Trade unions Books

Book SynopsisWho were the women who fought back at Grunwick and Gate Gourmet? Striking Women gives a voice to the women involved as they discuss their lives, their work and their trade unions. Striking Women is centred on two industrial disputes, the famous Grunwick strike (1976-78) and the Gate Gourmet dispute that erupted in 2005. Focusing on these two events, the book explores the nature of South Asian women’s contribution to the struggles for workers’ rights in the UK labour market. The authors examine histories of migration and settlement of two different groups of women of South Asian origin, and how this history, their gendered, classed and racialised inclusion in the labour market, the context of industrial relations in the UK in the two periods and the nature of the trade union movement shaped the trajectories and the outcomes of the two disputes. This is the first account based on the voices of the women involved. Drawing on life/work history interviews with thirty-two women who participated in the two disputes, as well as interviews with trade union officials, archival material and employment tribunal proceedings, the authors explore the motivations, experiences and implications of these events for their political and social identities.Table of Contents1. Striking women from Grunwick to Gate Gourmet 2. Beyond the stereotypes: South Asian women workers 3. Histories of migration and settlement in the UK 4. Everyday accounts of resilience, struggle and resistance in a gendered and racialised labour market 5. `We are the lions, Mr Manager’: The Grunwick dispute 6. `You have to fight for your right … no one gives it to you on a plate’: The Gate Gourmet dispute 7. Minority women and unionisation in a changing economy – where are we now? Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review“Jake S. Friedman has done an impressive job of research, to put it mildly. Without knowing the sequence of events it’s impossible to understand how this bitter strike came about. Add to that the perceived insults, slights, and resentments and you have the stuff of great drama.” —Leonard Maltin, film critic and historian, author of Of Mice and Magic “Author Jake S. Friedman takes us on a deep dive into Hollywood history delivered in a style that reads like a film noir page turner. I could not put this book down.” —Don Hahn, producer of Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King “Gangsters, backroom deals, murder, and . . . cartoons? I’ve long been interested in the 1941 Disney strike, and Jake S. Friedman’s book does not disappoint. Well written and thoroughly researched—a great read!” —Pete Docter, director of Monsters Inc., Up, Inside Out, and SoulTable of ContentsAuthor’s Note Prologue Part I: Innovation 1. My Father Was a Socialist 2. Poor and Starving 3. The Value of Loyalty 4. Arthur Babbitt: Hell-Raiser 5. Fighting for His Salary 6. You Can’t Draw Your Ass 7. The Disney Art School 8. Three Little Pigs 9. Enter Bioffsky 10. The Cult of Personality 11. A Feature-Length Cartoon 12. Bioff Stakes His Claim 13. A Drunken Mouse 14. Disney’s Folly 15. Defense Against the Enemy Part II: Turmoil 16. A Growing Divide 17. The Norconian 18. A Wooden Boy and a World War 19. Dreams Shattered 20. Hilberman, Sorrell, and Bioff 21. The Federation Versus the Guild 22. The Guild and Babbitt 23. Disney Versus the Labor Board 24. The Final Strike Vote 25. Strike! 26. The Big Stick 27. The 21 Club 28. Willie Bioff and Walt Disney 29. The Guild and the CIO 30. Not the Drawing 31. The Final Goodbye 32. And They Lived Epilogue Notes Index

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisBy the end of the notorious 1984/85 miners’ strike many wanted to forget their painful experiences. Many years on people are ready to look back and talk about what happened in Britain during this defining moment of industrial action.In this new and updated edition, Beverley Trounce, who worked in a pit village and whose father was a miner, delivers a candid account of this heroic struggle through the voices of people directly affected by the strike. Her research and contributions from ex-striking miners and activists cover the pickets, the collieries, the matter of simple survival through the extreme and grinding poverty of the time, the effects on the women and children involved and the wider community, as well as the aftermath and what its legacy means to people today.From a Rock to a Hard Place is a powerful and moving record of a divisive moment in history.

Read more less

Book SynopsisNew insights into one of the most important episodes in British labour historyTrade Review'Fascinating ... reminds us, with passion and vigor, of the years of political and trade union organisation of the English workers' movement on the eve of the Great War. Unmissable’ -- Raquel Varela, labour historian, professor at FCSH-Universidade Nova de Lisboa and author of ‘A People's History of Europe: From World War 1 to Today’'A timely warning from history. Rising poverty and strike action. Collective bargaining, a tool for managing workers discontent. Westminster failing workers. An active rank & file holding unions accountable. All vital lessons we must apply during this current period of unrest' -- Henry Fowler and Robert Poole, Co-Founders, Strike Map'Based on meticulous historical research, this important study refutes once again the myth of working-class 'quiescence'. Addressing the remarkable eruption and trajectory of the great Labour Revolt in the years before World War I, Ralph Darlington reconstructs the many forms of autonomous worker resistance and its entanglement with trade union officialdom, as well as close links to radical socialist politics ... Provides a highly significant new contribution to the analysis of the limits and potential of industrial militancy and its relationship to political action and organisation' -- Marcel van der Linden, International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam'In the first book-length study of the 1910–14 labour revolt, Ralph Darlington convincingly conveys the breadth, depth, and limitations of its many strike movements. Within ten years, British politics, trade unionism, and industrial relations would be transformed' -- Dave Lyddon, Keele University, founding editor of 'Historical Studies in Industrial Relations''Drawing on modern historical research, Darlington depicts a broad working-class revolt in which radical activists played an important catalysing role. In discussing both the successes and the failures of the movement, he demonstrates its continued contemporary relevance' -- Richard Hyman, Emeritus Professor of Industrial Relations, Founding Editor, 'European Journal of Industrial Relations', Fellow of the British Academy‘Details a great moment in British and Irish working-class history, one where fundamental change seemed possible.’ -- ‘Counterfire’‘Incisive, erudite’ -- ‘Times Literary Supplement’Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Abbreviations Introduction Part I BACKCLOTH 1. Contexts and Causes 2. Influence of the Left Part II REVOLT 3. Scope, Harbingers and Springboard 4. Spirit of Revolt 5. Gathering Momentum 6. Diversity of Struggles 7. Challenges and Expectations Part III ASSESSMENT 8. Rank-and-File/Union Official Dynamic 9. Striking Organisation 10. Countermobilisation and Violence 11. Political Radicalisation 12. Industrial Militancy and the Radical Left Part IV AFTERMATH 13. Dénouement, Sequel and Political Legacy Tables Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrue crime meets political thriller in an explosive exposé of US meddling in MexicoTrade Review'An impressive piece of sleuthing. Mckenzie's dogged search for answers shines a spotlight on AIFLD with its CIA links.' -- Anthony Carew, author of 'American Labour's Cold War Abroad: From Deep Freeze to Detente''An in-depth study of the rot existing within the foreign policy leadership of the AFL-CIO. Expunging this rot is essential to the revitalization of the US labor movement' -- Kim Scipes, Professor of Sociology, Purdue University NorthwestTable of ContentsList of Photographs Series Preface Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Prologue PART I U.S. LABOR’S COLD WAR IN LATIN AMERICA 1. The Birth of AIFLD and the Coup in British Guiana 2. Labor’s Foreign Policy Contested and the Military Takeover in Brazil 3. AIFLD and the Battle of Chile 4. El Salvador, Nicaragua, and AIFLD’s Agenda for Central America PART II EL GOLPE 5. Mexico in the 1980s 6. U.S. Auto Companies Move South 7. The Coup 8. The Strike PART III TRACKING THE ASSASSINS 9. Detroit 10. St. Paul 11. Washington, DC Conclusion: Putting Together the Pieces of the Puzzle Appendix: On the Home “Front” Photographs Notes Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis Element aims to place just transition in the dynamics of the world political economy over the last several decades and to offer an overview of the varieties of just transitions based on an analytical scheme that focuses on their breadth, depth and ambition.Table of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Just transition as a response to Neoliberalism in the USA: 1970s to 2001; 2. The globalization of just transition: 2001-present; 3. The breadth of just transitions; 4. The depth of just transitions; 5. The ambition of just transitions: a double take; Conclusions; References.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn the summer of 2022, the little-known leader of a small union became a ‘working-class hero’. Facing down media pundits who thought they could walk all over him, he offered a robust critique of the government and provided workers with an authentic voice. At a time when the Labour Party was unable to articulate a credible alternative to the Tories, Mick Lynch spoke for the working class. Where did Lynch come from? How did he develop the skills and traits that make him such an effective spokesperson and leader? This book, the first biography of Lynch, explores his family and social background and his rise to the top of the RMT union, which culminated in election as General Secretary in 2021. Considering his persona and politics, this book asks what quality singles out Lynch as a working-class hero compared to other union leaders and, more broadly, what leadership means for working people and for the left.If we want better leaders at every level, the case of Mick Lynch holds the key.Trade Review‘Few union general secretaries master the news media, but Mick Lynch succeeded in withstanding – and exploiting – hostile questioning from television interviewers. Gregor Gall’s insightful account breaks new ground in showing how Lynch built up his public profile, having bypassed – and even thrived on – the union bashing of the tabloid press.’Nicholas Jones, former BBC industrial correspondent and author of Strikes and the Media'This is a compelling account of a charismatic union leader who emerged in summer 2022 as an articulate public spokesperson with a sharp sense of humour and a vision of social justice for workers that propelled him to national prominence.'John Kelly, Emeritus Professor of Industrial Relations, Birkbeck'Mapping Mick Lynch's personal and political trajectory, this book is a serious and engaging attempt to dig deeper into the new forms of radical leadership that have been evolving within the labour movement.'Professor Miguel Martinez Lucio, Work and Equalities Institute, The University of Manchester 'During the "hot summer" of 2022, Mick Lynch became the face and voice of mass protest against cuts to earnings, condition and services. Lynch's direct, wry voice spoke to us all, and for us all. This brilliant biography tells us how Lynch became a working-class hero, seemingly from nowhere.'Alan McKinlay, author of Jimmy Reid: A Clyde-Built Man'A fascinating study of the relationship between trade union struggles and the struggle for socialism.'Will Podmore, Morning Star'Packed with fascinating insight'Patrick Maguire, The Times'Has insights for those of us who see rank and file organisation at the base of the unions as the key to success.'Charlie Kimber, Socialist Worker 'Workers on the rail and beyond need to evaluate the strike wave. Gall’s book will be a useful aid for that.'Workers' Liberty 'Lessons of what methods work to create power over the bosses, what sort of leadership is effective in using those methods and others will need to be drawn out of the experience of this struggle, as part of the rearming of the working class as a whole. For trade unionists and socialists, this book is a useful contribution to that process.'Connor Rosoman, International Socialist Alternative -- .Table of ContentsIntroduction1 Approaching Lynch: the framework2 What is a ‘working-class hero’? 3 Sparks fly! Boyhood and blacklisted but back again 4 Working for the union5 Becoming General Secretary6 A ‘working-class hero’ is made7 Power and participation8 Social democracy and socialism: reform and revolutionConclusionIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this short and accessible book, Len McCluskey, General Secretary of Unite the Union, presents the case for joining a trade union. Drawing on anecdotes from his own long involvement in unions, he looks at the history of trade unions, what they do and how they give a voice to working people, as democratic organisations.He considers the changing world of work, the challenges and opportunities of automation and why being trade unionists can enable us to help shape the future. He sets out why being a trade unionist is as much a political role as it is an industrial one and why the historic links between the labour movement and the Labour Party matter.Ultimately, McCluskey explains how being a trade unionist means putting equality at work and in society front and centre, fighting for an end to discrimination, and to inequality in wages and power.Trade ReviewLen McCluskey is Britain's best known, and arguably most powerful, trade union leader for good reason. He engagingly mixes personal experiences with unflinching conviction to present a compelling argument for the value of organised labour - whichever political party is Government. * Kevin Maguire, Daily Mirror *A brilliant, accessible and thought-provoking book - and a reminder that unions will always be the best way for working-class people to win justice. Featuring a wealth of historical material, this lively and personal account shows how organised labour can thrive in the future. A must-read for trade unionists, activists and anybody who wants to build a more equal society. -- Frances O'Grady, General Secretary TUCAn absolute pleasure to read: it's part Len's personal history, part argument for an active, participatory trade union movement. In drawing out the lessons of recent trade union disputes and campaigns, such as the Gate Gourmet strike, the British Airways dispute and the various battles round precarious work, this book will be a vital resource for young activists in particular. I think it should be on everyone's reading list, in the Labour Party and beyond. * Laura Pidcock, Former Labour MP *Len McCluskey's little red book -- Niall Paterson * Sky News *Excellent, clear, contemporary in its examples and historically informed. * Manchester Review of Books *

