to either cut the work force (roger and me) or drastically cut its wages (american dream). michael moore interjects himself into his films a great deal - he is in front of the camera, he uses voice-overs - instead of intertitles - to fill in needed information, etc. some think this is to his detriment, but i think it is honesty...he clearly acknowledges that there is an author and that's a good thing. american dream, on the other hand, attempts to appear objective by choosing to use intertitles and keeping the filmmakers behind the camera. the storytelling and pacing of this film isn't as good as that of "roger and me," but when it comes to documentaries there is room for error in these areas. documentaries ultimately, at least for me, are judged primarily on the story they tell, more than how well they tell it; and i think that's less true for feature films. this film tells a good story. through the film we are able to see the entire process a union undertakes when they have a dispute. if you don't know much about unions then this is a great place to start. if you hate corporations then this will fuel your fire. if you like good documentaries then add this to your list. B.
Pro Union or Anti Union
JTAldrich24 March 2007
Just re-watched this today for the first time in 15 years. I was in 8th grade in Austin, Minnesota during the strike, so I remember the strike vaguely. Watching it, I was wondering if the Director tried to make a Pro-Union or an Anti-Union movie. Obviously, it had to be a Pro-Union movie - Correct? I'm not sure.
This was my take on the movie - The Union Members almost became Cult-like during the strike - Not having any of their own ideas and blindly following those who were running things. Ray Rogers went out of his way to destroy Hormel and destroy Austin (And failing miserably - which he always does). The Hormel executives were shown as people who didn't have any fear of the strikers. They knew what they were doing was logically with what was going on in the industry at the time. The Strikers who didn't cross the line didn't because of fear of their Union brothers. The strikers that did cross did it for family. Not really a Pro-Union statement.
Personally, the strike turned me into an Anti-Union Republican (Very rare still in Austin) - And I thank it for that.
This was my take on the movie - The Union Members almost became Cult-like during the strike - Not having any of their own ideas and blindly following those who were running things. Ray Rogers went out of his way to destroy Hormel and destroy Austin (And failing miserably - which he always does). The Hormel executives were shown as people who didn't have any fear of the strikers. They knew what they were doing was logically with what was going on in the industry at the time. The Strikers who didn't cross the line didn't because of fear of their Union brothers. The strikers that did cross did it for family. Not really a Pro-Union statement.
Personally, the strike turned me into an Anti-Union Republican (Very rare still in Austin) - And I thank it for that.
American labor in the 1980s
mjneu593 November 2010
It may at times resemble an illustrated Bruce Springsteen protest ballad, but the tragedy in Barbara Kopple's Oscar winning documentary portrait of a Minnesota meat packer's strike is too rich to ignore, not unlike the film 'Roger & Me' but without Michael Moore's self-serving humor. The story begins in the mid 1980s, when the Hormel Company in Austin, Minnesota, tried to lower wages despite showing a healthy profit, leading members of Local P-9 to ignore their parent Union and hire an rhetoric spouting outside agitator (labor 'consultant' Ray Rogers), who transformed their grievance into a noble but ultimately self-defeating grassroots crusade. Kopple herself remains more or less invisible throughout the film, but her sympathy for the renegade P-9 underdogs (and her anti-Reaganomics attitude) is obvious, and she reveals the personal and civic consequences of labor disunion with heartbreaking clarity. The strike itself may not have made headlines outside the Mid West, but the story has some devastating implications for organized labor nationwide, and beyond that supplies enough drama and character to match any Hollywood blockbuster.
Skewed toward business unionism, but with poignancy
shhayes21 April 2005
Warning: Spoilers
"American Dream" is by all accounts a tear jerker. It tells the story of a local meatpacking union, the P-9, and it's struggle against Hormel with the help of Corporate Campaign Incorporated. At first blush, the film comes across as sympathetic to labor, but I would highly recommend reading "Hard Pressed in the Heartland" by Peter Rachloff to gain a different perspective on the P-9 struggle. After watching this film, many people walk away believing that the leadership of the local led the rank-and-file astray and brashly decided to ignore the warnings of the International. The film portrays the International representatives as sober realists and the dissident P-9 members as being unfairly discriminated against. What the book reveals is that the International actively worked with Hormel to sabotage the local, and furthermore describes the massive mobilization of government and media forces to repress this vibrant, participatory union before other unions began to imitate its example.
