The arrival of several hundred Guatemalan-born workers in a
Morganton, North Carolina, poultry plant sets the stage for this
dramatic story of human struggle in an age of globalization. When
laborers' concerns about safety and fairness spark a strike and,
ultimately, a unionizing campaign at Case Farms, the resulting
decade-long standoff pits a recalcitrant New South employer against
an unlikely coalition of antagonists. Mayan refugees from war-torn
Guatemala, Mexican workers, and a diverse group of local allies
join forces with the Laborers union. The ensuing clash becomes a
testing ground for "new labor" workplace and legal strategies. In
the process, the nation's fastest-growing immigrant region
encounters a new struggle for social justice.
Using scores of interviews, Leon Fink gives voice to a remarkably
resilient people. He shows that, paradoxically, what sustains these
global travelers are the ties of local community. Whether one is
finding a job, going to church, joining a soccer team, or building
a union, kin and linguistic connections to the place of one's birth
prove crucial in negotiating today's global marketplace.
A story set at the intersection of globalization and community, two
words not often linked,
The Maya of Morganton addresses
fundamental questions about the changing face of labor in the
United States.