Read more less

Book SynopsisBehind one of the greatest tragedies in UK policing history lies an incredible political scandal ‘An important book, especially now’ Lee Child ‘Espionage, betrayal, terrorism, corruption and murder. All the ingredients of a Le Carré novel, only it’s real’ Matthew Hall ‘A powerful and timely account’ John Sutherland ‘Very well written and deeply researched . . . an account of a relentless search for justice. It has pride of place in my library' John Grieve CBE QPM former DAC MPS and former National Coordinator for Counter-Terrorist Investigations 'Well-written, brilliantly researched, uplifting and yet, a truly shocking read. The story of one man's heroic fight against the odds and against the establishment. John Murray, you are indeed a hero' DCI Colin Sutton (ret'd) Senior Investigating Officer, the Millie Dowler enquiry On 17 April 1984, as demonstrators gathered outside the Libyan embassy in London, two gunmen lay in wait inside. At 10.18 a.m. automatic gunfire rained down on the protestors and WPC Yvonne Fletcher fell, mortally wounded. As his friend lay dying, PC John Murray made her a promise that he would not rest until those responsible had been brought to justice. Thirty-seven years would pass before he was able to fulfil that undertaking. While researching this moving account of one man’s dogged pursuit of justice for a murdered colleague, Matt Johnson uncovered secret-service deals and government duplicity, all part of a plan to force an end to the National Union of Mineworkers’ strike. He discovered the real reason Yvonne’s killers were allowed to go free and how events that day led to thirty years of growing political control of policing, resulting in the disarray increasingly evident today. This compelling account pulls seemingly unconnected threads into a coherent – and shocking – whole. It provides startling insights into how decisions taken by our politicians and the actions of our intelligence agencies, supposedly in our best interests, may be anything but.Trade Review‘An important book, especially now – both an intensely personal story, and a sober analysis of a political scandal’ -- Lee Child‘Espionage, betrayal, terrorism, corruption and murder. All the ingredients of a Le Carré novel, only it’s real’ -- Matthew Hall‘A powerful and timely account of one of the darkest chapters in British policing history’ -- John Sutherland'The best book I've ever read. Breathtakingly brilliant.' * Jackie Malton, former Detective, author of The Real Prime Suspect. *'A story I was really struck by… Uplifting… An important read.' * Crime Time / Paul Burke *‘Highly recommended. Hard-hitting, packed with raw emotion and a story that deserves to live long in the memory. If you only read one non-fiction book this year, make sure it is this one.’ * Jen Med's Book Reviews *'A literary masterpiece. Captivating, it is a must-read for those seeking profound insights into the hidden truths of our society.' * The Deeping *‘Very well written and deeply researched . . . an account of a relentless search for justice. It has pride of place in my library.' * John Grieve CBE QPM former DAC MPS and former National Coordinator for Counter-Terrorist Investigations *'Heart-wrenching saga of courage, betrayal, and the undying spirit of justice.' * Emergency Services News *'Well-written, brilliantly researched, uplifting and yet, a truly shocking read. The story of one man's heroic fight against the odds and against the establishment. John Murray, you are indeed a hero.' * DCI Colin Sutton (ret'd) Senior Investigating Officer, the Millie Dowler enquiry *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe postman and the primary teacher, the midwife and the musician. Workers in shops, workers at sea. Solidarity with the Columbian farmer and the Palestinian fireman… Modern trade unionists in Scotland perform roles in every imaginable location and are drawn from all backgrounds. They campaign to win on issues facing the colleague next to them or a comrade thousands of miles away. ’Mon the Workers tells their stories in their own words. It is a celebration of 125 years of the STUC, and a clarion call for the next generation to agitate, organise and win. This book demonstrates past achievements, explores the ideas trade unionists have fought for and rouses the movement towards future victories. 75 trade union members, reps and officials share experiences of union life from the anti-apartheid movement to Wick Wants Work. Alan McCredie’s charismatic portraits of 50 other activists from the trade union movement provide a complementary visual narrative. This very human book pulses with the energy of Scotland’s trade union movement, which has achieved so much and still has more to do.Trade ReviewMon should grace the shelves of union offices across the country... well worth reading and well worth returning to as a resource. STUART FAIRWEATHER, DEMOCRATIC LEFT SCOTLANDMon the Workers is not just a piece of commemorative history. It’s also part of the organiser’s toolkit. The power of these stories is that they are told by workers in their own voices. JENNI GUNN, SCOTTISH LEFT REVIEWTable of ContentsForeword by Rozanne Foyer Introduction 1. VictoriesJustice for Surjit Singh Chhokar Aamer Anwar Teachers’ march for better pay Adine Jones, Alison Beattie, Gillian [] and Leah Anderson 50/50 Campaign Agnes Tolmie Wick Wants Work Allan Tait Free school meals Andrea Bradley The battle of Kenmure Street Anonymous Apartheid, Mandela and Scotland Brian Filling Freedom From Fear for shopworkers Caroline Baird Fast food workers rise up Claire Peden Opposing dockyard privatisation Colm McConnell Call Centre Collective Craig Anderson UCS Work-In David Cooper 1985 Teachers’ Strike David Drever and May Ferries Better Than Zero Eilish O’Keefe Pharmacists prescribe change Gordon Finlayson and Paul Flynn Stopping NHS Privatisation Grahame Smith Responding to Piper Alpha Jake Molloy Defeating university pension cuts in 2018 Jeanette Findlay Standing together for equal pay Jennifer McCarey Caterpillar lock-in John Foster Abolishing fire and rehire John Kelly Building a winning branch John Neil Time For Inclusive Education Jordan Daly and Liam Stevenson Menopause policy for railway workers Kim Gibson Bargaining for NHS workers Lilian Macer Keeping guards on trains Mary Jane Herbison Saving the Fife yards Michael Sullivan From Polaris to a Scottish Parliament Pat Milligan Saving school kitchens Paul Arkison Saving skilled jobs in a pandemic Paul Leckie Blind workers’ rights Robert Mooney Battle for Royal Mail Tam Dewar Repealing Section 2A Tracy Gilbert 2. Ideas Worth Fighting ForBlack Workers’ Committee Anita Shelton Resistance, unity and pensions Cat Boyd Fighting for older workers Elinor McKenzie and Helen Biggins Women’s Committee prison visit Janet Cassidy By artists, for artists Janie Nicoll and Lynda Graham Helping the firefighters of Palestine Jim Malone Visiting Palestine Liz Elkind Michael’s Story and International Workers’ Memorial Day Louise Adamson Another side to the miner’s strike Margot Russell Playing the union card Michael Devlin Learning on the job Michelle Boyle Anti-fascism, then and now Mike Arnott A workers’ newspaper Ron McKay Marching against racism Satnam Ner Solidarity with Chile Sonia Leal Union learning and growth in the taxi trade Stevie Grant Justice for Columbia Susan Quinn Solidarity visit to Bhopal Tony Sneddon 3. The Struggle continues Pardon for Miners Alex Bennett Safe Home campaign Caitlin Lee Working together for climate justice Catrina Randall Protecting black workers in a pandemic Charmaine Blaze Climate and unions at COP26 Coll McCail Worker safety during Covid Deborah Vaile Unionising Produce Workers Derek Mitchell A unique LGBT Network Eilidh Milliken Changing the music industry Iona Fyfe Making a stand with Macmerry Keetah Konstant Battling labour casualisation in academia Lena Wanggren Action on Asbestos Phylliss Craig Asda equal pay Rose Theresa Skilling Carers during Covid Shona Thomson From Timex to Better Than Zero Stella Rooney Workers in the gig economy Xabier Vill0ares

Read more less

Book SynopsisShip masters and officers may not seem like pioneers of trade unionism. However, this history of their unique union, Nautilus International, shows how they have been pitched into the forefront of a long struggle for decent jobs, fair pay and conditions, employment rights, and health and safety – all in an international industry marked by savage and cut-throat competition. This book traces the evolution of today’s trans-boundary organisation from its roots in the Victorian-era expansion of the merchant fleet and the moves to raise the status and professionalism of its seafarers. It tells how successive unions have sought to overcome such seemingly perennial problems as piracy, criminalisation, substandard ships, excessive working hours and the threat of being replaced by low-cost crews – not to mention the battle against government indifference and public ignorance of an industry that is essential for an island nation. From the formation, in 1857, of the Mercantile Marine Service Association (MMSA) – the foundation stone in the building of today’s union – the book explains the remarkable ways in which the union has adapted and developed to meet the changing and complex challenges faced by members. From the provision of specialist welfare services and a global network of legal support to its leading role in the development of the international ‘bill of rights’ for seafarers, the union and its forerunners have been at the cutting edge of cradle- to-grave support for members. Pulling Together also describes the way in which the union has helped to produce trail-blazing systems of structure and organisation to represent members against the backdrop of a volatile ‘boom and bust’ industry, often in the face of intense shipowner hostility. Helping to build national negotiating machinery in one of the most open markets of all industries, the union and its predecessors have worked across borders to create a united response to the global challenges they face. With the shipping industry now entering its fourth industrial revolution, this book shows how Nautilus can draw from more than 160 years of history to continue the fight for a fair future for its members.