The movie is good, yes, but is skewed in such a way as to promote hierarchical union structures and business unionism. By all means pay attention to what it has to say, but then go out and discover how much it purposefully left unsaid.
The movie is good, yes, but is skewed in such a way as to promote hierarchical union structures and business unionism. By all means pay attention to what it has to say, but then go out and discover how much it purposefully left unsaid.
Documentary on Corporate Campaign against Hormel
eabakkum3 November 2010
Warning: Spoilers
American Dream confirms the excellent reputation of director Barbara Kopple, which was first established with Harlan County USA. Again the theme relates to a labor conflict, but in most aspects the events and the emotions are strikingly different. It is 1986 and the meat processing industry in the USA experiences strong setbacks. The wages in the meat trade are reduced everywhere, also at the plants of giant Hormel. However, the difference is that Hormel is still making huge profits. Therefore the local union organization Local P9 decides to deviate from the federal labor contracts and demand full spending power. Their stance is rejected by the federal union, who fears labor unrest at the other meat corporations. Lacking federal support, the local union hires an external labor consultant from Corporate Campaign in order to develop a strategy, in particular with respect to the public relations. It is vital to convince the stakeholder, such as the financiers of Hormel. The film crew is allowed to attend the meetings of the strike committee and is of course present at all public events, such as union member meetings and the picket lines. The strike lasts for about half a year. After several months the management of the Hormel plant(s) withdraws from the negotiations and starts to hire new personnel (scabs). At this time some cracks emerge in the strikers' solidarity, and some return to work. Hormel manages to get their plant(s) running again, at full capacity. Eventually all of the strikers, several hundreds of their employees, are sacked by Hormel, and the battle is lost. The titles at the end tell that still later Hormel outsourced the complete plant and the wages were cut to half of their original value. American Dream is not an easy story, and the difference between right and wrong is less clear than in the Harlan County conflict. Is wage differentiation within a trade justifiable? I have my doubts. It is a punishment for successful plants and takes away the incentive for the management to excel. Jobs should be rewarded according to their average productivity in the economy as a whole. On the other hand, the strikers at Hormel were in a strong bargaining position, and could act as special forces in order to lead the way for their more unfortunate colleagues elsewhere. In addition the film shows the power shift between labor and capital. Repeatedly the strikers complain that "this would never have happened under the old mister Hormel". The point is of course that capital had become mobile, and therefore the local bonds between labor and capital got detached. Hormel is now able to close his plant, and start again in another state or continent. Also the competition may have (temporarily) increased due to globalization. I guess that the strikers overplayed their card.
Great message, okay filmmaking
Jeremy_Urquhart27 September 2023
Right around the start of the Writers Strike earlier this year, I watched Harlan County USA, which was about a coal miners going on strike. It was directed by Barbara Kopple, who also made 1990's American Dream, which is about a meatpacker's strike. I'm watching this on a day where the news about the writers strike being over is still relatively fresh. It feels fitting in that way - bookending and all.
The documentary filmmaking is okay. It's not great. It could have been put together with more purpose. And people on every side of this are very ineloquent and hard to understand - not so much because of their accents, but because they stumble through their thoughts and don't give context. Either have a narrator clarifying things, or ask your interviewees better questions. Get them to give full, comprehensible answers, with context. Things like this feel sloppy, from a documentary filmmaking perspective.
But being about documentary highlighting the struggles of workers, it's obviously, at bare minimum, good. These things were bad in the 1980s, and they're bad now. I'm just jealous these people have unions, because the gig economy has been an insidious way to have fewer unions. Also, one worker here complains about wanting to be left alone in her lowly $32,000 house. Imagine a $32,000 house today, even adjusted for inflation.
