Jeff Schuhrke is a labor historian, journalist, union activist, and assistant professor at the Harry Van Arsdale Jr. School of Labor Studies, SUNY Empire State University in New York City. He is a frequent contributor to In These Times and Jacobin, and his scholarship has been published at Diplomatic History and Labor: Studies in Working-Class History.

In this comprehensive and consequential study, Jeff Schuhrke sheds light on the often nefarious international agenda of the AFL-CIO. During the Cold War, as Schuhrke documents, the top leaders of the U.S. labor establishment, driven by fervent and indiscriminate anti-communism, helped sabotage nascent union movements in countries across the globe. In doing so, the AFL-CIO undermined cross-border working class unity and bolstered multinational corporate power. Blue-Collar Empire thus offers much vital information and insight, both for scholars seeking to understand the rise and decline of the 20th century labor movement, and for union activists working today to build (or re-build) international networks of solidarity.

• AbbreviationsIntroductionPart IFREE TRADE UNIONISM (1945-1960)1 Th e Free Trade Union Committee2 Good Neighbors3 A Larger Pie4 Joining the CIA5 Inter-Americanism6 MergerPart IIFREE LABOR DEVELOPMENT (1960-1973)7 Comradely Brainwashing8 Intervenors9 Mama Maida10 Vietnam11 ExposedPart IIIFREE MARKET REVOLUTION (1973-1995)12 Crisis13 New Blood14 Endowing Democracy15 Civil War16 Hollow VictoryConclusionAcknowledgementsNotesIndex