American Workers, American Unions: The Twentieth and Early Twenty-First Centuries(The American Moment)

An update to the classic history of labor and unions for a post-9/11 world. Highly acclaimed and widely read since its first publication in 1986, American Workers, American Unions provides a concise and compelling history of American workers and their unions in the twentieth century and the first decade of the twenty-first. Taking into account recent important work on the 1970s and the Reagan revolution, the fourth edition newly considers the stagflation issue, the rise of globalization and big box retailing, the failure of Congress to pass legislation supporting the right of public employees to collective bargaining, the defeat in Congress of legislation to revise the National Labor Relations Act, the emasculation of the Humphrey-Hawkins Act, and the changing dynamics of blue-collar politics. In addition to important new information on the 1970s and 1980s, the fourth edition contains a completely new final chapter. Largely written by Timothy J. Minchin, this chapter provides a rare survey of American workers and their unions between 9/11 and the 2012 presidential election. Gilbert J. Gall presents new information on government workers and their recent battles to defend workplace rights.

Table of Contents:
Preface 1. The New Industrial Regime 2. War, Prosperity, and Depression, 1914–1933 3. Rebirth of the Unions, 1933–1939 4. Labor Goes to War, 1939–1945 5. Strikes, Politics, Radicalism, 1945–1950 6. Affluent Workers, Stable Unions Labor in the Postwar Decades 7. Race, War, Politics Labor in the 1960s 8. Labor at the Close of the Twentieth Century 9. Losing Ground Workers and Unions since 9/11 Selected Further Reading Index

About the Author :
Robert H. Zieger was a professor of history at the University of Florida and author of For Jobs and Freedom: Race and Labor in America since 1865. Timothy J. Minchin is a professor of North American history at La Trobe University and author of Fighting against the Odds: A History of Southern Labor since World War II and Empty Mills: The Fight against Imports and the Decline of the U.S. Textile Industry. Gilbert J. Gall is Region Field Director for the Pennsylvania State Education Association and author of The Politics of Right to Work: The Labor Federations as Special Interests, 1943–1979 and Pursuing Justice: Lee Pressman, the New Deal, and the CIO.