Unchecked wealth will be the end of us all. I'm not saying communism or even socialism would solve everything. Even if it did (and I'm not ruling out the chance it could), it would be hasty to jump to an extreme, or even something people perceive as extreme. Limits on obscene wealth and hoarding would be a start. My blood boils at the idea of a company taking an amazing profit (as seen in this documentary) and then not only not giving the worker anything, but giving them a pay cut.
Conservatives, if you conserve things for enough people, you will win elections. But if you get greedy (and powerful people have been greedy), the status quo is going to suck for most. Few people will want to conserve a status quo that's bad for them.
Working people (myself included) don't always want to be millionaires. Most of us just want to feel a lack of monetary pressure and stress every waking minute of the day, even though we know we work hard and we work often. We're often told we work hard and we work often by people who don't match those compliments with money. They might give you a pizza party instead.
You cannot have a certain amount of wealth without also being a bad person. Give enough away, and you may well be good again in my eyes.
The documentary filmmaking is okay. It's not great. It could have been put together with more purpose. And people on every side of this are very ineloquent and hard to understand - not so much because of their accents, but because they stumble through their thoughts and don't give context. Either have a narrator clarifying things, or ask your interviewees better questions. Get them to give full, comprehensible answers, with context. Things like this feel sloppy, from a documentary filmmaking perspective.
But being about documentary highlighting the struggles of workers, it's obviously, at bare minimum, good. These things were bad in the 1980s, and they're bad now. I'm just jealous these people have unions, because the gig economy has been an insidious way to have fewer unions. Also, one worker here complains about wanting to be left alone in her lowly $32,000 house. Imagine a $32,000 house today, even adjusted for inflation.
Unchecked wealth will be the end of us all. I'm not saying communism or even socialism would solve everything. Even if it did (and I'm not ruling out the chance it could), it would be hasty to jump to an extreme, or even something people perceive as extreme. Limits on obscene wealth and hoarding would be a start. My blood boils at the idea of a company taking an amazing profit (as seen in this documentary) and then not only not giving the worker anything, but giving them a pay cut.
Conservatives, if you conserve things for enough people, you will win elections. But if you get greedy (and powerful people have been greedy), the status quo is going to suck for most. Few people will want to conserve a status quo that's bad for them.
Working people (myself included) don't always want to be millionaires. Most of us just want to feel a lack of monetary pressure and stress every waking minute of the day, even though we know we work hard and we work often. We're often told we work hard and we work often by people who don't match those compliments with money. They might give you a pizza party instead.
You cannot have a certain amount of wealth without also being a bad person. Give enough away, and you may well be good again in my eyes.
Reminds me of the good IL' days
brdarj15 November 2004
I was raised in a beef slaughtering plant family in Northeastern Colorado. My father was a member of UFCW Local 7 for many years as well as my brothers and my mother. Watching this movie brought back memories of how life was during strike time. I will hand it to Kopple, about catching the true realities of a plant family on strike. The scenes of the negotiation teams and plant management were excellent, since I didn't get to see what happens behind closed doors, there were guys that told me, but it really hits home when you see it. The scenes of the slaughter, even though my family worked in beef plant and this was a hog plant, I could hear the noise and smell the smells and oddly enough, it was like being back home. This movie brought some tears to my eyes and some bittersweet memories...please e-mail if you have any questions about what life is like on strike...
Sundown on the union
gbill-748776 July 2023
"The companies in this industry are embarked on a program to tear the wages up, to tear the fringe benefits up, to return us to the days of the jungle, 60 years ago."
I date the slow gutting of the middle class in America to the Reagan years, and indeed that's when this documentary opens, with an allusion to Reagan firing all the striking air traffic controllers amidst his since disproven "trickle-down" economic policies. It picks up at the end of 1984, when the workers at Hormel in Austin, Minnesota have their wages cut, despite the company being successful and profitable. Under firebrand leadership they go out on strike, but the company holds the upper hand and crushes them over the following year, primarily by shifting to other sites and hiring scabs, some of whom are strikers growing desperate to provide for their families. The dilemma between not wanting to cross a picket line and needing to eat is brutal to see play out.
