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Books > Business & Economics > Industry & industrial studies > Industrial relations & safety > Industrial relations > Trade unions

Rights Delayed - The American State and the Defeat of Progressive Unions, 1935-1950 (Hardcover): Charles Romney Rights Delayed - The American State and the Defeat of Progressive Unions, 1935-1950 (Hardcover)
Charles Romney
R2,788 Discovery Miles 27 880 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Progressive unions flourished in the 1930s by working alongside federal agencies created during the New Deal. Yet in 1950, few progressive unions remained. Why? Most scholars point to domestic anti-communism and southern conservatives in Congress as the forces that diminished the New Deal state, eliminated progressive unions, and destroyed the radical potential of American liberalism. Rights Delayed: The American State and the Defeat of Progressive Unions argues that anti-communism and Congressional conservatism merely intensified the main reason for the decline of progressive unions: the New Deal state's focus on legal procedure. Initially, progressive unions thrived by embracing the procedural culture of New Deal agencies and the wartime American state. Between 1935 and 1945, unions mastered the complex rules of the NLRB and other federal entities by working with government officials. In 1946 and 1947, however, the emphasis on legal procedure made the federal state too slow to combat potentially illegal cooperation between employers and the Teamsters. Workers who supported progressive unions rallied around procedural language to stop what they considered Teamster collusion, but found themselves dependent on an ineffective federal state. The state became even less able to protect employees belonging to left-led unions after the Taft-Hartley Act's anti-communist provisions-and decisions by union leaders-limited access to the NLRB's procedures. From 1946 until 1950, progressive unions withered and eventually disappeared from the Pacific canneries as the unions failed to pay the cost of legal representation before the NLRB. Workers supporting progressive unions had embraced procedural language to claim their rights, but by 1950, those workers discovered that their rights had vanished in an endless legal discourse.

The Battle of Grangemouth - A Worker's Story (Paperback): Mark Lyon The Battle of Grangemouth - A Worker's Story (Paperback)
Mark Lyon
R480 Discovery Miles 4 800 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

An account of the assault on the Union at Grangemouth in 2013, when workers were forced to accept cuts in their pay andconditions by the owner's threat of closure. Written by the Grangemouth convenor, The Battle of Grangemouth is a vital storyin trying times, and demonstrates why, now more than ever, being organised is vital for the defense of basic right at work. Published in association with Unite the Union.This book tells the story of the industrial dispute at Grangemouth in 2013, when the owner threatened to close a large part of the complex unless the workforce accepted severe cuts to their wages and conditions. The events at Grangemouth represented, in very acute form, the disaster of contemporary approaches to running the economy. What was once a publicly owned and well-run national asset has been allowed to fall into the hands of a company controlled by one man - Jim Ratcliffe - who thus has been able to exert immense power over the future of a vital national resource.Ratcliffe conducted a relentless campaign against the union at the site, with the intention of removing its main organisers, partly through exploiting the row in Falkirk Labour Party over candidate selection. Through these endeavours he succeeded in inflicting considerable hardship on a large number of people, but he did not destroy the strong union organisation at Grangemouth, which remains committed to defending the workforce and local community from his depredations.

Work and Labour Relations in Global Platform Capitalism (Hardcover): Julieta Haidar, Maarten Keune Work and Labour Relations in Global Platform Capitalism (Hardcover)
Julieta Haidar, Maarten Keune
R3,199 Discovery Miles 31 990 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

This engaging and timely book provides an in-depth analysis of work and labour relations within global platform capitalism with a specific focus on digital platforms that organise labour processes, known as labour platforms. Well-respected contributors thoroughly examine both online and offline platforms, their distinct differences and the important roles they play for both large transnational companies and those with a smaller global reach. Chapters explore how labour platforms have become controversial and ambiguous as they increasingly appear to provide important sources of work and income globally but conversely raise concerns over exploitation of workers and the lack of legal protection provided to them. Offering a global perspective and including studies from different continents, the book covers three key areas: platform work in the wider context of contemporary capitalism, labour platforms from an international division of labour perspective, and labour processes and relations. This informative and thought-provoking book is an excellent resource for scholars with a particular interest in political economy, the sociology of work, labour relations and labour policies. Policymakers and regulators looking to understand how to effectively apply existing regulations for platform workers when creating new business models will also find this an invigorating read.

Workers Can Win - A Guide to Organising at Work (Hardcover): Ian Allinson Workers Can Win - A Guide to Organising at Work (Hardcover)
Ian Allinson; Illustrated by Colin Revolting
R2,691 Discovery Miles 26 910 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

The Covid, climate and cost of living crises all hang heavy in the air. It's more obvious than ever that we need radical social and political change. But in the vacuum left by defeated labour movements, where should we begin? For longtime workplace activist Ian Allinson, the answer is clear: organising at work is essential to rebuild working-class power. The premise is simple: organising builds confidence, capacity and collective power - and with power we can win change. Workers Can Win is an essential, practical guide for rank-and-file workers and union activists. Drawing on more than 20 years of organising experience, Allinson combines practical techniques with an analysis of the theory and politics of organising and unions. The book offers insight into tried and tested methods for effective organising. It deals with tactics and strategies, and addresses some of the roots of conflict, common problems with unions and the resistance of management to worker organising. As a 101 guide to workplace organising with politically radical horizons, Workers Can Win is destined to become an essential tool for workplace struggles in the years to come.

