(FORTUNE Magazine) – The eight-month-old strike at the Geo. A. Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin, Minnesota, took a violent new turn. More than 300 demonstrators clashed with police outside the plant; 17 were arrested, including James Guyette, head of Local P-9 of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). Having long since condemned P-9's militancy as ''suicidal,'' the parent union initiated action to take over the local and appoint new leaders. Hormel's workers originally walked off the job last August, demanding a rollback of previous wage concessions. The plant remained shut for five months. The local wants a guarantee that all strikers will get their jobs back. The company and the UFCW say that demand is unrealistic. Many close observers believe the UFCW's effort to oust the P-9 hierarchy will succeed. But that would not necessarily end the walkout. New, moderate local leadership would face two major problems: winning the loyalty of the striking workers and getting some of them back their jobs. The Hormel conflict is the longest and most violent of many recent strikes in the meatpacking industry. Swift, Oscar Mayer, and Morrell have had similar walkouts over wage concessions. Others are likely. As union militancy rises, companies must cope with falling consumer demand and a shrinking meat supply. (The farm crisis has forced many farmers to sell off livestock to meet debt payments and buy seed.) The result is industrywide overcapacity and a fierce scramble for market share, if not for survival.