As with Harlan County, U. S. A. (1977), Barbara Kopple gets behind the scenes and into meetings, telling the story with just the right amount of helpful narration, otherwise letting the footage of speeches and actions speak for itself. One of the interesting aspects of this strike was the power struggle between the local union and its parent international union. Despite cautions from the international organization, the local group played hardball, hiring a labor consultant organization and refusing to budge on the primary issues (the most notable of which was an hourly pay cut). This fracturing, as well as that evident in scabs crossing the picket line, shows one of the fundamental problems labor faces - remaining unified. As someone correctly points out towards the end, to be successful, these kinds of things have to involve consumers and the general public too.
Meanwhile, the other side is more powerful to start with and more focused, almost always on squeezing every last damn dollar out of every possible situation, workers or the environment be damned. It's telling that of all the options an executive lists out that the company might do in reaction to the strike, none of them involve searching for ways to help the workers, they all involve destroying them (shutting down the plant, running it with management employees, and hiring scabs either temporarily or permanently). Unlike Harlan County, management had such a strong position that it didn't have to resort to violence or other underhanded techniques, it just pitted workers against one another.
Everything about how this plays out is still relevant today, but with unions eviscerated and the government passing laws too friendly to businesses and the wealthy over the ensuing decades, workers are now in a far more precarious state. In the days of a "gig" workforce, stagnant minimum wage, jobs shipped off to countries where workers are paid next to nothing, and corporations avoiding paying taxes through myriad loopholes and shelters, I'm not saying anything you don't already know. Watching this documentary felt like looking at a flash point from the past, one indicative of a larger, very unsettling transformation that was taking place in the country. It reminded me of the Bob Dylan song from this period, "Union Sundown" in 1983.
It's a compelling documentary, but speaking of the evisceration of unions, beware, there are some grisly, horrifying scenes of pigs being butchered on the assembly line that you may want to avert your gaze for early on.
Here's a final quote: "Had we pulled together two years ago, I don't think you or us would be faced with this, but I think this thing that's going on in America, and I think we as men and women have to realize, we better start pulling together or by God, they're (big corporations) going to bury us."
Indeed.
I date the slow gutting of the middle class in America to the Reagan years, and indeed that's when this documentary opens, with an allusion to Reagan firing all the striking air traffic controllers amidst his since disproven "trickle-down" economic policies. It picks up at the end of 1984, when the workers at Hormel in Austin, Minnesota have their wages cut, despite the company being successful and profitable. Under firebrand leadership they go out on strike, but the company holds the upper hand and crushes them over the following year, primarily by shifting to other sites and hiring scabs, some of whom are strikers growing desperate to provide for their families. The dilemma between not wanting to cross a picket line and needing to eat is brutal to see play out.
As with Harlan County, U. S. A. (1977), Barbara Kopple gets behind the scenes and into meetings, telling the story with just the right amount of helpful narration, otherwise letting the footage of speeches and actions speak for itself. One of the interesting aspects of this strike was the power struggle between the local union and its parent international union. Despite cautions from the international organization, the local group played hardball, hiring a labor consultant organization and refusing to budge on the primary issues (the most notable of which was an hourly pay cut). This fracturing, as well as that evident in scabs crossing the picket line, shows one of the fundamental problems labor faces - remaining unified. As someone correctly points out towards the end, to be successful, these kinds of things have to involve consumers and the general public too.
Meanwhile, the other side is more powerful to start with and more focused, almost always on squeezing every last damn dollar out of every possible situation, workers or the environment be damned. It's telling that of all the options an executive lists out that the company might do in reaction to the strike, none of them involve searching for ways to help the workers, they all involve destroying them (shutting down the plant, running it with management employees, and hiring scabs either temporarily or permanently). Unlike Harlan County, management had such a strong position that it didn't have to resort to violence or other underhanded techniques, it just pitted workers against one another.