Walter Citrine - Forgotten Statesman of the Trades Union Congress (Hardcover): Dr Jim Moher Walter Citrine - Forgotten Statesman of the Trades Union Congress (Hardcover)
Dr Jim Moher
R861 Discovery Miles 8 610 Ships in 12 - 17 working days
Class and Gender in British Labour History - Renewing the Debate (or Starting It?) (Paperback, New): Mary Davis Class and Gender in British Labour History - Renewing the Debate (or Starting It?) (Paperback, New)
Mary Davis
R577 Discovery Miles 5 770 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Politics constructs gender and gender constructs politics: this is a central theme in this collection of essays which seek not only to write a history that focus on women's experiences but seeks also to analyse those dynamic forces that have shaped that history.It examines the 'making' of the other half of the working class - women - as workers, trade unionists and political activists, and seeks to weave together intricate relationship between class and gender, particular within the process of industrialization. It is because the class/gender relationship has often been either ignored or misunderstood that it has been possible to write general histories of the labour movement in which women are hardly mentioned. Featuring contributions from leading and up-and-coming women labour historians, essays are in three sections: the labour market/work (typical and atypical); trade unions; and politics

Wobblies of the World - A Global History of the IWW (Hardcover): Peter Cole, David Struthers, Kenyon Zimmer Wobblies of the World - A Global History of the IWW (Hardcover)
Peter Cole, David Struthers, Kenyon Zimmer
R2,709 Discovery Miles 27 090 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

The Industrial Workers of the World is a union unlike any other. Founded in 1905 in Chicago, it rapidly gained members across the world thanks to its revolutionary, internationalist outlook. By using powerful organising methods including direct-action and direct-democracy, it put power in the hands of workers. This philosophy is labeled as 'revolutionary industrial unionism' and the members called, affectionately, 'Wobblies'. This book is the first to look at the history of the IWW from an international perspective. Bringing together a group of leading scholars, it includes lively accounts from a number diverse countries including Australia, Canada, Mexico, South Africa, Sweden and Ireland, which reveal a fascinating story of global anarchism, syndicalism and socialism. Drawing on many important figures of the movements such as Tom Barker, Har Dayal, Joe Hill, James Larkin and William D. "Big Bill" Haywood, and exploring particular industries including shipping, mining, and agriculture, this book describes how the IWW and its ideals travelled around the world.

Trade Union Merger Strategies - Purpose, Process, and Performance (Hardcover, New): Roger Undy Trade Union Merger Strategies - Purpose, Process, and Performance (Hardcover, New)
Roger Undy
R4,409 R3,833 Discovery Miles 38 330 Save R576 (13%) Ships in 12 - 17 working days

As Trade Union membership has declined, union mergers have been prominent features in strategies of revitalization. Yet, there is very little systematic and empirical research into the effects of union mergers on the unions actually merging or of their impact on the wider union movement. This ground-breaking study fills this gap with its in-depth analysis of British unions' mergers since 1978: the point at which British unions moved from growth into decline, primarily due to adverse and damaging changes in the British industrial relations climate.
Initially the book describes the merger processes (transfers and amalgamations) and the extent of British unions' merger activities. This is placed in context by an examination of the generally hostile environment in which such mergers were sought and concluded. The different non-merger strategies adopted by unions to mitigate their membership loss and reduced political status are also assessed. In the body of the text the focus is on: the factors shaping unions' merger searches; the consequent merger negotiations; and the merged unions' subsequent performance. Because of the distinctly different opportunities for reform offered by transfers, as against amalgamations, the book examines each, in turn, in Parts 2 and 3.
The interpretative framework adopted for analysing transfers and amalgamations addresses the following elements of unions' interests: members' job territories; political objectives and means; democratic ethos and government; administration (including finance); and leaders' imperatives. Drawing on a wealth of material gathered over the past 20 years via surveys, interviews and action research the different purposes andperformances of the merged unions are critically assessed. It is concluded that transfers served to generate a limited range of improvements, generally of advantage to the minor partner union. In contrast, amalgamations are found to have the potential to transform many aspects of union organisation. However, in practice, they also tended to generate a number of unintended and unwelcome consequences. In conclusion mergers' contributions to the revitalization of the wider British trade union movement are also discussed.
This authoritative study of British unions' merger strategies is essential reading for all those interested in the future of trade unions and the potential mergers offer for generating significant reforms. Academics and students in employee relations, industrial relations, HRM and labour history should also find it useful for increasing their understanding of how unions have responded to changes in the economic and political context. Policy makers and union practitioners should also gain insights into the kinds of problems associated with unions' structural reforms.