Read more less

Book SynopsisA key organizing tool for casualized higher education faculty from longtime movement activistsTrade Review'A masterful look at the challenges involved with organizing workers in higher education. Berry and Worthen provide excellent recommendations regarding vision and strategy, making the book valuable beyond the field of higher education' -- Bill Fletcher, Jr., author of 'They're Bankrupting Us: And Twenty Other Myths about Unions''Academic precarity screws over teachers by stealing our access to memories of how precarious workers have risen up to win better conditions in the past. Who fought for something better? How did they define what 'better' meant? What strategy and tactics did they use to make progress? 'Power Despite Precarity' is an essential primer on these questions and more' -- Alyssa Picard, Director, American Federation of Teachers' higher education division'Empowers us to fight for the higher education and unions we believe in, uniting theory and practice to chart an inspiring path toward labor and education justice' -- Mia L. McIver, Ph.D., Lecturer, UCLA, President, University Council-American Federation of Teachers'Written from both an organizer's and historian's perspective, 'Power Despite Precarity' is essential reading for anyone working in higher education who wants to make a better world and wonders what it takes. Berry and Worthen provide a handbook on how the growing number of contingent faculty can unite in common cause. While it is about education, many of the lessons dealing with internal problems inside unions are not issues confined to the education sector (alas) and I especially enjoyed those parts' -- Elaine Bernard, Fellow of the Labor & Worklife Program, Harvard Law School'Essential for anyone concerned about higher education. It is impossible to separate the working conditions of faculty from the learning conditions of students, and Berry and Worthen explain how it is possible to transform both for the better of all' -- Maria Maisto, President of New Faculty Majority, Maryland'Power Despite Precarity’ is not just a solid guide to best practices in day-to-day trade union work within higher education. It’s also a rousing call for the contingent faculty movement to embrace grassroots, rather than top-down, organizing and break out of the narrow confines of collective bargaining’ -- Steve Early, national staff member of the Communications Workers of America (retired) and author of 'The Civil Wars in U.S. Labor: Birth of a New Workers’ Movement or Death Throes of the Old?''A nuanced guide for organizing which develops a historically informed analysis of the current state and likely direction of higher education today' -- Jack Metzgar, author of 'Striking Steel'‘A roadmap to thinking and acting like organizers’ -- Fred Glass, ‘Jacobin’‘A rousing call for the contingent faculty movement to embrace grassroots, rather than top-down, organizing and break out of the narrow confines of collective bargaining’ -- ‘LA Progressive’‘Berry and Worthen, who combined have decades of teaching and academic organizing experience, offer the reader an extended, classroom-level case study of how educators in the California State University system organized and built power’ -- Jonathan Rosenblum, ‘Truthout’‘I enjoyed Power Despite Precarity and certainly recognized many issues from the vantage point of my twelve years as a TA and then a contingent college teacher. The book is a blueprint and battle cry for academic fruit pickers everywhere’ -- Harvey Schwartz, author of Labor under Siege and Solidarity StoriesTable of ContentsPhotographs Series Preface Acknowledgements Abbreviations and Acronyms Introduction PART I - THE CASE OF THE LECTURERS IN THE CSU SYSTEM 1. Student Strikes and Union Battles 2. Layoffs and Hard Years for Organizing 3. Revolution in the Union 4. “They have nothing to teach us” PART II - HIGHER ED WAS NEVER A LEVEL TERRAIN OF STRUGGLE 5. Four Transitions and How Casualization Served Managers PART III - WHAT WE WANT AND WHAT THE CFA GOT 6. Blue Sky #1 Organizing and Economics 7. Blue Sky #2 Job Security, Academic Freedom and the Common Good 8. Beyond the Sausage-making: A Close Look at the CFA-CSU Contract PART IV - THE DIFFICULTY OF THINKING STRATEGICALLY 9. Strategies Emerging From Practice 10. The Contingent Faculty Movement as a Social Movement PART V - SEVEN TROUBLESOME QUESTIONS 11. What Gets People Moving? 12. Who is the Enemy? Who are Our Allies? 13. What is “Professionalism” for Us? 14. How Does It Feel? 15. Is this legal? 16. What About Leftists? 17. How Do We Deal With Union Politics? PART VI - USING THE POWER WE HAVE 18. Hopes and Dangers Essential Terms John Hess: A Life in the Movement Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisBob Crow was the most high-profile and militant union leader of his generation. This biography focuses on his leadership of the RMT union, examining and exposing a number of popular myths created about him by political opponents. Using the schema of his personal characteristics (including his public persona), his politics and the power of his members, it explains how and why he was able to punch above his weight in industrial relations and on the political stage, helping the small RMT union become as influential as many of its much larger counterparts. As RMT leader, Crow oversaw a rise in membership and promoted a more assertive and successful bargaining approach. While he failed to unite all socialists into one new party, he established himself as the leading popular critic of neo-liberalism, 'New' Labour and the age of austerity.Trade Review‘In this well –written new biography Gregor Gall explains how and why Bob Crow achieved this fame. Central to Bob’s rise to power was the position of the RMT workers on the London Underground.’Bernadette Hyland, Lipstick socialist‘Gregor Gall’s biography does justice to Crow – the socialist, leader and fighter. He was a complicated figure and some of that complexity comes over in the book.’Paul Salveson, Tribune – April 2107‘There’s a great exploration of the structures that Crow inherited, the limitations they placed on him and what he did to change the situation, thereby encouraging the development of the RMT on the trajectory that it became renowned for.’Alan Crowe, Socialist Review May 2017‘The late leader of the small but politically important RMT union – a “Marxist Millwall supporter”, as the papers had it, and he was both; “the most hated man in Britain”, as some papers tried on, and he wasn’t – is well served by an account of his career set against informed analysis of 21st-century UK trade unions’ far-from-dinosaurish determination to grapple with changing workplaces, state rollback, electoral politics after Labour’s Blairite takeover, gender equity and globalisation. Gall is wary of the “great man” approach, but wherever Crow’s own words appear, the tale shifts from scholarly grey to vivid, quotable, charismatic and quip-filled Red Flag red – and the words “great man” look pretty spot on. ‘ THES 20/04/2017‘As the first book about Bob Crow published since his untimely death three years ago, Gregor Gall’s political biography of Crow provides us with an opportunity to review his life and his time in the railworkers’ union NUR and its successor RMT, to highlight the key reasons for his effectiveness and impact, and to examine the limits of those.’Janine Booth, Solidarity Newspaper May 2017'As a political analysis it is refreshing, nuanced and worthwhile.' Conrad Landin, TLS, June 2017‘Gall neatly presents Crow’s early life in poverty and the unshakeable class consciousness, learned from his Communist Party father, heretained all his life. He also describes Crow’s rise to prominence in the union, the industrial struggles and the RMT break with the Labour Party in 2004…a well-researched book.’Martin Pitt and Anne Kenefeck, International Socialism, A quarterly review of socialist theory, Issue 157‘The book is a fitting record of Bob’s life which draws out lessons and inspirations for us as a movement and as a class going forward.’Richard Whyte, Scottish Left Review, Issue 103‘this book should be placed high on the reading list of anyone interested in British industrial relations and the labour movement in general.’ David O’Connell, Global Labour Journal, 2018 -- .Table of ContentsIntroduction1 Formative years 2 The 1990s 3 Becoming RMT general secretary 4 Second term as general secretary 5 Last term of office 6 Person and personal life 7 Politics and practice 8 Perception and practice 9 Legacy and legend Appendix 1: Testimonies Appendix 2: Tributes to Crow References Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTim Davenport and David Walters have extracted the essential core of Debs’s life work, illustrating his intellectual journey from conservative editor of the magazine of a racially segregated railway brotherhood to his role as the public face and outstanding voice of social revolution in early twentieth-century America. Well over 1,000 Debs documents will be republished as part of this monumental project, the vast majority seeing print again for the first time since the date of their original publication. Eugene V. Debs (1855–1926) was a trade unionist, magazine editor, and public orator widely regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of American socialism.Trade Review"Tim Davenport and David Walters have given us, as they did with the first volume of the series, a real treasure, and a restoration." —Paul Buhle, for DSAUSA.org "Gene Debs tirelessly urged the self-organization of working people in the United States as their only sure road to freedom. His role in the formation of the Socialist Party particularly provides lessons for our day." —Mark Lause

Read more less

Book Synopsis“Len tells his story as only he can: forthright, confident and witty. What emerges is a hard-hitting assessment of dramatic times, and a message of hope for the future.”— Jeremy CorbynLen McCluskey is the standout trade unionist of his era. Head of the giant Unite union for more than a decade, he is a unique and powerful figure on the political stage. In this major autobiography, McCluskey throws back the curtains on life at the top of the Labour movement—with explosive revelations about his dealings with Keir Starmer, the behind-the-scenes battles of the Corbyn era, his secret Brexit negotiations with Theresa May’s government, the spectacular bust-up with his former friend Tom Watson, and his tortuous relationship with Ed Miliband. McCluskey is no run-of-the-mill trade unionist. Fiercely political, unflinchingly left wing, he is a true workers’ leader. His politics were formed in Liverpool at a time of dock strikes, the Beatles, and the May 1968 revolution in Paris. An eyewitness to the Hillsborough tragedy, he recounts in harrowing detail searching for his son. Witty and sharp, McCluskey delivers a powerful intervention, issuing a manifesto for the future of trade unionism and urging the left not to lose sight of class politics. A central player in a tumultuous period of British political history, McCluskey’s account is an essential—and entertaining—record of our times.Trade Review“Fascinating… A good story about the way that trade unionism can drastically change people’s lives” — The Guardian“Len McCluskey, outgoing general secretary of Unite, criticises the Labour leader in his new autobiography”— BBC News“Union firebrand Len McCluskey has launched a blistering attack on Sir Keir Starmer… In a bombshell memoir, the union baron will accuse him of an ‘anti-democratic crackdown on the Left’”— Daily Mail“Pulls no punches. An explosive account of life at the top of the Labour Party from Britain’s most important trade union leader.”— Kevin Maguire “Len’s life story is an inspiration. He lives and breathes solidarity. He is a true workers’ leader.” — Maxine Peake “Len reminds us what—and who—we’re fighting for. He knows his own mind and isn’t afraid to speak it.” — Zarah Sultana “The riveting story of a lifetime spent fighting for workers, with lessons for all of us. Len learned the value of solidarity working on the Liverpool docks and it has never left him.” — Dave Ward “An incisive political memoir with lessons for the whole left” — Morning Star “[This] account of Corbynism … is one of the most politically astute to date” — New Left Review “Len McCluskey lifts lid on secret chats with Starmer” — Express “Len McCluskey says public could see Labour leader as ‘someone who can’t be trusted’” — The Independent “Uncompromising and highly critical” — Sky News “Len McCluskey’s parting shot [against Keir Starmer] comes in a memoir, Always Red, which is set to be published on the day of Starmer’s speech at Labour’s annual conference” — The Times “Labour could go under if Sir Keir Starmer takes it too far to the Right, says Len McCluskey” — The Telegraph “Len McCluskey accuses Keir Starmer of 'breaking deal' over Corbyn's readmission to Labour” — The Mirror“The life and legacy of one of the most influential labour leaders” — Red Pepper“Full of score-settling” — The Socialist Party of Great BritainTable of ContentsForeword by Ricky Tomlinson Introduction PART ONE FROM CRADLE TO BRAVE1 A Liverpool Upbringing2 The Docks3 Militancy and Misery4 The Praetorian Guards5 Family6 Anfield, Heysel and Hillsborough7 Betrayal8 Cool Britannia9 Come Together10 Uniting Unite PART TWO FROM FALKIRK TO FINSBURY PARK11 Dealing with Miliband12 Falkirk13 The Road to Defeat14 The Rise of Jeremy Corbyn15 Out of the Frying Pan into the Fire16 The Chicken Coup17 A Close Call18 201719 Labour’s Antisemitism Crisis20 A Slow-Motion Car Crash21 The Brexit Election22 New Management23 ‘Fighting Back’ Trade Unionism

