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Cartoon Story
Rainbow Foods in the summer of 1999 had gone too far this time and Minnesota workers weren't going to
take it lying down. Management installed a new "anti-shrinkage" policy and set up a toll free anonymous hotline where
employees could rat each other out for shoplifting. If management busted a person called in by a worker, the
worker was given a substantial cash reward. Lunch bag searches and other intrusive policies were instituted.
Morale among the Rainbow Food workers was at an all time low. Management ignored the union's requests to
meet, and refused to even return phone calls...read more
Although Minneapolis' local took a traditional route and filed charges against the company, St. Paul
United Food and Commercial Workers Local 789 picked a more creative first strike. They enlisted Ricardo
Levins Morales to design a series of cartoons expressing their frustration with the company.
A brainstorming session between the artist, Rainbow workers, and union staff resulted in cartoons that
irreverently lampooned company policy, renaming the company: "Blameyou Foods," and illustrating the workers'
complaints. With representatives from every store at their general membership meeting on Tuesday, Local
789 decided to distribute the cartoons among workers at 8 am in all eleven stores the next morning.
After the first cartoon was unleashed on the shop floors (and under supervisors, doors), management left a
message on Local 789's answering machine by 8:30 am asking to meet with union President Bill Pearson on
Thursday. Workers had started to make badges out of the cartoon for their uniforms and were passing on the
cartoon to truck drivers who carried it to other parts of the country.
The unusual tactic brought about an unprecedented and speedy response from the company. Rainbow
Foods agreed to hold five informal meetings with workers representing different stores, and to listen to their
complaints. These meetings gave workers a real voice and brought about noticeable changes rapidly, including
improved lighting in the parking lot. New cartoons featured thermometers that rose and fell according to the
workers happiness or dissatisfaction with Rainbow Foods' behavior.
Local 789 caught Rainbow Foods off guard with a creative response that still played by the rules. A well
coordinated action and the accompanying surge in worker morale convinced management that a more humble
approach to worker relations might be the wiser course.
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