Trade Unions and Migrant Workers - New Contexts and Challenges in Europe (Hardcover): Stefania Marino, Judith Roosblad, Rinus... Trade Unions and Migrant Workers - New Contexts and Challenges in Europe (Hardcover)
Stefania Marino, Judith Roosblad, Rinus Penninx
R4,194 Discovery Miles 41 940 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

This timely book analyses the relationship between trade unions, immigration and migrant workers across eleven European countries in the period between the 1990s and 2015. It constitutes an extensive update of a previous comparative analysis - published by Rinus Penninx and Judith Roosblad in 2000 - that has become an important reference in the field. The book offers an overview of how trade unions manage issues of inclusion and solidarity in the current economic and political context, characterized by increasing challenges for labour organizations and rising hostility towards migrants. The qualitative analysis of trade union strategies towards immigration and migrant workers is based on a common analytical framework centred on the idea of `dilemmas' that trade unions have to face when dealing with immigration and migrant workers. This approach facilitates comparative analysis and distinguishes patterns of union policies and actions across three groups of countries, identifying some explanations for observed similarities and differences. In addition, the book also includes theoretical chapters by expert scholars from a range of disciplinary fields including industrial relations, migration studies and political economy. This comprehensive comparative analysis is an essential resource for academics across a range of disciplines as well as policy-makers, practitioners and organizations involved in trade unions and migrant inclusion and integration.

César Chávez (Hardcover): Ilan Stavans César Chávez (Hardcover)
Ilan Stavans
R2,000 Discovery Miles 20 000 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

Labor leader, social justice advocate, Chicano leader, and humanitarian are only some of the multifaceted renderings of Cesar Chavez. Ilan Stavans has compiled essays and first-person narratives that capture the multiple dimensions of this storied figure. To that end, Stavans's collection of timely articles separates fact from fiction, or as he puts it the "objective is the opposite of hagiography."

Broken into two sections, "Cesar Chavez" explores a variety of topics central to understanding the actual person instead of a shadowy apparition. The first part, "Considerations" offers critical assessments of Chavez's life that utilize different approaches to understanding his life, including cultural studies critiques, historical narrative that provide invaluable context, and even eulogies following his untimely death. The second section, "Voices" includes personal reflections on Chavez's life that explore his religiosity, his role as an "everyman," and the decline of the United Farm Workers union. The title is certain to assist readers in better comprehending this groundbreaking labor leader."

The Challenges to Trade Unions in Europe - Innovation or Adaptation (Hardcover): Peter Leisink, Jim Van Leemput, Jacques Vilrokx The Challenges to Trade Unions in Europe - Innovation or Adaptation (Hardcover)
Peter Leisink, Jim Van Leemput, Jacques Vilrokx
R3,518 Discovery Miles 35 180 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Should trade unions passively respond to turbulent changes in industrial relations or can they innovate and set their own agenda? In the face of technological, economic, political and cultural change, trade unions across Europe face a genuine threat to their past achievements and their future capacity to act and shape industrial relations.In The Challenges to Trade Unions in Europe , a group of prominent authors examines the unions' strategic policies in seven European member states and at the European Union level, as well as their responses to the globalization of economic competition. Using theoretical and historical analysis as well as up-to-date empirical research, they examine the successes of trade unions and their capacity to innovate in order to remain strategic actors in the industrial relations arena. In particular, the authors examine trade union policies responding to topical issues such as training, sustainable growth, flexibility, decentralization, deregulation and neo-liberal state policies. The Challenges to Trade Unions in Europe explores responses to the main economic, managerial, political and socio-cultural features of the transformation process facing trade unions in Europe. It will be welcomed by researchers and students interested in industrial relations, personnel management, and the social and economic implications of European integration.

The T and G Story - A History of the Transport and General Workers Union, 1922-2007 (Paperback): Murray Andrew The T and G Story - A History of the Transport and General Workers Union, 1922-2007 (Paperback)
Murray Andrew
R532 Discovery Miles 5 320 Ships in 12 - 17 working days
Labor's Home Front - The American Federation of Labor during World War II (Hardcover, New): Andrew E. Kersten Labor's Home Front - The American Federation of Labor during World War II (Hardcover, New)
Andrew E. Kersten
R2,614 Discovery Miles 26 140 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

View the Table of Contents. Read the Preface.