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisWho grows the food we eat? How important is it that family farms are viable in Canada today and in the future? How do viable family farms help determine the safety, diversity and sustainability of Canada’s food systems? Why is this important to those of us who do not farm? Frontline Farmers introduces readers to the National Farmers Union (NFU). For over fifty years, the NFU has been on the frontlines of our food system. From fighting against transnational corporations that seek to control our food system by imposing genetically modified organisms into our food, to protecting seeds, maintaining orderly marketing, saving the prison farms, keeping the land in the hands of family farmers, farming ecologically and building food sovereignty, the NFU has been front and centre of farm and food activism. This book collects the voices of NFU members who tell the stories of the key struggles of the progressive farm movement in Canada: fighting to build viable rural communities, protecting the family farm and creating socially just and ecologically sustainable food systems. Frontline Farmers reveals that the stakes for controlling our food in Canada have never been higher.Table of ContentsContents: Beginnings • Recounting the Past, Counting on the Future: Stories of the nfu (Nettie Wiebe) • NFU Takes on a Corporate Giant (Carla Fehr) • Stopping Monsanto: Coalition Building Against RBGH and gm Wheat (Carla Fehr and Emily Eaton) • Protecting Seeds (Terran Giacomini) • Organizing the Market: The Canadian Wheat Board (André Magnan) • Farming Ecologically: The NFU in Ontario (Bryan Dale) • Saving the Prison Farms: Cows, Community and Civil Disobedience (Asha Nelson and Meghan Entz) • Owning the Island: The Question of Land in Prince Edward Island (Naomi Beingessner) • Embracing Agrarian Feminism: “The Farm Is Mary’s and Mine” (Carla Roppel) • Inspiring Re-Generation: NFU Youth (Terran Giacomini) • Globalization Solidarity: La Vía Campesina and Food Sovereignty (Asha Nelson and Annette Aurélie Desmarais) • Building Relationships: Indigenous-Settler Solidarity and the NFU (Lauren Kepkiewicz and Terran Giacomini) • References • Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisA compelling oral history of the 2009-11 strike action carried out by cabin crew workers against British Airways.Trade Review'Deserves to be read by everyone interested in building a better world for workers' -- Paul Mason, author of 'PostCapitalism: A Guide to Our Future''Unique ... it lays bare cabin crew emotions ranging from the sense of injustice, anger, fears and anxieties to the joy and sense of liberation that can come from collective organisation' -- Maxine Peake, Actress and Writer'This excellent book is a timely reminder that strikes and conflict remain enduring features of UK industrial relations. The authors make a significant theoretical and empirical contribution to our understanding of the meanings of strike action from the perspective of strikers themselves, and to our knowledge of strikes generally' -- Richard Hyman, author of 'Understanding European Trade Unionism: Between Market, Class and Society'Table of ContentsList of Photographs Acknowledgements Foreword by Len McCluskey Preface by Duncan Holley Timeline 1. Introduction 2. Cabin Crew Collectivism 3. Project Columbus 4. Balloting, the Right to Strike and British Airways Counter-Mobilisation 5. Collective Organisation: The XXXX Campaign 6. Outcomes: Worlds Turned Upside Down 7. Conclusion Afterword by John Hendy QC Appendix: The Participants Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisA comprehensive new study that uncovers the real story of working-class struggle in TurkeyTrade Review'The most formative work in decades on the Turkish political economy and the devastation wrought by an authoritarian government on the country's workers. I highly recommend this book for all those who seek to understand the emergence of widespread resistance by an increasingly militant working class in Turkey' -- Immanuel Ness, Professor of Political Science at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York and author of 'Organizing Insurgency' (Pluto, 2020)'A deep and timely analysis with an overarching narrative of the Turkish labor markets under the conditionalities of late capitalism [...] An indispensable resource on the economics of labor' -- A. Erinç Yeldan, Professor of Economics at Kadir Has University'Impressively comprehensive [...] The contributions not only cover the sphere of production, but equally social reproduction including the importance of unpaid labour in patriarchal capitalist structures, as well as migration as a source of cheap labour. A must-read for everyone interested in the role of Turkish labour in the crisis-ridden 21st century' -- Andreas Bieler, Professor of Political Economy, University of Nottingham'This excellent book is remarkable for its courageous and insightful analysis. Against the grain of the contemporary near silence about the struggles of society’s surplus value producers who make a living in miserable conditions, this volume articulates the suffering inflicted and brings to the fore the collective forms of resistance to that suffering' -- Professor Werner Bonefeld, University of YorkTable of ContentsList of Abbreviations Acknowledgements Introduction - Mehmet Erman Erol and Çağatay Edgücan Şahin PART I: RESTRUCTURING Neoliberal Restructuring of Labour and the State: From Military Dictatorship to the AKP Era 1. Not-So-Strange Bedfellows: Neoliberalism and the AKP in Turkey - Mehmet Erman Erol 2. Turkey’s Labour Markets Under Neoliberalism: An Overview - Kerem Gökten 3. Commodification and Changing Labour in Turkey: The Working Class in the Public Sector - Koray R. Yılmaz 4. Neoliberal Transformation of Turkey’s Health Sector and its Effects on the Health Labour Force - Sebiha Kablay Gender, Migration and Rural Aspects of Neoliberal Restructuring 5. Between Neoliberalism and Conservatism: Recent Developments and New Agendas in Female Labour Policies in Turkey - Demet Özmen Yılmaz 6. The Making of the Rural Proletariat in Neoliberal Turkey - Coşku Çelik 7. Burden or a Saviour at a Time of Economic Crisis? AKP’s ‘Open-Door Migration Policy’ and its Impact on Labour Market Restructuring in Turkey - Ertan Erol PART II: CONTAINMENT 8. Social Assistance as a Non-Wage Income for the Poor in Turkey: Work and Subsistence Patterns of Social Assistance Recipient Households - Denizcan Kutlu 9. A View of Precarisation from Turkey: Urban-Rural Dynamics and Intergenerational Precarity - Elif Hacısalihoğlu 10. When the Law is Not Enough: ‘Work Accidents’, Profit Maximisation and the Unwritten Rules of Workers’ Health and Safety in New Turkey - Murat Özveri 11. Are We All in the Same Boat? Covid-19 and the Working Class in Turkey - Yeliz Sarıöz Gökten PART III: RESISTANCE 12. Reconsidering Workers’ Self-Management in Turkey: From Resistance to Workers’ Self-Management Possibilities/Constraints - Berna Güler and Erhan Acar 13. Organised Workers’ Struggles Under Neoliberalism: Unions, Capital and the State in Turkey - Çağatay Edgücan Şahin Notes Contributors Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisBehind the costumes, life isn’t always magic and fairy dust for the people who play the iconic characters of Mickey Mouse, Goofy, and Cinderella at Walt Disney World. In a surprising tale of corruption alongside activism, this book reveals the little-known story of Teamsters Local 385, the union that represents these performers.Trade Review“This timely, well-researched, well-reported volume explores what happens when a union becomes undemocratic. . . . Will appeal to readers interested in union politics, Disney history, or nonfiction books that take a deep dive into their subjects.”—Library Journal

Read more less

Book SynopsisReflecting on how existing forms of workplace representation have changed, Focusing or Fragmenting Representation at Work? raises proactive and thought-provoking questions for researchers examining trade unions, industrial relations and the sociology of work, as well as current trade unionists and trade union representatives.

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn introduction to early Danish trade unionism 1870-1940. Before the Second World War Danish workers were among the best organized in Europe. It is the high level of unionisation which makes Danish trade unionism 1870-1940 an interesting case, in particular the high level of unionisation of unskilled workers, male and female, in a trade union movement based on the craft-principle. In this book key issues of Danish trade unions before 1940 have been examined in order to understand and explain this particular case of successful trade unionism in Europe before 1940. In eight chapters the book examines the organisational structures of Danish trade unions, Scandinavian and international cooperation, the dominance of skill, agitation and ideology of trade unionism, the impact of strikes and industrial conflicts, trade unions and politics, womens work and identities and the work and organisation of unskilled workers -- thereby seeking to explain the success of Danish trade unionism before 1940.

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book remains the most competent treatment of the principles and organization, strategy, and tactics, of the trade union movement. Drawing upon his life-long experience as an outstanding labor leader, the author shows the role of a militant Left in the trade unions, without which significant progress has proved impossible. Foster selected and edited his writings for this volume and supplied an introduction and epilogue. It is now reprinted as he prepared it in 1947.The period covered in these writings runs back, roughly, half a century. While not a formal history of trade unionism during this time, the book nevertheless throws much light on the major developments in the trade union movement, It particularly highlights the long struggle of the left-wing and progressive forces for improved trade union organization, policies, and leadership. The period in question was one of stormy and significant economic and political developments. American in

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWho were the women who fought back at Grunwick and Gate Gourmet? Striking Women gives a voice to the women involved as they discuss their lives, their work and their trade unions. Striking Women is centred on two industrial disputes, the famous Grunwick strike (1976-78) and the Gate Gourmet dispute that erupted in 2005. Focusing on these two events, the book explores the nature of South Asian women’s contribution to the struggles for workers’ rights in the UK labour market. The authors examine histories of migration and settlement of two different groups of women of South Asian origin, and how this history, their gendered, classed and racialised inclusion in the labour market, the context of industrial relations in the UK in the two periods and the nature of the trade union movement shaped the trajectories and the outcomes of the two disputes. This is the first account based on the voices of the women involved. Drawing on life/work history interviews with thirty-two women who participated in the two disputes, as well as interviews with trade union officials, archival material and employment tribunal proceedings, the authors explore the motivations, experiences and implications of these events for their political and social identities.Table of Contents1. Striking women from Grunwick to Gate Gourmet 2. Beyond the stereotypes: South Asian women workers 3. Histories of migration and settlement in the UK 4. Everyday accounts of resilience, struggle and resistance in a gendered and racialised labour market 5. `We are the lions, Mr Manager’: The Grunwick dispute 6. `You have to fight for your right … no one gives it to you on a plate’: The Gate Gourmet dispute 7. Minority women and unionisation in a changing economy – where are we now? Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisLong a bastion of Jewish labor power, garment unions provided financial and political aid essential to founding and building the nation of Israel. Throughout the project, Jewish labor often operated outside of official channels as non-governmental organizations. Adam Howard explores the untold story of how three influential garment unions worked alone and with other Jewish labor organizations in support of a new Jewish state. Sewing the Fabric of Statehood reveals a coalition at work on multiple fronts. Sustained efforts convinced the AFL and CIO to support Jewish development in Palestine through land purchases for Jewish workers and encouraged the construction of trade schools and cultural centers. Other activists, meanwhile, directed massive economic aid to Histadrut, the General Federation of Jewish Workers in Palestine, or pressured the British and American governments to recognize Israel''s independence. What emerges is a powerful account of the motivations and ideals that leTrade Review"Howard’s book offers a thorough case study of the growth of Jewish labor’s support for Israel. Readers will continue to turn to it for insights on a pillar of the U.S.-Israel relationship. " --Journal of American History“Groundbreaking. Adam Howard brings together new information and penetrating analysis of labor, ideology, and international relations that changes the paradigm for how we understand the U.S. role in Israel’s creation and, more generally, the impact of non-state actors in international affairs.”--Robert Anthony Waters, coeditor of American Labor’s Global Ambassadors: The International History of the AFL-CIO during the Cold War "Incorporating much primary research and comprehensive in its scope, this splendid study whets our appetite for additional insight." --Jewish Historical Studies"Sewing the Fabric of Statehood is a substantial contribution to a number of scholarly fields, including American labor history, American Jewish history, and the history of Zionism." --H-Net Reviews"Sewing the Fabric of Statehood would be of use to anyone interested in issues of leadership, interest groups, and foreign policy, as well as labor and Jewish history." --American Historical Review"A welcome contribution to scholarship about US-Israel relations."--H-Net"An immensely useful and detailed account of the dimension of American Labor in the history of the creation of the state of Israel."--Wm. Roger Louis, University of Texas