Everything about how this plays out is still relevant today, but with unions eviscerated and the government passing laws too friendly to businesses and the wealthy over the ensuing decades, workers are now in a far more precarious state. In the days of a "gig" workforce, stagnant minimum wage, jobs shipped off to countries where workers are paid next to nothing, and corporations avoiding paying taxes through myriad loopholes and shelters, I'm not saying anything you don't already know. Watching this documentary felt like looking at a flash point from the past, one indicative of a larger, very unsettling transformation that was taking place in the country. It reminded me of the Bob Dylan song from this period, "Union Sundown" in 1983.
It's a compelling documentary, but speaking of the evisceration of unions, beware, there are some grisly, horrifying scenes of pigs being butchered on the assembly line that you may want to avert your gaze for early on.
Here's a final quote: "Had we pulled together two years ago, I don't think you or us would be faced with this, but I think this thing that's going on in America, and I think we as men and women have to realize, we better start pulling together or by God, they're (big corporations) going to bury us."
Indeed.
The Ugly Truth
vannahllong22 November 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This film does a good job of showing the honest side of American labor in the 1980s. This film will make you look at the bigger picture of America's economy. The workers in the movie were working at a Hormel plant in Austin MN. Hormel decided to cut each workers hourly wage by also $2.50 going from $10.69 down to $8.25. This happen at the same time the company just earned a $30 million net profit. The workers turn to their union for support but when they receive nothing they go on strike. Kopple does a good job of documenting every important step taken. She is at every union meeting and press release. She also documented how the strike affected individuals home life. This is a great film to watch if you work in organized labor in America.
stand for it
lee_eisenberg4 May 2023
Barbara Kopple had already won an Academy Award for "Harlan County, USA", about a miners' strike, so she followed it up with "American Dream", about a meat packers' strike. This documentary, also an Oscar-winner, shows how the Hormel workers walked off the job after the company cut their pay (allegedly to remain "competitive"). What both documentaries show is that when it comes to justice, there's no "middle ground".
Michael Moore has made similar documentaries about corporations walking all over the people. What one can take from all of these is that the people need to stay united to protect democracy. Definitely watch this documentary.
Michael Moore has made similar documentaries about corporations walking all over the people. What one can take from all of these is that the people need to stay united to protect democracy. Definitely watch this documentary.
No Retreat No Surrender
Michael_Elliott18 May 2012
American Dream (1990)
**** (out of 4)
Barbara Kopple's Oscar-winning documentary follows a meat packing strike in Austin, MN and those familiar with the director's HARLAN COUNTY, USA will certainly have a lot to compare. This film follows the unions decision to pull their workers after Hormel reported a $29 million dollar profit and then asked their workers to take a pay cut and have their benefits reduced. While this film doesn't reach the same heights as HARLAN COUNTY, there's no question that this here is still a pretty remarkable documentary in its own right. There's no question that Kopple knows how to tell a story and more importantly find the passion, fire and energy of a story and exploit it to make sure the message of those individuals get across for the viewers. The documentary was clearly on the side of the workers as this is where we spend the majority of the running time. The first forty-minutes of the film focuses on the pre-strike as we get to know the main people involved and we get a very good idea of the working conditions in America at the time and it's clear that going on strike is very dangerous for a number of reasons. The final hour of the picture deals with the strike as the workers get dragged along for months and the end results aren't anywhere close to a happy ending. As someone who has worked for a union I can see both sides of the coin but it really does seem that the majority of the people lost here and that's a real shame. Kopple does a remarkable job at telling this story and there's no question that your attention will be glued to the film from start to finish.
