Interview
I [interviewer James Cavanaugh] interviewed Prosten for a total of five hours on November 17 and 18, 1980, in Washington, D.C. Prosten was included in the group of interviewees selected for the UFCW Oral History Project because he was representative of the politically left-wing group which dominated UPWA's history, because the most logical UPWA interviewee, Ralph Helstein, has been interviewed extensively by Betty Balanoff of Roosevelt University, and because Prosten held a key position in packinghouse unionism from the formation of the UPWA until after the creation of the UFCW.
While Prosten's recall of specific events and their causes was not particularly good, his interview is excellent for an understanding of the UPWA union philosophy and its implementation. The interview is especially good on the subjects of civil rights, communism in the UPWA, the differences between the UPWA and the AMC&BW, UPWA response to plant closings, the packinghouse strike of 1948, and events within the AMC&BW after its merger with UPWA. This interview and that of AMC&BW's Leon Schachter clearly describe the two competing trade union philosophies in the meat industry.
Abstract to the Interview
The tapes for this interview have two tracks: a voice track containing the discussion, and a time track containing time announcements at intervals of approximately five seconds. The abstract lists, in order of discussion, the topics covered on each tape, and indicates the time-marking at which point the beginning of the particular discussion appears.
Thus, the researcher, by using a tape recorder's fast-forward button, may find expeditiously and listen to discrete segments without listening to all of the taped discussion. For instance, the user who wishes to listen to the topic on “THE UNION PHILOSOPHY OF PROSTEN AND THE UNITED PACKINGHOUSE WORKERS OF AMERICA (UPWA)” should locate the place on the second track of tape one, side one, where the voice announces the 08:35 time-marking (the voice says at this point, “Eight minutes thirty-five seconds”), and at this point switch to the first track to hear the discussion. The discussion on “THE UNION PHILOSOPHY OF PROSTEN AND THE UNITED PACKINGHOUSE WORKERS OF AMERICA (UPWA)” continues until approximately 15:50, at which point discussion of the next topic (“PROSTEN'S PHILOSOPHY REGARDING NEGOTIATIONS”) begins.
Notice that in most cases, sentences beneath each headline explain more about the contents of the topic. For example, the sentences underneath “THE UNION PHILOSOPHY OF PROSTEN AND THE UNITED PACKINGHOUSE WORKERS OF AMERICA (UPWA)” give further details on what appears on the tape between 08:35 and 15:50.
The abstract is designed to provide only a brief outline of the content of the tapes and cannot serve as a substitute for listening to them. However, the abstract when used with the index will help the researcher easily locate distinct topics and discussions among the many minutes of commentary.
Index to the Interview
There is no separate index for this interview. There is a master index for all the interviews with UFCW leaders.