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewChoice Outstanding Academic Title, 2019 "Disruption in Detroit should take its place near the top of this reading list. Clark masterfully details the struggles of autoworkers who faced economic upheaval at the core of the midcentury industrial economy." --Labor Studies in Working-Class History"Exposes the myth of the prosperous postwar auto worker and deftly deals with the delicate interplay among larger national economic forces, auto industry and auto union policies, and the lives of those who labored and lived in the Motor City in the decade and a half after World War II."--Stephen Meyer, author of Manhood on the Line: Working Class Masculinities in the American Heartland​"Well-written and well-researched, this book challenges and transforms the way we understand the immediate postwar era. Daniel Clark closely examines auto work and ordinary autoworkers, people whose lives have been overwhelmed by the narrative of postwar economic expansion and overlooked by most scholars. The vaunted economic boom was not the vehicle for the making of the Detroit middle class, Clark shows. Detroit autoworkers and their families experienced the same job instability and economic insecurity that had long shaped working-class life and labor. Attentive to gender and race, Clark offers an astute and cogent argument informed by wide and deep research in newspapers and close listening to and reading of oral histories. Providing a startling different perspective on the postwar boom and the alleged heyday of the United Auto Workers when high wages and benefits pushed autoworkers into the middle class, the book requires revision of modern American history as well as midcentury labor history."--Nancy Gabin, author of Feminism in the Labor Movement: Women and the United Auto Workers, 1935-1970"Disruption in Detroit breaks ground for exciting new research questions and debates in this crucial period of working-class history. Clark's work should prompt historians of the United States, Canada, and beyond to rethink and re-examine post-war working-class lives." --Labour/Le Travail"Its careful consideration of large economic trends balanced with personal interviews provides readers with a good portrait of the actual struggles of what some have (perhaps mistakenly) called the 'aristocracy of American labor.'" --The Michigan Historical Review"Essential." --Choice"Disruption in Detroit should take its place near the top of this reading list. Clark masterfully details the struggles of autoworkers who faced economic upheaval at the core of the midcentury industrial economy." --Labor Studies in Working-Class History

Read more less

Book SynopsisLong a bastion of Jewish labor power, garment unions provided financial and political aid essential to founding and building the nation of Israel. Throughout the project, Jewish labor often operated outside of official channels as non-governmental organizations. Adam Howard explores the untold story of how three influential garment unions worked alone and with other Jewish labor organizations in support of a new Jewish state. Sewing the Fabric of Statehood reveals a coalition at work on multiple fronts. Sustained efforts convinced the AFL and CIO to support Jewish development in Palestine through land purchases for Jewish workers and encouraged the construction of trade schools and cultural centers. Other activists, meanwhile, directed massive economic aid to Histadrut, the General Federation of Jewish Workers in Palestine, or pressured the British and American governments to recognize Israel''s independence. What emerges is a powerful account of the motivations and ideals that leTrade Review"Howard’s book offers a thorough case study of the growth of Jewish labor’s support for Israel. Readers will continue to turn to it for insights on a pillar of the U.S.-Israel relationship. " --Journal of American History“Groundbreaking. Adam Howard brings together new information and penetrating analysis of labor, ideology, and international relations that changes the paradigm for how we understand the U.S. role in Israel’s creation and, more generally, the impact of non-state actors in international affairs.”--Robert Anthony Waters, coeditor of American Labor’s Global Ambassadors: The International History of the AFL-CIO during the Cold War "Incorporating much primary research and comprehensive in its scope, this splendid study whets our appetite for additional insight." --Jewish Historical Studies"Sewing the Fabric of Statehood is a substantial contribution to a number of scholarly fields, including American labor history, American Jewish history, and the history of Zionism." --H-Net Reviews"Sewing the Fabric of Statehood would be of use to anyone interested in issues of leadership, interest groups, and foreign policy, as well as labor and Jewish history." --American Historical Review"A welcome contribution to scholarship about US-Israel relations."--H-Net"An immensely useful and detailed account of the dimension of American Labor in the history of the creation of the state of Israel."--Wm. Roger Louis, University of Texas

Read more less

Book SynopsisIt is a bedrock American belief: the 1950s were a golden age of prosperity for autoworkers. Flush with high wages and enjoying the benefits of generous union contracts, these workers became the backbone of a thriving blue-collar middle class. It is also a myth. Daniel J. Clark began by interviewing dozens of former autoworkers in the Detroit area and found a different story--one of economic insecurity caused by frequent layoffs, unrealized contract provisions, and indispensable second jobs. Disruption in Detroit is a vivid portrait of workers and an industry that experienced anything but stable prosperity. As Clark reveals, the myths--whether of rising incomes or hard-nosed union bargaining success--came later. In the 1950s, ordinary autoworkers, union leaders, and auto company executives recognized that although jobs in their industry paid high wages, they were far from steady and often impossible to find.Trade ReviewChoice Outstanding Academic Title, 2019 "Disruption in Detroit should take its place near the top of this reading list. Clark masterfully details the struggles of autoworkers who faced economic upheaval at the core of the midcentury industrial economy." --Labor Studies in Working-Class History"Exposes the myth of the prosperous postwar auto worker and deftly deals with the delicate interplay among larger national economic forces, auto industry and auto union policies, and the lives of those who labored and lived in the Motor City in the decade and a half after World War II."--Stephen Meyer, author of Manhood on the Line: Working Class Masculinities in the American Heartland​"Well-written and well-researched, this book challenges and transforms the way we understand the immediate postwar era. Daniel Clark closely examines auto work and ordinary autoworkers, people whose lives have been overwhelmed by the narrative of postwar economic expansion and overlooked by most scholars. The vaunted economic boom was not the vehicle for the making of the Detroit middle class, Clark shows. Detroit autoworkers and their families experienced the same job instability and economic insecurity that had long shaped working-class life and labor. Attentive to gender and race, Clark offers an astute and cogent argument informed by wide and deep research in newspapers and close listening to and reading of oral histories. Providing a startling different perspective on the postwar boom and the alleged heyday of the United Auto Workers when high wages and benefits pushed autoworkers into the middle class, the book requires revision of modern American history as well as midcentury labor history."--Nancy Gabin, author of Feminism in the Labor Movement: Women and the United Auto Workers, 1935-1970"Disruption in Detroit breaks ground for exciting new research questions and debates in this crucial period of working-class history. Clark's work should prompt historians of the United States, Canada, and beyond to rethink and re-examine post-war working-class lives." --Labour/Le Travail"Its careful consideration of large economic trends balanced with personal interviews provides readers with a good portrait of the actual struggles of what some have (perhaps mistakenly) called the 'aristocracy of American labor.'" --The Michigan Historical Review"Essential." --Choice"Disruption in Detroit should take its place near the top of this reading list. Clark masterfully details the struggles of autoworkers who faced economic upheaval at the core of the midcentury industrial economy." --Labor Studies in Working-Class History

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisExamines how trade unionism has waxed and waned in the nation's political and moral imagination, among both devoted partisans and intransigent foes. This book takes us all the way to the organizing fever of Los Angeles, where the labor movement stands at the center of the effort to transform millions of new immigrants into alert citizen unionists.Trade ReviewWinner of the 2003 Philip Taft Labor History Award, Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2002 "A remarkable accomplishment... Lichtenstein provides an authoritative account of labor's decline, an agenda for its renewal and an argument for the necessity of its revitalization if American democracy is to thrive in coming years. The result is a brilliant historical introduction to today's labor movement and the perils and possibilities that confront it... If American labor's fortunes do improve, no recent book will have made a greater contribution to its revival."--Joseph A. McCartin, The Washington Post "Obituaries of the labor movement, or at least predictions of its impending demise, are familiar to readers of the popular and business presses and various academic tomes. However one comes down on the issues of the prospects for labor's revival or the desirablity of democratizing the workplace, the country's recent economic crisis has made the labor question again worth debating vigorously. State of the Union is an excellent start."--Eric Arnesen, Chicago Tribune "Absorbing... Lichtenstein's voice--and book--deserves a hearing in the marketplace of ideas."--Karen R. Long, Plain Dealer "Thought-provoking... State of the Union is a history written with a purpose--to encourage and energize a struggling labor movement, and to remind its leaders, and the reader, of the power of big ideas."--Michael Wald, Monthly Labor Review "This is an important, timely book whose focus on ideas and ideology offers a fresh perspective that is sure to generate useful debate over labor's historical choices and current status... Lichtenstein has performed a most valuable service in his astute delineation of the specific historical circumstances that have both advanced and eroded the union idea during the twentieth century."--Robert Bussel, Industrial and Labor Relations Review "A century ago labor issues were at the heart of American politics... How could the rights of citizens be protected as the power of capital grew and workers toiled under undemocratic conditions for large private corporations? Historian Nelson Lichtenstein's State of the Union superbly surveys and analyzes how these dilemmas were temporarily resolved in an unsatisfactory way in the middle of the 20th Century. Labor struggles didn't disappear entirely, but largely disappeared from public debate--and have once again become as relevant as during the Progressive Era."--David Moberg, In These Times "A fascinating survey of twentieth-century American labor. Unlike many such works, Nelson Lichtenstein's synthesis is a pleasure to read; passionate, shrewd in its judgments, and comprehensive."--Lawrence B. Glickman, Journal of American History "A book to be greatly admired and recommended. Lichtenstein has talked in forthright and keen ways fractious debates among scholars as well as historical and ongoing fractures of American society... The power of his book lies not in prescription, but rather in [Lichtenstein's] acute, erudite and provocative historical analysis."--Walter Licht, EH.NET "A richly documented and well-written book."--Stanley Arnowitz, Los Angeles Times Book Review "Lichtenstein has written a thought-provoking book that seeks to put the American labor movement's fate into a broad context... His wide reading, fresh insights, and coherent narrative make this volume one of this year's most important works of labor history."--Choice "As an inquiry into 'labor' as a 20th-century idea and ideal, Lichtenstein's book is a thoughtful attempt to link labor's record with the capricious history of identity politics and ideological change. An unabashed partisan on the matter, Lichtenstein maintains that an energetic and forceful labor movement is essential to the economic system and, indeed, to American democracy itself."--Jennifer Szalai, New Statesman "Lichtenstein provides a knowledgeable overview of the signal events since the Wagner Act of 1935... An informed analytical history."--Booklist "While labor's nascent grassroots internationalism remains overshadowed by flag waving displays of 'national unity,' trade unionists have yet to be rewarded for their patriotism, even with a modest boost in unemployment benefits... Into this bleak landscape arrives State of the Union, Nelson Lichtenstein's intellectual history of labor's past 100 years... The author's views are informed by both scholarship and activism"--Steve Early, The NationTable of ContentsPreface to the 2013 Edition ix Preface and Acknowledgments xxxi Introduction 1 Chapter 1: Reconstructing the 1930s 20 Chapter 2: Citizenship at Work 54 Chapter 3: A Labor-Management Accord? 98 Chapter 4: Erosion of the Union Idea 141 Chapter 5: Rights Consciousness in the Workplace 178 Chapter 6: A Time of Troubles 212 Chapter 7: Reorganizing the House of Labor 246 Chapter 7: Obama's America: Liberalism without Unions? 246 Notes 297 Index 345

