Interview with Alpha Ratliff, Anna Mae Fields, May 31, 1987

Interview Summary

Ratliff talks about the working conditions and duties of dietary workers in the hospital. Ratliff and Fields discuss the lead up to the strike, including the hospital's attempt to repress organizing. Ratliff talks about the picket line, including interacting with a hostile board member. Ratliff talks about her husband's illnesses and his treatment at Pikeville Methodist Hospital by strikebreaking nurses. Ratliff and Fields discuss the poor working conditions at the hospital, including waste management, cost-cutting measures, and the threats of termination. Ratliff discusses the maintenance of her immediate household and other family members before and after the strike.

Interview Keyword

Pikeville Methodist Hospital Unionization Termination Workplaces Households Picket lines Wages Benefits Violence Pacifism Relationships Spouses Communications Workers of America (CWA)

Interview LC Subject

Women in the labor movement Hospital and community. Picketing. Strikes and lockouts--Kentucky Labor unions--Strike benefits Communities Hospitals--Employees--Salaries, etc. Collective labor agreements Women political activists Protest and social movements United States--Trials, litigation, etc. Strikebreakers Pikeville (Ky.) Labor unions Hospital care--United States. Food service employees Cafeterias Labor unions--Organizing United Mine Workers of America Families Occupations Communications Workers of America

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Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.