Cheri Register, daughter of a meatpacker, tells her story

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As a child of the 1950s, Cheri Register remembers being caught up in the culture of the times. South Pacific was playing at the Albert Lea movie theater and American Bandstand dominated weeknight television. But even at the tender age of 14, Register recognized there was another side to her life that was deeply rooted in working-class values. Albert Lea was a meatpacking town and Register's father was one of the 56-hundred employees who worked for the Wilson and Company Packinghouse. In 1959, the workers demanded better wages which the company didn't want to pay. The dispute intensified and work at the plant stopped... whether it was a lockout or a strike is still debated. In her new memoir "Packinghouse Daughter" Register describes how the event divided her town. She says at first, the community supported the packinghouse workers:

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