Members of United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2283, on strike against Tazewell since October 5; members and retirees from UAW Local 974 at Caterpillar in East Peoria; members from several different unions who work at Powerton power plant in Pekin; a representative from the workers on strike at Lenc- Smith in Cicero, Illinois; and others were present at the shift change by the 80 scabs who are working at Tazewell.
The determined and spirited crowd, gathered on each side of the driveway, broke into loud chants of "We are -union" and "Contract, contract, contract!"
After the shift change, as the unionists were beginning to leave, a black utility sports van raced into the driveway from the street and stopped. The chief deputy of the Pekin police jumped out of the car and confronted Bob West, a member of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 145 from the Pekin power plant. Brandishing his badge, the cop said, "You don't yell at me like that. I'll take your ass to jail. You're the one with the mouth."
West said, "Why are singling me out? The only one with skin tone on the picket line." West, who is Black, and the other unionists and strikers present stood their ground against the cop's provocation. Chad Hartley, president of UAW Local 2283 and another member of the local surrounded the cop, and backed him away from West.
Strikers and unionists began chanting "We Are Union." David Lock, a retiree from UAW Local 974, told the Militant, "Pekin has got a bad name. Ninety percent of the people in this town are trying to get rid of it, and here comes this idiot." Pekin, a majority white town south of Peoria, Illinois, has a reputation for racist treatment of Blacks by the Ku Klux Klan and local police.