The Union Makes Us Strong

Radical Unionism on the San Francisco Waterfront

AvDavid Wellman

Häftad, Engelska, 1997

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Beskrivning

American labour history is typically interpreted by scholars as a history of defeat. Hidden by this conventional wisdom are a handful of militant unions that did not follow the putative Congress of Industrial Organizations trajectory. Based on three years of ethnographic research, this book examines a union that organised itself to systematically challenge management's rule on the shopfloor: San Francisco's longshore union. American unionism looks quite different than conventional wisdom suggests when everyday union practices are observed. American labour's trajectory, this book argues, is neither inevitable nor determined; militant, democratic forms of unionism are possible in the United States; and collective bargaining does not automatically eliminate contests for workplace control. The contract is a bargain that reflects and reproduces fundamental disagreement; it states how production and conflict will proceed.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:1997-08-28
Mått:152 x 228 x 26 mm
Vikt:525 g
Format:Häftad
Språk:Engelska
Antal sidor:388
Förlag:Cambridge University Press
ISBN:9780521629683

Utforska kategorier

Sociologi och antropologi inom Samhälle och politik

Recensioner i media

"A sociologist blends history, interviews, and analysis into the best description and appraisal yet written about the strengths, traditions and problems of the ILWU on the waterfront since the 1930s." Dispatcher

Innehållsförteckning

Preface; Notes on unpublished sources; Part I. Labour Radicalism Revisited: 1. Unsettling old scores: labour radicalism encounters conventional wisdom; 2. Sealing the fate of radical labour theoretically; 3. A framework for American unionism; Part II. Local Community and 'Tumultuous' Democracy: the Socio-Cultural Foundations of Unionism on the San Francisco Waterfront: 4. Political community on the San Francisco waterfront; 5. The structure of participationist politics; 6. Being political in Local 10; Part III. Unionism, Work and Technological Change: 7. Work, knowledge and control: conventional longshoring; 8. Work, knowledge and control: containerised longshoring; 9. 'Doing the right thing': working principles and codes of conduct; Part IV. Waging the Battle for Workplace Control on Contractual Terrain: 10. Who decides how to work?; 11. Which side's language shall govern?; 12. By whose principles will merit be rewarded?; Part V. Agreeing to Disagree: Being Defensibly Disobedient: 13. Translating troubles into grievable issues; 14. 'We essentially have no contract with you': keeping the agreement; 15. Constructing and maintaining the appearance of co-operation; Conclusion: Trade union exceptionalism or prefigurative politics?; Appendix: doing field research - an ethnographic account; References; Name index; Subject index.