Read more less

Book SynopsisPresents a social history of long-haul trucking that explores the contentious politics of free-market capitalism in post-World War II America. This book challenges the popular notion of "red state" conservatism as a devil's bargain between culturally conservative rural workers and economically conservative demagogues in the Republican Party.Trade Review"This detailed, closely argued book chronicles the U.S. trucking industry's history, particularly its role in rolling back New Deal policies and regulations. Hamilton is a knowledgeable guide to everything from beef trusts to the National Farmers Organization to the 1979 strike that opens the book, in which 75,000 truckers tried to shut down the nation's highway system. Economy and market buffs looking for a different perspective on America's 20th century economic evolution will find this intriguing and informative."--Publishers Weekly "With the US again engaged in a debate over the merits of regulation versus the free market, the book's academic research touches on some timely historical issues. It is also a fascinating account of the political battles over the diesel engine and the refrigerated truck, which had emerged as the new technology of the 1920s and 1930s and a threat to the dominance of the railroad distribution system for beef and milk by a few large meat packing companies and local dairies."--Jonathan Birchall, Financial Times "Trucking Country offers a finely crafted mix of cultural identity, regional tradition, economic history, legislative politics, political argument and policy transformation. Shane Hamilton uses the history and contemporary development of the trucking industry in the U.S. to reveal the social, economic and political dynamics that were instrumental in shifting the industry away from the heavy regulation of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) towards deregulation, fragmentation, and free-market competition."--Michael Foley, Times Higher Education "Independent trucking is for Hamilton what Kansas was for Frank--the locus that shows a part of what has gone wrong with American politics."--David Kusnet, Bookforum "Trucking Country intervenes in [the] crowded debate over the demise of New Deal liberalism from a genuinely original vantage point: the political culture of independent long-haul truckers and the political economy shaped by the agribusiness corporations that they served."--Matthew Lassiter, Democracy "If you want to know what really drives the US economy, then this thoroughly researched and well-written book is for you--and that's a big 10-4, Rubber Duck."--Joe Cushnan, The Tribune (UK) "[B]y drawing together structural, institutional, economic, and cultural analyses, Hamilton has offered a dense, textured, and complex account of his subject. Trucking Country is essential to any understanding of the decline of the New Deal and the rise of economic conservatism at the end of the twentieth century."--Joseph E. Lowndes, Perspectives on Politics "A brilliant read."--Fleet Transportation Magazine "[U]ndeniably a major achievement. Shane Hamilton has written a brilliant book that will be required reading for anyone interested ill understanding the conservative groundswell of the postwar era."--Jordan Kleiman, Technology and Culture "This is a convincing and useful book."--Peter J. Hugill, Journal of American History "[A] fascinating study of the hauling business... From the 1930s through the end of the Carter administration, Hamilton's history is thoughtful, detailed, and informative."--Jesse Walker, Reason "Trucking Country is imaginative, thought-provoking, and persuasive... [N]o scholarly work is more essential for understanding the transformation of Northwest Arkansas."--Michael Pierce, Arkansas Historical QuarterlyTable of ContentsList of Illustrations and Tables ix Acknowledgments xi INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER ONE: Food and Power in the New Deal, 1933-43 13 CHAPTER TWO: Chaos, Control, and Country Trucking, 1933-42 43 CHAPTER THREE: Food Fights in War and Peace, 1942-52 69 CHAPTER FOUR: Trucking Culture and Politics in the Agribusiness Era, 1953-61 99 CHAPTER FIVE: Beef Trusts and Asphalt Cowboys 155 CHAPTER SIX: The Milkman and the Milk Hauler 187 CHAPTER SEVEN: Agrarian Trucking Culture and Deregulatory Capitalism, 1960-80 187 CONCLUSION 233 Appendix A 239 Appendix B 243 Notes 251 Index 293

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Winner of the Stein Rokkan Prize, International Science Council""Winner of the Best Book Award, Political Sociology section of the American Sociological Association""Honorable Mention for the Allan Sharlin Memorial Award, Social Science History Association""An impressive must-read."---Jaclyn N. Schultz, Journal of Modern History

Read more less

Book SynopsisExplores activist movements in higher education from around the world, and their connections to broader anti-capitalist and anti-colonial struggles.Trade Review'Student movements all over the world, covered in The University and Social Justice, show the potential student protest has to challenge the current order' -- Counterfire'Essential reading for anyone interested in the state of Higher Education across the globe' -- LSE Review of BooksTable of ContentsList of figures and tables Acknowledgements 1. Lessons in struggle, studies in resistance - Aziz Choudry (McGill Univ., Canada) and Salim Vally (Univ. of Johannesburg, South Africa) 2. The Trajectory of the 2010 Student Movement in the UK: From Student Activism to Strikes - Jamie Woodcock (Univ. of Oxford, UK) 3. Insurgent Subjects: Student Politics, Education, and Dissent in India - Prem Kumar Vijayan (Delhi Univ., India) 4. Neoliberalism, National Security and Academic Knowledge Production in Turkey - Gülden Özcan (Univ. of Lethbridge, Canada) 5. 'Nous' Who? Racialized Social Relations and Quebec Student Movement Politics - rosalind hampton (Univ. of Toronto, Canada) 6. Learning from Chile's Student Movement: Youth Organising and Neoliberal Reaction - Javier Campos-Martinez (Univ. of Massachusetts Amherst, USA) and Dayana Olavarria (Univ. of Massachusetts Amherst, USA) 7. Resisting the US Corporate University: Palestine, Zionism and Campus Politics - Rabab Ibrahim Abdulhadi (San Francisco State Univ., USA) and Saliem Shehadeh (Univ. of California) 8. The Palestinian Student Movement and the Dialectic of Palestinian Liberation and Class Struggles - Lena Meari (Birzeit Univ., Palestine) and Rula Abu-Duhou (Birzeit Univ., Palestine) 9. The New Student Movements in Mexico in the 21st Century: #YoSoy132, Ayotzinapa and #TodosSomosPolitecnico - Alma Maldonado-Maldonado (Center for Advanced Research, Mexico) and Vania Bañuelos Astorga (CREFAL, Mexico) 10. How Did They Fight?: French Student Movements in the Late 2000s and Their Contentious Repertoire - Julie Le Mazier (Pantheon-Sorbonne Univ., France) 11. The Mustfall Mo(ve)ments and 'Publica[c]tion': Reflections on Collective Knowledge Production in South Africa - Asher Gamedze (cultural worker, South Africa) and Leigh-Ann Naidoo (Univ. of Cape Town, South Africa) 12. Revolutionary Vanguard No More?: The Student Movement and the Struggle for Education and Social Justice in Nigeria - Rhoda Nanre Nafziger (Pennsylvania State Univ., USA) and Krystal Strong (Pennsylvania State Univ., USA) 13. Postcolonial versus Transformative Education in the University of Philippines - Sarah Raymundo (Univ. of the Philippines-Diliman, Philippines) and Karlo Mikhail I. Mongaya (Univ. of the Philippines-Diliman, Philippines) Notes on contributors Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisExplores activist movements in higher education from around the world, and their connections to broader anti-capitalist and anti-colonial struggles.Trade Review'Student movements all over the world, covered in The University and Social Justice, show the potential student protest has to challenge the current order' -- Counterfire'Essential reading for anyone interested in the state of Higher Education across the globe' -- LSE Review of BooksTable of ContentsList of figures and tables Acknowledgements 1. Lessons in struggle, studies in resistance - Aziz Choudry (McGill Univ., Canada) and Salim Vally (Univ. of Johannesburg, South Africa) 2. The Trajectory of the 2010 Student Movement in the UK: From Student Activism to Strikes - Jamie Woodcock (Univ. of Oxford, UK) 3. Insurgent Subjects: Student Politics, Education, and Dissent in India - Prem Kumar Vijayan (Delhi Univ., India) 4. Neoliberalism, National Security and Academic Knowledge Production in Turkey - Gülden Özcan (Univ. of Lethbridge, Canada) 5. 'Nous' Who? Racialized Social Relations and Quebec Student Movement Politics - rosalind hampton (Univ. of Toronto, Canada) 6. Learning from Chile's Student Movement: Youth Organising and Neoliberal Reaction - Javier Campos-Martinez (Univ. of Massachusetts Amherst, USA) and Dayana Olavarria (Univ. of Massachusetts Amherst, USA) 7. Resisting the US Corporate University: Palestine, Zionism and Campus Politics - Rabab Ibrahim Abdulhadi (San Francisco State Univ., USA) and Saliem Shehadeh (Univ. of California) 8. The Palestinian Student Movement and the Dialectic of Palestinian Liberation and Class Struggles - Lena Meari (Birzeit Univ., Palestine) and Rula Abu-Duhou (Birzeit Univ., Palestine) 9. The New Student Movements in Mexico in the 21st Century: #YoSoy132, Ayotzinapa and #TodosSomosPolitecnico - Alma Maldonado-Maldonado (Center for Advanced Research, Mexico) and Vania Bañuelos Astorga (CREFAL, Mexico) 10. How Did They Fight?: French Student Movements in the Late 2000s and Their Contentious Repertoire - Julie Le Mazier (Pantheon-Sorbonne Univ., France) 11. The Mustfall Mo(ve)ments and 'Publica[c]tion': Reflections on Collective Knowledge Production in South Africa - Asher Gamedze (cultural worker, South Africa) and Leigh-Ann Naidoo (Univ. of Cape Town, South Africa) 12. Revolutionary Vanguard No More?: The Student Movement and the Struggle for Education and Social Justice in Nigeria - Rhoda Nanre Nafziger (Pennsylvania State Univ., USA) and Krystal Strong (Pennsylvania State Univ., USA) 13. Postcolonial versus Transformative Education in the University of Philippines - Sarah Raymundo (Univ. of the Philippines-Diliman, Philippines) and Karlo Mikhail I. Mongaya (Univ. of the Philippines-Diliman, Philippines) Notes on contributors Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisSince capitalism began, British workers have always fought for their rights. Today it's no different. -- KOTrade Review'An incisive analysis of the impact of twenty-first-century capitalism on work that charts the creative ways in which workers are fighting back against modern day exploitation' -- John McDonnell, Member of Parliament for Hayes and Harlington'Shows the stark reality that, while we have developed more creative ways of winning and seem to be winning more, the impact of capitalism and exploitation of workers hasn't changed very much at all' -- Sarah Woolley, General Secretary of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union'A much-needed look at one of the biggest issues for employment relations research and trade unions today: precarious workers. Any study of contemporary union organising that embraces rank and file militancy as a way of building networks of solidarity is a welcome contribution to the debate' -- Dave Smith, co-author of the book 'Blacklisted: The Secret War Between Big Business and Union Activists' (New Internationalist, 2016)'Deserves to become a guidebook for labour movement activists that can help to further energise collective resilience and resistance' -- Ralph Darlington, Emeritus Professor of Employment Relations, University of Salford'We have a decision to make: we can sit back and hope the trade unionists of tomorrow will emerge, or we can fight together for the future the next generation deserves. ‘Nothing To Lose But Our Chains’ inspires us with contemporary and ongoing tales of fighting and winning' -- Rohan Kon, Organiser for Sheffield Needs A Pay Rise'A welcome reassertion of the crucial inter-relationship of gender and class in the struggle between labour and capital, placing recent industrial action by women workers centre stage' -- Sian Moore, Professor in Employment Relations and Human Resource Management, University of GreenwichTable of Contents1. Changing Terrains of Work and Struggle 2. Neoliberal Britain 3. Narratives and Numbers of British Capitalism 4. New Icons of Work? The 'Gig' Economy and Precarious Labour 5. Explosive Struggles and Bitter Defeats 6. Opening the 'Black Box' of Trade Unions 7. Striking Women: Still Hidden from History 8. Migrant Workers: Here to Stay, Here to Fight 9. Taking the Bosses to the Cleaners 10. Working and Organising in New 'Satanic Mills' 11. Education Workers on the Frontline 12. 'New Kids on the Block' 13. Capitalism's Gravediggers'

