Navajos Occupy Fairchild Plant
United States 1975
Synopsis
Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation was the largest employer on the Navajo Reservation in the 1970s. The tribal council actively courted industry to improve the employment situation of its people. Members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) occupied the plant to protest the layoff and treatment of 140 Navajo workers. They objected to what they considered exploitation by Fairchild and demanded the rehiring of all 140 workers who had been laid off. AIM also had several other concerns related to conditions in both the Navajo and Hopi tribes.
Tribal leaders intervened minimally during the eight-day occupation of the plant. Their hope was that at the end of the siege, the company would continue to operate the plant. After the plant closed, an analysis found that the tribe and government had expended much more in keeping Fairchild in the area than the company had returned to the agencies or community.
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