**** (out of 4)
Barbara Kopple's Oscar-winning documentary follows a meat packing strike in Austin, MN and those familiar with the director's HARLAN COUNTY, USA will certainly have a lot to compare. This film follows the unions decision to pull their workers after Hormel reported a $29 million dollar profit and then asked their workers to take a pay cut and have their benefits reduced. While this film doesn't reach the same heights as HARLAN COUNTY, there's no question that this here is still a pretty remarkable documentary in its own right. There's no question that Kopple knows how to tell a story and more importantly find the passion, fire and energy of a story and exploit it to make sure the message of those individuals get across for the viewers. The documentary was clearly on the side of the workers as this is where we spend the majority of the running time. The first forty-minutes of the film focuses on the pre-strike as we get to know the main people involved and we get a very good idea of the working conditions in America at the time and it's clear that going on strike is very dangerous for a number of reasons. The final hour of the picture deals with the strike as the workers get dragged along for months and the end results aren't anywhere close to a happy ending. As someone who has worked for a union I can see both sides of the coin but it really does seem that the majority of the people lost here and that's a real shame. Kopple does a remarkable job at telling this story and there's no question that your attention will be glued to the film from start to finish.
Anti Union Guy
cmholst20 November 2007
If this episode in workers history made you anti-union and pro-Republican, you must be thrilled that your home town is half the size it used to be. It's not bustling like Rochester, it's as dead, or deader than Albert Lea.
And for the idiot who thinks "stuffing sausages" is easy, for the knife wielders on a timed line who cut meat on the clock, flock you. the injury rate is amazing.
but heck...now it's all done by Hispanics while those on 4th street live the high life. You can read Reefer Madness to find the reason and impetus for this.
And for the idiot who thinks "stuffing sausages" is easy, for the knife wielders on a timed line who cut meat on the clock, flock you. the injury rate is amazing.
but heck...now it's all done by Hispanics while those on 4th street live the high life. You can read Reefer Madness to find the reason and impetus for this.
a pro-union documentary that demonstrates just what can be wrong with them
robotmonster3 October 2000
Warning: Spoilers
Barbara Kopple is a talented filmmaker. However, the amazing detail she captured in American Dream uncovered how unions sometimes can't or won't keep your best interests in mind when they represent you. What you read below may or may not include spoilers, depending on if you are familiar with the Hormel factory story in Austin, Minnesota.
It starts out in 1985 or so at a Hormel meat packing plant, where workers have their wages cut from $10.69 to something significantly less. The local chapter of the union declines the help of their national union and they go it alone, leading to saddening results. While I have a hard time feeling sorry for someone who got paid that kind of wage in 1985 for putting little sausages into boxes, having wages cut can be demoralizing. It also means your company doesn't want you anymore. Unfortunately, the employees at the Austin Hormel factory don't see this and decide to strike.
Along the way, they seek the support of fellow Hormel workers at other factories, a decision I hope each and everyone of them regrets. Most fascinating is the infighting among union members, both at the national and local levels. As the strike goes on during the winter, people are forced to decide between their union brothers and sisters, or feeding their families.
The bottom line is that Hormel doesn't have to pay a competitive wage to find people to inspect cans of Spam.
Some will view this story as one failure along the road for unions, others will find it indicative of the union system. Either way, it is required viewing.
It starts out in 1985 or so at a Hormel meat packing plant, where workers have their wages cut from $10.69 to something significantly less. The local chapter of the union declines the help of their national union and they go it alone, leading to saddening results. While I have a hard time feeling sorry for someone who got paid that kind of wage in 1985 for putting little sausages into boxes, having wages cut can be demoralizing. It also means your company doesn't want you anymore. Unfortunately, the employees at the Austin Hormel factory don't see this and decide to strike.
Along the way, they seek the support of fellow Hormel workers at other factories, a decision I hope each and everyone of them regrets. Most fascinating is the infighting among union members, both at the national and local levels. As the strike goes on during the winter, people are forced to decide between their union brothers and sisters, or feeding their families.
The bottom line is that Hormel doesn't have to pay a competitive wage to find people to inspect cans of Spam.
Some will view this story as one failure along the road for unions, others will find it indicative of the union system. Either way, it is required viewing.
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