Bob Bussel remembers the J.P. Stevens boycott

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KBOO
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Air date: 
Mon, 10/26/2009 - 12:00am

Thirty years ago, labor historian Bob Bussel worked on the organizing drive at J.P. Stevens, a violently anti-union Southern textile manufacturer--a campaign the inspired the movie Norma Rae. Besides giving actress Sally Field a career-defining role, the J.P Stevens drive gave rise to the "corporate campaign" strategy which became a standard weapon in the union arsenal. Bob Bussel talks with Peter Shapiro about the continuing significance of the J.P. Stevens drive and shares memories of the late Crystal Lee Sutton, who was the prototype for Sally Field's character.

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