Read more less

Book SynopsisSince capitalism began, British workers have always fought for their rights. Today it's no different. -- KOTrade Review'An incisive analysis of the impact of twenty-first-century capitalism on work that charts the creative ways in which workers are fighting back against modern day exploitation' -- John McDonnell, Member of Parliament for Hayes and Harlington'Shows the stark reality that, while we have developed more creative ways of winning and seem to be winning more, the impact of capitalism and exploitation of workers hasn't changed very much at all' -- Sarah Woolley, General Secretary of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union'A much-needed look at one of the biggest issues for employment relations research and trade unions today: precarious workers. Any study of contemporary union organising that embraces rank and file militancy as a way of building networks of solidarity is a welcome contribution to the debate' -- Dave Smith, co-author of the book 'Blacklisted: The Secret War Between Big Business and Union Activists' (New Internationalist, 2016)'Deserves to become a guidebook for labour movement activists that can help to further energise collective resilience and resistance' -- Ralph Darlington, Emeritus Professor of Employment Relations, University of Salford'We have a decision to make: we can sit back and hope the trade unionists of tomorrow will emerge, or we can fight together for the future the next generation deserves. ‘Nothing To Lose But Our Chains’ inspires us with contemporary and ongoing tales of fighting and winning' -- Rohan Kon, Organiser for Sheffield Needs A Pay Rise'A welcome reassertion of the crucial inter-relationship of gender and class in the struggle between labour and capital, placing recent industrial action by women workers centre stage' -- Sian Moore, Professor in Employment Relations and Human Resource Management, University of GreenwichTable of Contents1. Changing Terrains of Work and Struggle 2. Neoliberal Britain 3. Narratives and Numbers of British Capitalism 4. New Icons of Work? The 'Gig' Economy and Precarious Labour 5. Explosive Struggles and Bitter Defeats 6. Opening the 'Black Box' of Trade Unions 7. Striking Women: Still Hidden from History 8. Migrant Workers: Here to Stay, Here to Fight 9. Taking the Bosses to the Cleaners 10. Working and Organising in New 'Satanic Mills' 11. Education Workers on the Frontline 12. 'New Kids on the Block' 13. Capitalism's Gravediggers'

Read more less

Book SynopsisA comprehensive new study that uncovers the real story of working-class struggle in TurkeyTrade Review'The most formative work in decades on the Turkish political economy and the devastation wrought by an authoritarian government on the country's workers. I highly recommend this book for all those who seek to understand the emergence of widespread resistance by an increasingly militant working class in Turkey' -- Immanuel Ness, Professor of Political Science at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York and author of 'Organizing Insurgency' (Pluto, 2020)'A deep and timely analysis with an overarching narrative of the Turkish labor markets under the conditionalities of late capitalism [...] An indispensable resource on the economics of labor' -- A. Erinç Yeldan, Professor of Economics at Kadir Has University'Impressively comprehensive [...] The contributions not only cover the sphere of production, but equally social reproduction including the importance of unpaid labour in patriarchal capitalist structures, as well as migration as a source of cheap labour. A must-read for everyone interested in the role of Turkish labour in the crisis-ridden 21st century' -- Andreas Bieler, Professor of Political Economy, University of Nottingham'This excellent book is remarkable for its courageous and insightful analysis. Against the grain of the contemporary near silence about the struggles of society’s surplus value producers who make a living in miserable conditions, this volume articulates the suffering inflicted and brings to the fore the collective forms of resistance to that suffering' -- Professor Werner Bonefeld, University of YorkTable of ContentsList of Abbreviations Acknowledgements Introduction - Mehmet Erman Erol and Çağatay Edgücan Şahin PART I: RESTRUCTURING Neoliberal Restructuring of Labour and the State: From Military Dictatorship to the AKP Era 1. Not-So-Strange Bedfellows: Neoliberalism and the AKP in Turkey - Mehmet Erman Erol 2. Turkey’s Labour Markets Under Neoliberalism: An Overview - Kerem Gökten 3. Commodification and Changing Labour in Turkey: The Working Class in the Public Sector - Koray R. Yılmaz 4. Neoliberal Transformation of Turkey’s Health Sector and its Effects on the Health Labour Force - Sebiha Kablay Gender, Migration and Rural Aspects of Neoliberal Restructuring 5. Between Neoliberalism and Conservatism: Recent Developments and New Agendas in Female Labour Policies in Turkey - Demet Özmen Yılmaz 6. The Making of the Rural Proletariat in Neoliberal Turkey - Coşku Çelik 7. Burden or a Saviour at a Time of Economic Crisis? AKP’s ‘Open-Door Migration Policy’ and its Impact on Labour Market Restructuring in Turkey - Ertan Erol PART II: CONTAINMENT 8. Social Assistance as a Non-Wage Income for the Poor in Turkey: Work and Subsistence Patterns of Social Assistance Recipient Households - Denizcan Kutlu 9. A View of Precarisation from Turkey: Urban-Rural Dynamics and Intergenerational Precarity - Elif Hacısalihoğlu 10. When the Law is Not Enough: ‘Work Accidents’, Profit Maximisation and the Unwritten Rules of Workers’ Health and Safety in New Turkey - Murat Özveri 11. Are We All in the Same Boat? Covid-19 and the Working Class in Turkey - Yeliz Sarıöz Gökten PART III: RESISTANCE 12. Reconsidering Workers’ Self-Management in Turkey: From Resistance to Workers’ Self-Management Possibilities/Constraints - Berna Güler and Erhan Acar 13. Organised Workers’ Struggles Under Neoliberalism: Unions, Capital and the State in Turkey - Çağatay Edgücan Şahin Notes Contributors Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Global South is the epicentre of workers’ struggles todayTrade Review'In these depressing times, when the neoliberal consensus has acquired an aura of inevitability akin to the Laws of Physics, it is a breath of fresh air to read serious scholarship that challenges this consensus' -- Norman Finkelstein'The rising anti-imperialist struggles in both the underdeveloped and developed countries are signalling the resurgence of the world proletarian-socialist revolution. Immanuel Ness makes a just call for forging a global workers' movement by reinvigorating and further developing the trade union movement, the workers' parties and political movements to fight for the rights and interests of the working class and the rest of the suffering people' -- Professor Jose Maria Sison, Chairperson Emeritus of the International League of Peoples' Struggle, Founding Chairman, Communist Party of the Philippines and Co-Founder of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines'Important' -- Richard Wolff, Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst'Timely and relevant. The theoretical framing around political organisation of the working class for social transformation is much-needed. Its energetic, provocative scholarship with insightful case studies from across the South makes it essential reading for academics and activists alike' -- Anita Hammer, Senior Lecturer of Organisational Studies and Human Resources, University of Essex'A valuable book that addresses the necessity of revolutionary organization in times of socialist ideological resurgence. Essential reading to anyone wishing to understand the proletarianization of the Global South. Its in-depth examination of modern forms of imperialist exploitation and revolts contribute to comprehending areas rarely covered by mainstream social science' -- Ali Kadri, National University of Singapore'A rich combination of theoretical insights and valuable case-studies from the Global South - a much-needed reminder that the agenda of social transformation requires a strong and sustained political intervention to turn protests into a powerful movement' -- Prabhat Patnaik, Jawaharlal Nehru University'Challenges the prevailing racializing perception of the Southern worker held in the North as powerless and without agency. 'Organizing Insurgency' is a must read for an understanding of imperialism, which has normalized a lack of awareness of the sustaining role of the southern agricultural and industrial workers in global capitalism' -- Himani Bannerji, York UniversityTable of ContentsList of Figures and Tables List of Abbreviations Series Preface Acknowledgements Introduction: Forging a New Global Workers’ Movement 1 PART I - THEORIES AND CONCEPTS OF LABOUR IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH 1. The Labour Atlas: The Southern Working Class Holding Up the World 2. Workers’ Movements in the South: Inequality, Poverty, and Enduring Relevance of Rural Proletariat and Informal Sector Workers PART II - CASE STUDIES: RURAL AND INFORMAL LABOUR STRUGGLES 3. Primitive Steel Manufacturing for the Global Consumer Market: Capital, Super-exploitation, and Surplus Value in Wazirpur, India 4. The Enduring System of Global Agricultural Commodity Production and First World Commodity Extraction: The Case of Mindanao, the Philippines 5. Global Capitalism: Corporate Restructuring, Labour Brokering, and Working-class Mobilization in South Africa 6. Conclusion: Labour Struggles and Political Organization Notes Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisA key organizing tool for casualized higher education faculty from longtime movement activistsTrade Review'A masterful look at the challenges involved with organizing workers in higher education. Berry and Worthen provide excellent recommendations regarding vision and strategy, making the book valuable beyond the field of higher education' -- Bill Fletcher, Jr., author of 'They're Bankrupting Us: And Twenty Other Myths about Unions''Academic precarity screws over teachers by stealing our access to memories of how precarious workers have risen up to win better conditions in the past. Who fought for something better? How did they define what 'better' meant? What strategy and tactics did they use to make progress? 'Power Despite Precarity' is an essential primer on these questions and more' -- Alyssa Picard, Director, American Federation of Teachers' higher education division'Empowers us to fight for the higher education and unions we believe in, uniting theory and practice to chart an inspiring path toward labor and education justice' -- Mia L. McIver, Ph.D., Lecturer, UCLA, President, University Council-American Federation of Teachers'Written from both an organizer's and historian's perspective, 'Power Despite Precarity' is essential reading for anyone working in higher education who wants to make a better world and wonders what it takes. Berry and Worthen provide a handbook on how the growing number of contingent faculty can unite in common cause. While it is about education, many of the lessons dealing with internal problems inside unions are not issues confined to the education sector (alas) and I especially enjoyed those parts' -- Elaine Bernard, Fellow of the Labor & Worklife Program, Harvard Law School'Essential for anyone concerned about higher education. It is impossible to separate the working conditions of faculty from the learning conditions of students, and Berry and Worthen explain how it is possible to transform both for the better of all' -- Maria Maisto, President of New Faculty Majority, Maryland'Power Despite Precarity’ is not just a solid guide to best practices in day-to-day trade union work within higher education. It’s also a rousing call for the contingent faculty movement to embrace grassroots, rather than top-down, organizing and break out of the narrow confines of collective bargaining’ -- Steve Early, national staff member of the Communications Workers of America (retired) and author of 'The Civil Wars in U.S. Labor: Birth of a New Workers’ Movement or Death Throes of the Old?''A nuanced guide for organizing which develops a historically informed analysis of the current state and likely direction of higher education today' -- Jack Metzgar, author of 'Striking Steel'‘A roadmap to thinking and acting like organizers’ -- Fred Glass, ‘Jacobin’‘A rousing call for the contingent faculty movement to embrace grassroots, rather than top-down, organizing and break out of the narrow confines of collective bargaining’ -- ‘LA Progressive’‘Berry and Worthen, who combined have decades of teaching and academic organizing experience, offer the reader an extended, classroom-level case study of how educators in the California State University system organized and built power’ -- Jonathan Rosenblum, ‘Truthout’‘I enjoyed Power Despite Precarity and certainly recognized many issues from the vantage point of my twelve years as a TA and then a contingent college teacher. The book is a blueprint and battle cry for academic fruit pickers everywhere’ -- Harvey Schwartz, author of Labor under Siege and Solidarity StoriesTable of ContentsPhotographs Series Preface Acknowledgements Abbreviations and Acronyms Introduction PART I - THE CASE OF THE LECTURERS IN THE CSU SYSTEM 1. Student Strikes and Union Battles 2. Layoffs and Hard Years for Organizing 3. Revolution in the Union 4. “They have nothing to teach us” PART II - HIGHER ED WAS NEVER A LEVEL TERRAIN OF STRUGGLE 5. Four Transitions and How Casualization Served Managers PART III - WHAT WE WANT AND WHAT THE CFA GOT 6. Blue Sky #1 Organizing and Economics 7. Blue Sky #2 Job Security, Academic Freedom and the Common Good 8. Beyond the Sausage-making: A Close Look at the CFA-CSU Contract PART IV - THE DIFFICULTY OF THINKING STRATEGICALLY 9. Strategies Emerging From Practice 10. The Contingent Faculty Movement as a Social Movement PART V - SEVEN TROUBLESOME QUESTIONS 11. What Gets People Moving? 12. Who is the Enemy? Who are Our Allies? 13. What is “Professionalism” for Us? 14. How Does It Feel? 15. Is this legal? 16. What About Leftists? 17. How Do We Deal With Union Politics? PART VI - USING THE POWER WE HAVE 18. Hopes and Dangers Essential Terms John Hess: A Life in the Movement Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisA history of the global nature of the radical union, The Industrial Workers of the WorldTrade Review'Finally! A book about the IWW that takes seriously their global self-description. This book is a landmark and a sea beacon in the history of the planetary proletariat' -- Marcus Rediker, author of Slave Ship: A Human History (John Murray, 2008)'A splendid project and a vitally important contribution to the understanding of labor as a social movement.' -- Paul Buhle, author of Wobblies!: A Graphic History of the Industrial Workers of the World (2005)'As a second-generation member of the IWW, I am delighted to see this outstanding collection of essays on the Wobblies, their achievements, and their substantial impact despite severe repression' -- Noam Chomsky'[A] valuable collection' -- Against the Current'Fantastic' -- Labor Notes'Recommended' -- CHOICETable of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction Part I: Transnational Influences on the IWW 1. 'A Cosmopolitan Crowd': Transnational Anarchists, the IWW and the American Radical Press - Kenyon Zimmer 2. Sabotage, the IWW and Repression: How the American Reinterpretation of a French Concept Gave Rise to a New International Conception of Sabotage - Dominique Pinsolle 3. Living Social Dynamite: Early Twentieth-Century IWW-South Asia Connections - Tariq Khan 4. IWW Internationalism and Interracial Organizing in the Southwestern United States - David M. Struthers 5. Spanish Anarchists and Maritime Workers in the IWW - Bieito Alonso Part II: The IWW in the Wider World 6. The IWW and the Dilemmas of Labor Internationalism - Wayne Thorpe 7. The IWW in Tampico: Anarchism, Internationalism and Solidarity Unionism in a Mexican Port - Kevan Antonio Aguilar 8. The Wobblies of the North Woods: Finnish Labor Radicalism and the IWW in Northern Ontario - Saku Pinta 9. 'We Must Do Away with Racial Prejudice and Imaginary Boundary Lines': British Columbia’s Wobblies before the First World War - Mark Leier 10. Wobblies Down Under: The IWW in Australia - Verity Burgmann 11. Ki Nga Kaimahi Maori ('To All Maori Workers'): The New Zealand IWW and the Maori - Mark Derby 12. Patrick Hodgens Hickey and the IWW: A Transnational Relationship - Peter Clayworth 13. 'The Cause of the Workers Who Are Fighting in Spain is Yours': The Marine Transport Workers and the Spanish Civil War - Matthew White 14. Edith Frenette: A Transnational Radical Life - Heather Mayer Part III: Beyond the Union: The IWW’s Influence and Legacies 15. Jim Larkin, James Connolly and the Dublin Lockout of 1913: The Transnational Path of Global Syndicalism - Marjorie Murphy 16. Tom Barker and Revolutionary Europe - Paula de Angelis 17. P. J. Welinder and 'American Syndicalism' in Interwar Sweden - Johan Pries 18. 'All Workers Regardless Of Craft, Race Or Color': The First Wave of IWW Activity and Influence in South Africa - Lucien van der Walt 19. Tramp, Tramp, Tramp: The Songs of Joe Hill Around the World - Bucky Halker Notes on Contributors Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhy, in the recent campaigns for universal health care, did organized labor maintain its support of employer-mandated insurance? Did labor's weakened condition prevent it from endorsing national health insurance? Marie Gottschalk demonstrates here...Trade ReviewAn explosively important book.... Marie Gottschalk's marvelous book... relieves us of the need to conjecture and hypothesize in trying to make sense of the little that we really knew of what was going on at the highest levels of the AFL-CIO ten years ago. She lifts the veil and at last we can all understand—and share in—the anger of those courageous union leaders within the federation who steadfastly stood firm for a universal, single-payer system of health care.... The working rank-and-file will ignore this book at their own peril. * The Harbinger *Gottschalk has written an incisive analysis of the failure of President Clinton's health reform proposal... Her account provides superior perspective on the debacle, because it roots the debate about employment-based health insurance plans in developments in labor-management relations and in the accommodation of leading Democrats to the business agenda that surged to the fore in the 1970s and 1980s. The book is written with verve and theoretical sophistication. * Industrial and Labor Relations Review *Gottschalk provides a thorough analysis of the political climate in which organized labor must operate. * Boston Book Review *In The Shadow Welfare State, Marie Gottschalk recounts labor's half century-long fight for decent health care coverage through both collective bargaining and political action. More than most writers, she brings these two sides of the coin together to analyze both the fragility of the private welfare state, even for those who are covered by it, and the closely related political weakness of labor in the U.S. * Labor Notes *Several solid studies of the failure of the Clinton health reform campaign of the early '90s attempt to assess the role of all the key players. Gottschalk, a University of Pennsylvania political scientist, focuses on the interaction of labor and business in that debate.... A cogent, provocative analysis of a particular battle that also raises larger questions for the future. * Booklist *This very well written and engaging book touches myriad issues in the history of labor, social democracy, and American political institutions.... All labor scholars will find her book a rich source of analysis and information on a wide variety of topics. * RI/IR, *

