One Day Stronger: How One Union Local Saved a Mill and Changed an Industry--and What It Means for American Manufacturing

In August, 2017, the death knell sounded for yet another troubled American manufacturer: Appleton Coated, a historic mill in Wisconsin’s historic paper valley that had been the community’s economic mainstay for 128 years. The mill was sold to an industrial scrapper; hundreds of jobs were threatened, and a way of life hung in the balance.

But then the unlikely happened.

The mill’s union local and one county official leveraged an obscure legal strategy to stop the selloff. They did so in the face of widespread indifference from cynical politicians, including the state’s Republican governor and legislature, who were hell-bent on landing a plant to be built by Foxconn, a controversial foreign electronics manufacturer—even at the cost of over $3 billion in state subsidies.

Against all odds, the people won. Now the county official who joined in their fight, Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson, tells the story behind this remarkable turnaround. One Day Stronger is an inspiring saga of how a determined group of millworkers and other community-minded people triumphed over apathy, corporate avarice, and powerful political forces.

Today, the Appleton Coated mill is alive and well, and the Foxconn deal has cratered. But other manufacturers across the country face threats similar to the one that almost destroyed Appleton Coated. Author Nelson explains the crucial role that labor unions have played in building America’s middle class by creating and sustaining good-paying jobs, fostering prosperous communities, and promoting social solidarity. More important, he shows how labor, working in common cause with business and local government, can restore the American dream.

In a world where corporate greed and financial engineering have crushed the dreams of countless Americans, One Day Stronger offers a road map for fighting back—and winning.

“The book presents an engrossing courtroom drama, an acerbic indictment of bank policy that’s also fair to the difficulties that business managers face, and communitarian paeans to blue-collar America: “This was my childhood. This was the American Dream.” The result is a compelling story of a struggle for economic survival that strives to get beyond ideological polarization and highlight ways that unions, businesses, and governments can help ordinary people. An inspiring saga of grassroots political cooperation.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“A captivating and comprehensive account.”—BookLife Reviews

“One Day Stronger is a deeply reported business narrative about a paper mill in Nelson’s area, saved from closure through its union’s clever use of an obscure receivership statute. This is a riveting book about the state of corporate America today and one way out of the mess.”—David Dayen, The American Prospect

“One Day Stronger is exactly the story American needs right now. It is not just an account of saving a plant, but of respecting the dignity of work, the value of tradition, and the possibility of change. May Appleton Coated be a model for the future of American manufacturing!”—Anne Marie Slaughter, CEO, New America

“Wisconsin is a historic union state. It has never been more vital to understand the role that organized labor has played in our past, that it plays in our present, and that it must play in our future as a laboratory of democracy. Too many powerful figures in politics and the media neglect or openly dismiss the contribution made by Wisconsin’s labor organizations. Tom Nelson pushes back against that neglect and dismissal. He reminds us that Wisconsin doesn’t work without working people and the unions that represent them.”—John Nichols, National Affairs Correspondent, The Nation

Thomas M. Nelson has been County Executive of Outagamie County, Wisconsin since 2011. He served three terms in the state assembly, including one as majority leader, one of the youngest in state history. He developed his passion for public service from his parents, who founded a Lutheran mission church in Combined Locks, in the shadow of Appleton Coated. Nelson holds degrees from Carleton College (BA) and the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (MPA). He lives in Appleton, Wisconsin, with his wife, Maria, and their two children, Mary and George, and Lucy, a Yorkshire Terrier.