Building Community Solidarity: The 1988-90 Strike of the Morgan-Nicolai Door Factory and the Creation of the Eugene-Springfield Solidarity Network

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to document the failed Morgan-Nicolai Door Factory strike of 1988-90 with a specific focus on those in the community who would use the strike as a catalyst for the development of the Eugene-Springfield Solidarity Network (ESSN). Through the literature review, the author contextualizes the strike within the greater economic and political forces of the 1970s-1990s. And through newspaper articles and interviews with participants in the movement, the author determines that despite the failure of the Morgan-Nicolai strike itself, the strike and its long-term effects could qualify the movement as a “successful failure.”