San Antonio College Library

Starting with the organization of tobacco workers and a few other groups in the last years of Spanish colonial rule, Robert J. Alexander traces the growth of the labor movement during the early decades of the republic, noting particularly the influence of three political tendencies: anarchosyndicalists, Marxists, and "independents." He examines the generally unfavorable attitudes of early republican governments to the labor movement, and he discusses...

Wage stagnation, low-wage work, and blighted blue-collar communities have become an all-too-common part of modern-day America. Behind these trends is a little-discussed problem: the decades-long decline in worker power. Greenhouse rebuts the often-stated view that labor unions are outmoded or harmful, by recounting some of labor's victories, and the efforts of several of today's most innovative and successful worker groups. He also proposes concrete,...

This book examines the various economic, social, and political developments that shaped labor history in the United States from World War I until the present day. It presents an overview of labor history that also considers women workers, ethnic America, and post-World War II workers, while incorporating the most recent scholarship in labor history.

This text tells the story of the union decline in America and of the split in the labor movement it led to, following the dismal tale of union mergers and management partnerships that accompanied the retreat from militancy since the 1980s.

In this comprehensive overview of the fascinating and rich history of the struggles of farmers and farm workers, Patrick H. Mooney and Theo J. Majka highlight the drama of certain events and the courage and charisma of the individuals who have participated in these movements. The section on farmer movements begins with a look at the violent farmer protests from the colonial period up to the Civil War and then moves on to farmer alliances with labor...

"A spectacular example of collective protest, the Great Strike of 1877 - actually a sequence of related strikes - was the first national strike and the first major strike against the railroad industry."--Back cover.

At a time when the American labor movement is mobilizing for a major resurgence through new organizing, here, at last, is a book about research on union organizing strategies. Previous studies have focused on factors contributing to union decline, devoting little attention to the organizing process itself. The twenty chapters in this volume dramatically increase understanding of the range and effectiveness of new organizing strategies and their potential...

When employees at firms like Greyhound and Eastern Airlines walk out to protest wage and benefit reductions, they are permanently replaced and their representative labor unions destroyed. Every year, the threat or drama of a high-profile strike - in air traffic control towers, at Amtrak, or at Caterpillar - makes national headlines and, every year, several hundred thousand unrepresented American employees are discharged without good cause. During...