Description

Book Synopsis

Unionizing the Ivory Tower chronicles how a thousand low-paid custodians, cooks, and gardeners succeeded in organizing a union at Cornell University. Al Davidoff, the Cornell student leader who became a custodian and the union''s first president, tells the extraordinary story of these ordinary workers with passion, sensitivity, and wit.

His memoir reveals how they took on the dominant power in the community, built a strong organization, and waged multiple strikes and campaigns for livable wages and their dignity. Their strategies and tactics were creative and feisty, founded on worker participation and ownership.

The union''s commitment to fairness, equity, and economic justice also engaged these workersmostly rural, white, and conservativeat the intersections of racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia. Davidoff''s story demonstrates how a fighting union can activate today''s working class to oppose antidemocratic and white supremacist forces.



Table of Contents

Introduction
1. Mophead
2. Yes, Yes, No
3. Custodians—That's All You'll Ever Be
4. We Meet the Enemy and It Is Us
5. Frankie McCoy
6. Blackness on the Cornell Plantation
7. Noah's Amalgamated Ark
8. Figuring It Out
9. "Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee"
10. Sustaining Struggle: Building the Union during the Off-Season
11. From Grassroots Up to Grassroots Out
12. In the Shadow of the Tower
Epilogue

Unionizing the Ivory Tower

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    A Paperback / softback by Al Davidoff

    £18.89

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    RRP £20.99 – you save £2.10 (10%)

    Order before 4pm today for delivery by Tue 8 Sep 2026.

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      Book details

      Publisher Cornell University Press
      Published 15 August 2023
      ISBN-13 9781501771552
      978-1501771552
      ISBN-10 1501771558
      Also in:
      Employment and labour law: general

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      Unionizing the Ivory Tower chronicles how a thousand low-paid custodians, cooks, and gardeners succeeded in organizing a union at Cornell University. Al Davidoff, the Cornell student leader who became a custodian and the union''s first president, tells the extraordinary story of these ordinary workers with passion, sensitivity, and wit.

      His memoir reveals how they took on the dominant power in the community, built a strong organization, and waged multiple strikes and campaigns for livable wages and their dignity. Their strategies and tactics were creative and feisty, founded on worker participation and ownership.

      The union''s commitment to fairness, equity, and economic justice also engaged these workersmostly rural, white, and conservativeat the intersections of racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia. Davidoff''s story demonstrates how a fighting union can activate today''s working class to oppose antidemocratic and white supremacist forces.



      Table of Contents

      Introduction
      1. Mophead
      2. Yes, Yes, No
      3. Custodians—That's All You'll Ever Be
      4. We Meet the Enemy and It Is Us
      5. Frankie McCoy
      6. Blackness on the Cornell Plantation
      7. Noah's Amalgamated Ark
      8. Figuring It Out
      9. "Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee"
      10. Sustaining Struggle: Building the Union during the Off-Season
      11. From Grassroots Up to Grassroots Out
      12. In the Shadow of the Tower
      Epilogue

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