ABSTRACT
Walter, a 30-year ACS employee, finds it difficult to believe that after the recent years of record profits for the company and the growers, ACS locked him out of a job he loves. He’s joined on the picket line by his brother, son, and daughter-in-law who are also ACS workers. Dismayed, he keeps wondering why this is happening. The union leadership thinks the lockout will be short but his best buddy, Dan, says he’s looking for another job; and another friend, Larry, will put in his retirement papers if the lockout goes on past September. Walter surveys the picket line. He feels sorry for his son who works for an ACS plant in North Dakota because he can’t collect unemployment benefits. Walter walks over to his son, offers him support and thinks about the meaning of his work, management’s responsibilities to the workers, and how the lockout may tear apart the small farming communities.