"Laboras Home Front is an outstanding contribution. Balanced and fair-minded, Kerstenas richly documented account puts the AFL at the center of wartime labor relations and domestic history generally. . . . Kersten also sheds new light on the key role of the AFL in the emergence of social democratic liberalism during the era of World War II."
--Robert H. Zieger, University of Florida

"Labor's Home Front is the work of a careful and thorough historian. Kersten establishes the centrality of the often neglected American Federation of Labor to the story of labor's uphill efforts during World War II to breathe life into the lofty ideals embodied in the Four Freedoms. He skillfully weaves his case studies--on gender, race, union rivalries, safety, the open shop, and postwar planning--into a narrative fully attentive to the evolution of the Federation's ideology and politics, poignantly conveying the spirit of sacrifice and suffering without romanticizing his subjects. This is a genuinely important book."
--Eric Arnesen, author of "Brotherhoods of Color: Black Railroad Workers and the Struggle for Equality"

One of the oldest, strongest, and largest labor organizations in the U.S., the American Federation of Labor (AFL) had 4 million members in over 20,000 union locals during World War II. The AFL played a key role in wartime production and was a major actor in the contentious relationship between the state, organized labor, and the working class in the 1940s. The war years are pivotal in the history of American labor, but books on the AFL's experiences are scant, with far more on the radical Congress of Industrial Unions(CIO).

Andrew E. Kersten closes this gap with Labor's Home Front, challenging us to reconsider the AFL and its influence on twentieth-century history. Kersten details the union's contributions to wartime labor relations, its opposition to the open shop movement, divided support for fair employment and equity for women and African American workers, its constant battles with the CIO, and its significant efforts to reshape American society, economics, and politics after the war. Throughout, Kersten frames his narrative with an original, central theme: that despite its conservative nature, the AFL was dramatically transformed during World War II, becoming a more powerful progressive force that pushed for liberal change.

Progressive Lawyers under Siege - Moral Panic during the McCarthy Years (Hardcover): Colin Wark, John F. Galliher Progressive Lawyers under Siege - Moral Panic during the McCarthy Years (Hardcover)
Colin Wark, John F. Galliher
R2,518 Discovery Miles 25 180 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

This is a study of a progressive law firm and its three partners. The firm was founded in 1936 and existed until the death of one partner in 1965. The partners were harassed by the FBI primarily for defending labor union members and leaders and the defense of both. The firm's primary client was Harry Bridges, the long term President on the International Longshoreman's and Warehouseman's Union (ILWU). The irony was that the more the FBI persecuted labor unions, the more business the firm had from those harassed by the FBI. During this time the FBI was primarily interested in controlling the Communist Party. While the clients of the firm were sometimes Communists, the law partners were not Communist Party members. In both of these ways the FBI was wasting its time in persecuting this firm. Although the primary data used involved existing records (for example all of the partners had extensive FBI files), we also interviewed colleagues and relatives of the partners.

Governments, Labour, and the Law in Mid-Victorian Britain - The Trade Union Legislation of the 1870s (Hardcover, New): Mark... Governments, Labour, and the Law in Mid-Victorian Britain - The Trade Union Legislation of the 1870s (Hardcover, New)
Mark Curthoys
R6,541 R5,584 Discovery Miles 55 840 Save R957 (15%) Ships in 12 - 17 working days

This is a study of how governments and their specialist advisers, in an age of free trade and the minimal state, attempted to create a viable legal framework for trade unions and strikes. It traces the collapse, in the face of judicial interventions, of the regime for collective labour devised by the Liberal Tories in the 1820s, following the repeal of the Combination Acts. The new arrangements enacted in the 1870s allowed collective labour unparalleled freedoms, contended by the newly-founded Trades Union Congress. This book seeks to reinstate the view from government into an account of how the settlement was brought about, tracing the emergence of an official view - largely independent of external pressure - which favoured withdrawing the criminal law from peaceful industrial relations and allowing a virtually unrestricted freedom to combine. It reviews the impact upon the Home Office's specialist advisers of contemporary intellectual trends, such as the assaults upon classical and political economy and the historicized critiques of labour law developed by Liberal writers. Curthoys offers an historical context for the major court decisions affecting the security of trade union funds, and the freedom to strike, while the views of the judges are integrated within the terms of a wider debate between proponents of contending views of 'free trade' and 'free labour'. New evidence sheds light on the considerations which impelled governments to grant trade unions a distinctive form of legal existence, and to protect strikers from the criminal law. This account of the making of labour law affords many wider insights into the nature and inner workings of the Victorian state as it dismantled the remnants of feudalism (symbolized by the Master and Servant Acts) and sought to reconcile competing conceptions of citizenship in an age of franchise extension. After the repeal of the Combination Acts in the 1820s collective labour enjoyed limited freedoms. When this regime collapsed under judicial challenge, governments were obliged to devise a new legal framework for trade unions and strikes, enacted between 1871 and 1876. Drawing extensively upon previously unused governmental sources, this study affords many wider insights into the nature and inner workings of the mid-Victorian state, tracing the impact upon policy-makers of contemporary assaults upon classical political economy, and of the historicized critiques of labour law developed by Liberal writers. As contending views of 'free trade' and 'free labour' came into collision, an official view was formed which favoured allowing an unrestricted freedom to combine and sought to withraw the criminal law from peaceful industrial relations.

