Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1157533 in Books
• Published on: 2000-04-25
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .64 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

From Amazon.com
The years of American economic prosperity after World War II, argues sociologist Stanley Aronowitz, resulted in the diminishment of the political influence the labor movement had acquired. By the 1980s, which included Reagan's decisive undercutting of the air-traffic controllers' strike and increasing concessions to management by unions, it made sense to question whether such a thing as a labor movement remained. Changes in Teamster and AFL-CIO leadership in the 1990s have increased the likelihood of strong labor's recurrence--but what would it take to make that happen?

Aronowitz presents a compelling case for the idea that "unions, if they are to thrive, must overcome the complacency of the last fifty years and expand labor's influence throughout politics and culture. But first labor must overcome its image as the representative of a narrow segment of the working population...." In intellectually strong but clear-spoken language, Aronowitz urges labor once again to define itself in sharp opposition to the ideology of corporate capitalism. He might attract some controversy with his suggestion that doing so requires a distancing of the unions from the Democratic Party (which, he reminds the reader, has drifted increasingly to the right under Bill Clinton, whose "reform" of welfare not only took money from the unemployed but may also keep wages down for the working poor). Might, that is, if labor had a strong enough voice for its dissent to be heard. Aronowitz delivers some rather intriguing proposals; it remains for history to determine whether an audience exists that will absorb and act upon them. --Ron Hogan

From Publishers Weekly
In the last few years, histories have squeezed the most minute details out of the rise and fall of the 20th-century labor movement. Aronowitz (The Death and Rebirth of American Radicalism) takes the tack that "the future of American labor is directly tied to America's future" and, after extensive exposition of union diversity and interaction, he finds future union potential in the millions of white-collar workers and professionals and among production and service workers in the South. Citing the AMA and ABA as powerful lobbying units for professions once "horrified" at collective bargaining, he argues that doctors and lawyers have become increasingly salaried employees rather than owners of their practices "and therefore control neither their incomes nor conditions of work." Corporate managers are also ripe for unionization because they see, but do not share, the rewards of top executives. Meanwhile, the working poor (whom he defines as those families that earn under $20,000, not the government's $14,200) make up 30% of the workforce and should be another dynamic power. Aronowitz calls for an aggressive effort to organize the working poor?unlike distribution of food stamps and survival checks, Aronowitz sees organizing for collective bargaining as the best way for redistributing social wealth. This is an authoritative plea for broadening union punch beyond the flash of UPS and GM strike successes. Aronowitz's description of the current labor movement offers little new information, however, leaving readers wishing that he spent a little less time on the ashes and more on the new Phoenix.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
This is a cogent and timely critique of the political relationships, successes, and stagnation of the U.S. labor movement with suggestions for the movement's survival and its expansion to deal with contemporary issues. Aronowitz examines the potential of expanding labor representation in white-collar and professional arenas. From schoolteachers, to lawyers, to health-care workers threatened by the encroachment of technology and the increasing impersonalization of their work, Aronowitz strikes a nerve. He focuses his analysis on the tendency of union leaders to compromise their broader ideology to protect an elite union membership by allowing two-tier pay scales and outsourcing to take root. The distance between these professional union administrators and the rank and file has created malaise. Aronowitz challenges the labor movement to become more democratic and to develop a public presence on contemporary issues. He also recommends that unions break ties with political parties and articulate a future for America with working people at its center, a real challenge in the new global marketplace. Vernon Ford