San Antonio College Library

"Skilled Hands, Strong Spirits follows the history of the Building and Construction Trades Department from the emergence of building trades councils in the age of the skyscraper; through treacherous fights over jurisdiction as new building materials and methods of work evolved; and through numerous Department campaigns to improve safety standards, work with contractors to promote unionized construction, and forge a sense of industrial unity among...

Although labor unions have faced a decline in membership in recent decades, they have not necessarily lost their political clout. This book illuminates the inner dynamics of labor's relationship to the American political system over the past generation. It examines organized labor from the Johnson administration to the end of Clinton's first term, showing that labor's alliance with the Democratic Party has endured despite changes in the economy and...