Mobsters, Unions, and Feds - The Mafia and the American Labor Movement (Hardcover, New): James B. Jacobs Mobsters, Unions, and Feds - The Mafia and the American Labor Movement (Hardcover, New)
James B. Jacobs
R2,643 Discovery Miles 26 430 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

View the Table of Contents.
Read the Introduction.

aI am not aware of a book that covers the same ground as this one--let alone one that does so using such thorough research and with such technical competence.a
Anthony M. Gould, Universite Laval

"Jacobs offers a history of the federal government's efforts to curb labor racketeering. The heart of his text focuses on the results achieved by employing Civil RICO suits to weed out organized crime from unions long mired in corruption. The Justice Department has mounted twenty such efforts since 1982, and Jacobs's book is the first to provide a comprehensive assessment of this controversial tactic. He tackles this ambitious project with a combination of detailed research, clear writing, and judicious consideration, all of which have been a hallmark of his previous texts on corruption and organized crime. The result is a must read book for anyone interested in the problem of union corruption and what to do about it."
--"Industrial and Labor Relations Review"

"Jacobs, legal scholar and expert on the Mafia, sets out to show how the Mob has distorted American labor history, explaining the relationship between organized crime and organized labor, as well as recent federal efforts to clean up unions"
--"Booklist"

"James Jacobs, a New York University law professor and author of Mobsters, Unions and Feds, says Mafiosi were hired by union organizers in the early twentieth century to combat company toughs. Now, he says, they specialize in 'selling the rights of workers.'"
--"USA Today"

"Jacobs further burnishes his reputation for advancing the study of organized crime in America with his latest work of scholarship, billed by the publisher as 'the only book to investigate how the mob has distorted American labor history.' This worthy successor to "Gotham Unbound" and "Busting the Mob" is an exhaustive, albeit sometimes repetitive, survey of the grip La Cosa Nostra has exerted on the country's most powerful unions. While many will be familiar with the broad outlines of the corruption that riddled the Teamsters, which is recounted by the author, his summary of some lesser-known examples of pervasive labor corruption help illustrate his thesis that the entire American union movement has suffered from the intimidation and fear the mob used to gain and maintain control of unions. Especially valuable is Jacobs's examination of the relatively recent use of the RICO law to bring dirty unions under the control of a federally appointed independent trustee, and the book's posing of hard questions about the mixed success those monitorships have had."
--"Publishers Weekly"

"Jacobs has covered a wide range of legal issues, including such hot-button topics as hate crime laws and gun control, but he always returns to the world of mobsters and the men and women who investigate, prosecute, and sentence them."
--"NYU Today"

"James Jacobs brilliantly documents and analyzes a remarkable and untold chapter in the history of American law enforcement. This groundbreaking book should be a starting point for officials around the world who confront powerful organized crime groups."
--Jeremy Travis, President, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York and former Director, National Institute of Justice

"A pathbreaking work. For 50 years, organized crime has been the elephant inorganized labor's living room, unacknowledged and unexplained. Jacobs has critically analyzed every facet of this apparently intractable problem--from its roots to the federal government's various efforts to challenge organized crime's influence. From this point forward, no one can think critically about this problem without relying on Jacobs' work."
--Robert Luskin, General Executive Board Attorney, Laborers' International Union of North America

"Jacobs presents a near encyclopedic account of the Mafia's infiltration, control and exploitation of four major national unions and a number of large local unions. It is a sordid frightening story of violence, corruption and oppression, the betrayal of union members and extortion of employers, defiance of the law and disregard for human decency. This disturbing story should be required reading for all who seek strong and more democratic unions, all who would protect the rights of workers, and all who are concerned for the health of our political and social processes."
--Clyde Summers, Jefferson B. Fordham Professor of Law, Emeritus, University of Pennsylvania Law School

"A fabulous and fascinating book. Jacobs demonstrates the continuing impact of organized crime on the American union movement, and details the legal mechanisms developed in recent years to combat mob influence. History has come home to haunt us, and Jacobs makes the case for using law to fight against the mob for union democracy."
--Stanley N. Katz, Professor of Public Affairs, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University

"Jacobs demonstrates that while it has been remarkably difficult to defeat labor racketeering, much has been achieved. This will be welcomenews to all who root for the revitalization of the labor movement."
--Ronald G. Ehrenberg, Irving M. Ives Professor of Industrial and Labor Relations and Economics, Cornell University

Nowhere in the world has organized crime infiltrated the labor movement as effectively as in the United States. Yet the government, the AFL-CIO, and the civil liberties community all but ignored the situation for most of the twentieth century. Since 1975, however, the FBI, Department of Justice, and the federal judiciary have relentlessly battled against labor racketeering, even in some of the nation's most powerful unions.