Read more less

Book SynopsisWorking for Justice features eleven case studies of recent low-wage worker organizing campaigns in Los Angeles, making the case for a distinctive "L.A. Model" of union and worker center organizing.Trade ReviewWorking for Justice serves both to refine and expand our knowledge of employee representation in Los Angeles through a collection of chapters related to union- and worker center-led efforts' on behalf of low-wage earning individuals. It offers a nuanced study of specific instances in which unions and advocacy groups have sought to organize low-wage workers.... The collection also takes us beyond the well-trodden ground of union advocacy in Los Angeles, introducing readers to the importance of worker centers within the region.... In so doing, the authors cover tremendously varied terrain while concurrently interweaving numerous threads of commonalities across the campaigns and organizing efforts to create a portrait of the intricate links between union and nonunion worker groups, a picture that most fully emerges in the excellent afterword. -- J. Ryan Lamare * ILR Review *The essays in this volume offer us not only an informative account of some of the most vibrant and creative organizing campaigns to have emerged in recent years; they may also provide a glimpse of labor's future. -- Joseph A. McCartin * Labor/Le Travail *Table of ContentsForeword by Joshua Bloom Introduction by Ruth MilkmanPart I: Worker Centers, Ethnic Communities, and Immigrant Rights AdvocacyChapter 1. The Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance: Spatializing Justice in an Ethnic "Enclave" by Jong Bum KwonChapter 2. Organizing Workers along Ethnic Lines: The Pilipino Workers' Center by Nazgol GhandnooshChapter 3. Alliance-Building and Organizing for Immigrant Rights: The Case of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles by Caitlin C. PatlerChapter 4. Building Power for "Noncitizen Citizenship": A Case Study of the Multi-Ethnic Immigrant Workers Organizing Network by Chinyere OsujiPart II: Occupational and Industry-Focused Organizing CampaignsChapter 5. The Los Angeles Taxi Workers Alliance by Jacqueline Leavitt and Gary BlasiChapter 6. From Legal Advocacy to Organizing: Progressive Lawyering and the Los Angeles Car Wash Campaign by Susan Garea and Sasha Alexandra SternChapter 7. NDLON and the History of Day Labor Organizing in Los Angeles by Maria DziembowskaChapter 8. The Garment Worker Center and the "Forever 21" Campaign by Nicole A. Archer, Ana Luz Gonzalez, Kimi Lee, Simmi Gandhi, and Delia HerreraPart III: Unions and Low-Wage Worker OrganizingChapter 9. Ally to Win: Black Community Leaders and SEIU’s L. A. Security Unionization Campaign by Joshua BloomChapter 10. From the Shop to the Streets: UNITE HERE Organizing in Los Angeles Hotels by Forrest StuartChapter 11. The Janitorial Industry and the Maintenance Cooperation Trust Fund by Karina MuñizAfterword by Victor NarroNotes References About the Contributors Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisRoland Erne''s view of transnational trade union networks challenges the assertion that no realistic prospect exists for remedying the European Union''s democratic deficitthat is, its domination by corporate interests and lack of a cohesive European people. His book describes the emergence of a European trade union movement that crosses national boundaries. Erne assesses national and EU-level trade union politics in two core areas: wage bargaining in the European Monetary Union and job protection during transnational corporate mergers and restructuring. The wage coordination policies of the European metal and construction workers'' unions and the unions'' responses in the ABB-Alstom Power and Alcan-Pechiney-Algroup merger cases, Erne finds, show that the activities of labor are not confined to the national level: labor''s policies have undergone Europeanization. This cross-national borrowing of tactics is itself proof of the increasing integration of European states and societies.Trade ReviewEuropean Unions is a very useful, well-constructed, and welcome contribution to a growing literature on the coordination of unions at the European level and is particularly valuable for its case studies. Erne handles the complexities of his subject well, applies his theoretical framework in a convincing way, and provides enough well-marshaled detail to persuade the reader of at least parts of his case. * Industrial Relations *Erne provides strong empirical evidence that unions not only are affected by European integration but also affect future EU developments through their actions. Erne provides readers with a timely and useful analysis of the ways that economic integration is changing the power resources of organized labor in Europe, the types of strategies unions have developed in response, and the role that labor may play in shaping the political development of the EU down the road. * Industrial and Labor Relations Review *Erne's pertinent study of European trade unionism is a sophisticated, nuanced examination of organized labor's attempt to create a transnational democracy in the EU. * Choice *Though European Unions is several years old, the book's discussion and analytic considerations relating to citizenry, democracy, collective action and bargaining, and governance remain topical. Indeed, the book's central claims are worth revisiting considering the trade union and labor resistance to austerity measures being implemented throughout Europe today. * Critical Sociology *Table of Contents1. IntroductionPart I. Analytical Framework2. Approaching Euro-Democracy and Its Alternatives3. Do Unions Have an Interest in Euro-Democratization?Part II. European Labor Wage-Bargaining Strategies4. Wage Policy and the European Monetary Union5. The Rise of National Competitive Corporatism6. European Wage-Bargaining Coordination Networks: Insights from the Manufacturing and the Construction Industry7. Beyond Competitive Corporatism?: Insights from Germany, France, and ItalyPart III. Responses by Labor to Transnational Company Mergers8. The European Regulation of Transnational Company Mergers9. A Euro-Democratization Union Strategy: The ABB Alstom Power Case10. A Euro-Technocratization Union Strategy: The Alcan-Pechiney-Algroup Case11. ConclusionNotesReferencesIndex

Read more less