A striking example
Sir: I wish to add some context to Christo- pher Corbett's article (`Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam', 22 April). If he had attempted more than free advertising for the Hormel Co. your readers would have learned that 'the biggest thing to happen' in Austin, apart from the production of the 5 billionth Spam can, was a 1985 strike at that very same meat-packing plant.
This bitter conflict left hundreds of work- ing people out of a job and not at all 'merry men and women down at the Spamworks' as reported.
In between corporate cheerleading and snide portrayals of rural folk, Corbett might have found space to mention that the big celebration in Austin this summer is not the annual Spamjam, but the 10th anniversary of the strike which, while end- ing in defeat, nevertheless galvanised and rejuvenated the moribund American labour movement.
Jon George
569 Cleveland Avenue South, Apartment 3, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
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