Mobsters, Unions, and Feds is the first book to document organized crime's exploitation of organized labor and the massive federal clean-up effort. A renown criminologist who for twenty years has been assessing the government's attack on the Mafia, James B. Jacobs explains how Cosa Nostra families first gained a foothold in the labor movement, then consolidated their power through patronage, fraud, and violence and finally used this power to become part of the political and economic power structure of 20th century urban America.

Since FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover's death in 1972, federal law enforcement has aggressively investigated and prosecuted labor racketeers, as well as utilized the civil remedies provided for by the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) statute to impose long-term court-supervised remedial trusteeships on mobbed-up unions. There have been some impressive victories, including substantial progress toward liberating the four most racketeer-ridden national unions from the grip of organized crime, but victory cannot yet be claimed.

The only book to investigate how the mob has exploited the American labor movement, Mobsters, Unions, and Feds is the most comprehensive study to date of how labor racketeering evolved and how the government has finally resolved to eradicate it.

A Union for Appalachian Healthcare Workers - The Radical Roots and Hard Fights of Local 1199 (Hardcover): John Hennen A Union for Appalachian Healthcare Workers - The Radical Roots and Hard Fights of Local 1199 (Hardcover)
John Hennen
R2,914 Discovery Miles 29 140 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

History at the intersection of healthcare, labor, and civil rights. The union of hospital workers usually referred to as the 1199 sits at the intersection of three of the most important topics in US history: organized labor, health care, and civil rights. John Hennen's book explores the union's history in Appalachia, a region that is generally associated with extractive industries but has seen health care grow as a share of the overall economy. With a multiracial, largely female, and notably militant membership, 1199 was at labor's vanguard in the 1970s, and Hennen traces its efforts in hospitals, nursing homes, and healthcare centers in West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, and Appalachian Ohio. He places these stories of mainly low-wage women workers within the framework of shake-ups in the late industrial and early postindustrial United States, relying in part on the words of Local 1199 workers and organizers themselves. Both a sophisticated account of an overlooked aspect of Appalachia's labor history and a key piece of context for Americans' current concern with the status of "essential workers," Hennen's book is a timely contribution to the fields of history and Appalachian studies and to the study of social movements.

The Foreign Worker and the German Labor Movement - Xenophobia and Solidarity in the Coal Fields of the Ruhr, 1871-1914... The Foreign Worker and the German Labor Movement - Xenophobia and Solidarity in the Coal Fields of the Ruhr, 1871-1914 (Hardcover)
John Kulczycki
R4,404 Discovery Miles 44 040 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

In August 1914 the German labour movement did not oppose the decision to go to war, and workers responded with as much enthusiasm as other social strata: one of the most powerful labour movements in the world failed to live up to the ideal of class solidarity. The movement's relations with foreign workers, particularly Polish coal miners, in the Ruhr in the decades before the war foreshadowed this failure. The rural origins of the Polish migrants and their traditional Catholic religious beliefs led most observers, including their fellow workers as well as recent historians, to view them as obstacles to the labour movement and resistant to working-class consciousness. This study, based on extensive research in archives in Germany and Poland, documents a very different history - one in which Polish miners' militancy exceeded that of native miners, and whose relations with German workers were marked by both xenophobia and solidarity.

Unions in Crisis? - The Future of Organized Labor in America (Hardcover): Michael Schiavone Unions in Crisis? - The Future of Organized Labor in America (Hardcover)
Michael Schiavone
R2,207 Discovery Miles 22 070 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

Unionism in the United States was quite successful during and after World War II, especially during the golden years of American capitalism (1947-73) as workers' wages increased quite dramatically in a number of industries. For example, average hourly earnings for workers in meatpacking rose 114% between 1950 and 1965, those in steel 102%, in rubber tires by 96%, and in manufacturing 81%. At the same time as union members' wages were increasing, union membership was declining. Yet, the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) argued that organizing new members was not a priority. By concentrating on the existing membership and bread-and-butter issues, and not organizing new members, unionism could not deal with the attack on the social contract by employers and the government beginning in the United States in the late 1970s. However, while many people are claiming that organized labor is a dinosaur, Schiavone argues that a strong union movement is needed now more than ever. Unionism in the United States was quite successful during and after World War II, especially during the golden years of American capitalism (1947-73) as workers' wages increased quite dramatically in a number of industries. For example, average hourly earnings for workers in meatpacking rose 114% between 1950 and 1965, those in steel 102%, in rubber tires by 96%, and in manufacturing 81%. At the same time as union members' wages were increasing, union membership was declining. Yet, the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) argued that organizing new members was not a priority. By concentrating on the existing membership and bread-and-butter issues, and not organizing new members, unionism could not deal with the attack on the social contract by employers and the government beginning in the United States in the late 1970s. Following that attack, there was a significant decline in U.S. workers' wages and conditions in real terms, and there was a corresponding decline in union membership. However, while many people are claiming that organized labor is a dinosaur, Schiavone argues that a strong union movement is now needed more than ever. If unions make major changes as outlined in this book, the U.S. labor movement may regain some of its strength. By fighting for workplace (such as higher wages) and non-workplace issues (such as the fight for adequate childcare or against racism), unions in America and Canada that embraced what Schiavone calls social justice unionism have improved society for all. On purely bread-and-butter issues, these unions have achieved better collective bargaining agreements than their rival mainstream unions, as well as organizing more new workers per capita. How much strength organized labor will regain by embracing social justice unionism is uncertain, but it is a beginning.

