1. I question the creditablity of an author who does not know how to spell the name of the main subject of his own book.

2. I found it very difficult to find a purpose or a reason for this strike presented by Mr. Karsh. He described situations where certain employess were not happy or not treated well yet found no solid proof of terrible working conditions, employee abuse, forced overtime, unreasonable demands for production, injury on the job, etc.

I actually spoke with an employee of the mill at that time - their response was they enjoyed working for Joseph Lauerman (the mill manager) that they didn't know why the union came in. The employee went on to say that the women in the shop were actually paid enough to send their children to college! A feat most COUPLES take years of planning to do nowadays and something nearly unheard of in those days where the "man" of the household was the bread-winner and earned the higher salary.

3. Lastly, I do know what was the purpose of this strike, never mentioned by Bernard Karsh. The union was the pigeon called in to do the dirty work of eastcoast union shops that were losing business to this very profitable, well run operation in Marinette. Union thugs were sent to drive a stake through this business and it worked. (This was explained to me by a business student of Notre Dame who worked there during his college years - he described the situation to me very clearly).

Joseph Lauerman was a very smart man and had excellent contacts throughout the country. He even did business with Mr. Walt Disney!

In summary:

The tactics used by the union were disgusting and violent. People who had worked together for years were lied and pitted against eachother. They threw bricks through eachothers' windshields. The union set up an office across the street from the now abandoned mill When, for example, the purchaser would leave to go home, he would be followed. He would then be verbally assulted by this union member as he shopped at the local stores. The person explaining these details witnessed this.

Needless to say, the union surved the purpose of a front to do the dirty work of people too lazy to be more efficient at what they do.

Yes, as you can see, I believe unions served a purpose years ago when the employee was taken advantage of and US companies did not have to survive in a competive world. However, now that the costs associated w/ union officials' salaries, headquarters and inflated work forces/hourly rates make entire US industries uncompetive (auto, electronics, apparel to name a few) - it is time to let them go. Which leads me to a question I have regarding unions - is it not wrong to promote someone based of their years of experience rather than how well they perform at their job??? How would you run your own business?

I believe in the individual - not safety in numbers.

Sincerely, Joe Lauerman

I recently attended the 94th birthday party of my Grandma. While there, we were speaking about a very well run knitting company known as the Marinette Knitting Mills. This plant was headed by my Grandfather and part of a family run business.

It is also the subject of this book, "Diary of a Strike". It was at this party that I found out more details about this business and this strike, compelling me to go buy this book to find out for myself.

I was told how the book ended and which side of the strike it covered. After I read this book, I will report back to this review the rest of the story...what happened to this company and what impact the union had.

More to follow...Joe Lauerman

ps: I welcome any input to this story/book. email me at: jlauerman@gna.net