The World's Strongest Trade Unions - The Scandinavian Labor Movement (Hardcover): Walter Galenson The World's Strongest Trade Unions - The Scandinavian Labor Movement (Hardcover)
Walter Galenson
R2,742 Discovery Miles 27 420 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

Despite the general decline of trade unions throughout the Western world, unions in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden have prospered. Why? Galenson cites their ability to organize white collar workers, the special attention they give to recruitment of women, and their ability to undergo structural change under employer pressure. He analyzes these factors in the belief that if unions in other parts of the world understand why and how unionism is succeeding in Scandinavia, its deterioration may be slowed and even reversed. In doing so, Galenson offers specific advice on how industrial relations professionals should manage to avoid breakdown of existing systems elsewhere. Labor unions, officials, and organization executives, as well as executives throughout the public sectors, will find Galenson's views informative and enlightening.

Although there has been a good deal written about the Scandinavian labor movements in Dano-Norwegian and Swedish, there has been nothing comprehensive in English that deals with the labor movements in the three countries. Nor has there been a systematic analysis of their policies and practices. Galenson provides readers, now, with an account of how unions in the Scandinavian countries have managed to secure the world's highest rates of organization: up to 90% of all who are employed in Sweden, and somewhat less in Denmark and Norway, are trade union members, compared with 15% in the United States. The countries in which they operate are welfare states and are among the wealthiest countries in the world, yet remarkably little is known about the systems of industrial relations that have contributed to these results. Galenson's book will fill that gap and in doing so, make a unique contribution to the determination of policy in other countries.

Working-Class Internationalism and the Appeal of National Identity - Historicalites and Current Perspectives on Western Europe... Working-Class Internationalism and the Appeal of National Identity - Historicalites and Current Perspectives on Western Europe (Hardcover)
Patrick Pasture, Johan Verberckmoes
R4,064 Discovery Miles 40 640 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Internationalism is generally considered to be a major feature of the labour movement, and to hold a far more powerful appeal for workers' organizations than national identity. However, this revisionist book argues that, in fact, it is the national dimension which is of utmost importance to workers' organizations, and that national questions have often compelled workers to engage in struggles on different levels. Through detailed case studies of trade union involvement in Northern Ireland, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Austria and Europe generally, contributors tackle subjects long neglected by labour historians and overturn the accepted wisdom that nationalism and the labour movement are irreconcilably opposed. This analysis of how international agendas are influenced by nationalist politics is unique, and the case-studies offer a dynamic description of the different ways in which nationalist values meet with trade union ideas and practices.The high standard of scholarship and the combination of historical and contemporary material make this book essential reading for students and researchers of labour history, politics, political theory and area studies.

Red Seas - Ferdinand Smith and Radical Black Sailors in the United States and Jamaica (Hardcover, New): Gerald Horne Red Seas - Ferdinand Smith and Radical Black Sailors in the United States and Jamaica (Hardcover, New)
Gerald Horne
R2,636 Discovery Miles 26 360 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

View the Table of Contents.
Read the Introduction.

""Red Seas" is biographical history at its best. It provides a glimpse into the life of one of the most powerful Black labor leaders in U.S. history, describes the trials and tribulations, the successes and failures, of building an independent, Communist-led union, and gives the reader a general feeling for the times. Horne has done all trade-unionist and working-class people a service with "Red Seas," It is highly recommended."
--"Political Affairs"

"The political connections of Harlem and the British West Indies have been crucial for at least a century, but until recent times almost invisible except to those intimately involveda]. We are now, at long last, beginning to get a better grasp, and Gerald Horneas "Red Seas" is a huge contribution to our understanding."
--Paul Buhle, "Monthly Review"

"Horne's latest work is a forceful tract that all scholars writing about radical maritime politics, unionism, and race must take into account. Horne thus sets the standard for future scholars in this area."
--"Working USA"

"In our own age of global commerce and U.S. hyperpower, what could be more instructive than the story of Ferdinand Smith, the Caribbean Communist who led a genuinely international, multicultural union in the years that birthed the American century? Gerald Horne's remarkable biography should be required reading for those who want to glimpse the potential power of that seafaring proletariat, in the last century as well as ours."
--Nelson Lichtenstein, author of "State of the Union: A Century of American Labor"

aA major achievement. It not only illuminates the maritime sources of 20th centuryworking class black radicalism, but reveals its ongoing and complicated interplay with racism and class struggle on a global scale.a
--Joe W. Trotter, Jr., Carnegie Mellon University

"A brilliant political biography--we are in Gerald Horne's debt for bringing to life a towering figure of the 20th century. A radical labor leader in the US and Jamaica who felt the sting of anticommunism on both shores, Ferdinand Smith also laid the groundwork for the modern civil rights movement."
--Martha Biondi, author of "To Stand and Fight: the Struggle for Civil Rights in Postwar New York City"

"Exhaustively researched, this is a pioneering, insightful, sympathetic, and brilliant portrait of the life of Ferdinand Smith. A wonderful book."
--Colin Palmer, Dodge Professor of History, Princeton University

aRed Seas offers a rich account of the Communist Partyas centrality in twentieth- century anti-racist struggles, the critical role workers of colour and anti-racism played in the rise and decline of organized labor, and the tragedy of paths not taken, particularly toward the international labour alliances and organizing that might have forestalled the current international arace to the bottom.a
--"International Journal of Maritime History"

During the heyday of the U.S. and international labor movements in the 1930s and 1940s, Ferdinand Smith, the Jamaican-born co-founder and second-in-command of the National Maritime Union (NMU), stands out as one of the most--if not the most--powerful black labor leaders in the United States. Smithas active membership in the Communist Party, however, coupled with his bold labor radicalism and shaky immigration status, brought him undercontinual surveillance by U.S. authorities, especially during the Red Scare in the 1950s. Smith was eventually deported to his homeland of Jamaica, where he continued his radical labor and political organizing until his death in 1961.

Gerald Horne draws on Smithas life to make insightful connections between labor radicalism and the Civil Rights Movement--demonstrating that the gains of the latter were propelled by the former and undermined by anticommunism. Moreover, Red Seas uncovers the little-known experiences of black sailors and their contribution to the struggle for labor and civil rights, the history of the Communist Party and its black members, and the significant dimensions of Jamaican labor and political radicalism.

A History of Organized Labor in the English-Speaking West Indies (Hardcover, New): Robert J. Alexander A History of Organized Labor in the English-Speaking West Indies (Hardcover, New)
Robert J. Alexander
R2,862 Discovery Miles 28 620 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

This volume deals with the history of organized labor in all of the countries of the English-speaking West Indies. It is the fourth in a series of histories of the organized labor movement in Latin America and the Caribbean. Alexander traces the countries' origins, early struggles, experiences with collective bargaining, and the key roles in the politics of their respective countries, particularly their participation in the struggle for self-government and independence. He also examines the international organizations of trade unions in the West Indian area, and their association with the hemisphere and worldwide labor groups.

This work is based on the author's personal contacts with these labor movements and their leaders, as well as on printed material, including collective contracts, histories of some of the labor groups and other similar sources. Scholars and students of labor relations, economic and social development, and those interested in the history of the West Indies and Latin America will enjoy this book.

Labor Relations at the New York Daily News - Peripheral Bargaining and the 1990 Strike (Hardcover, New): Kenneth M. Jennings Labor Relations at the New York Daily News - Peripheral Bargaining and the 1990 Strike (Hardcover, New)
Kenneth M. Jennings
R2,774 Discovery Miles 27 740 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

This unique study of labor relations and the phenomenon of peripheral bargaining focuses on the high-profile and bitter dispute at the "New York Daily News" in 1990. Using a dramatic case study involving one of New York City's oldest newspapers, 10 entrenched unions, the Chicago Tribune Company, publishing magnate Robert Maxwell, and 1.2 million "Daily News" readers, Kenneth Jennings provides systematic and extensive analysis of a rancorous collective bargaining effort, revealing a new development in labor-management relations; peripheral bargaining. This development threatens to erode the well-established practice of traditional bargaining and usher in a new, more hostile labor-management era.

Workers, Participation, and Democracy - Internal Politics in the British Union Movement (Hardcover): Joel Wolfe Workers, Participation, and Democracy - Internal Politics in the British Union Movement (Hardcover)
Joel Wolfe
R1,523 Discovery Miles 15 230 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

In this study of the British labor movement, Joel Wolfe asks whether participatory democracy is possible in modern large-scale union and party organizations and how rank and file members can exercise control of delegates in the face of constraints imposed by formal bureaucratic structures at all levels. In addressing these questions he formulates a theory of participatory democracy that has broad practical application to contemporary democratic practice in industiral and political organizations. He tests his model through an analysis of the policy-making process in the British labor movement during World War I, examining thoroughly and critically direct democracy in wartime work groups, the impact of these groups on policy-making in critical areas, and their influence on decision-makers in the Trades Union Congress and the British Labor Party.

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