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This gripping insider's look at the contemporary American trade union movement shows that reports of organized labor's death are premature. In this eloquent and erudite narrative, Steven Henry Lopez demonstrates how, despite a hostile legal environment and the punitive anti-unionism of U.S. employers, a few unions have organized hundreds of thousands of low-wage service workers in the past few years. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has been at the forefront of this effort, in the process pioneering innovative strategies of grassroots mobilization and protest. In a powerful ethnography that captures the voices of those involved in SEIU nursing-home organizing in western Pennsylvania, Lopez illustrates how post-industrial, low-wage workers are providing the backbone for a reinvigorated labor movement across the country.
Reorganizing the Rust Belt argues that the key to the success of social movement unionism lies in its ability to confront a series of dilemmas rooted in the history of American labor relations. Lopez shows how the union's ability to devise creative solutions—rather than the adoption of specific tactics—makes the difference between success and failure.
Reorganizing the Rust Belt argues that the key to the success of social movement unionism lies in its ability to confront a series of dilemmas rooted in the history of American labor relations. Lopez shows how the union's ability to devise creative solutions—rather than the adoption of specific tactics—makes the difference between success and failure.
Price: $34.95
Pages: 314
Publisher: University of California Press
Imprint: University of California Press
Publication Date:
05 April 2004
Trim Size: 9.00 X 6.00 in
ISBN: 9780520235656
Format: Paperback
BISACs:
Steven Henry Lopez is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Ohio State University.
Preface: Postindustrial Pittsburgh: Low-Wage Work and the Challenge for American Labor
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction: From Business Unionism to Social Movement Unionism
PART I: CONFRONTING WORKING-CLASS ANTIUNIONISM
INTRODUCTION TO PART I: ROSEMONT PAVILION
2. "See You Next Year": The Failure of Traditional Organizing Tactics
3. "It’s a Union": Why Face-to-Face Organizing and Collective Action Tactics Succeed
Epilogue to Part I: Organizing and Organization
PART II: DEALING WITH ORGANIZATIONAL LEGACIES
INTRODUCTION TO PART II: THE NEW URBAN POLITICS OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
4. "Save Our Kanes": Bypassing Organizational Structures
5. "We Want a Contract": Confronting Business Union Organization
Epilogue to Part II: Social Movement Unionism and the Problem of Power
PART III: SOCIAL MOVEMENT UNIONISM: CHALLENGING THE POWER OF CAPITAL
INTRODUCTION TO PART III: MEGACORP AND THE SEIU IN PENNSYLVANIA
6. "We Will Not Be Silenced": Escalating Mobilization
7. "Whatever It Takes, as Long as It Takes": Exploiting Antiunionism
Epilogue to Part III: The Ambiguity of Victories
Conclusion: Social Movement Unionism and Social Movement Theory
Appendix
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction: From Business Unionism to Social Movement Unionism
PART I: CONFRONTING WORKING-CLASS ANTIUNIONISM
INTRODUCTION TO PART I: ROSEMONT PAVILION
2. "See You Next Year": The Failure of Traditional Organizing Tactics
3. "It’s a Union": Why Face-to-Face Organizing and Collective Action Tactics Succeed
Epilogue to Part I: Organizing and Organization
PART II: DEALING WITH ORGANIZATIONAL LEGACIES
INTRODUCTION TO PART II: THE NEW URBAN POLITICS OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
4. "Save Our Kanes": Bypassing Organizational Structures
5. "We Want a Contract": Confronting Business Union Organization
Epilogue to Part II: Social Movement Unionism and the Problem of Power
PART III: SOCIAL MOVEMENT UNIONISM: CHALLENGING THE POWER OF CAPITAL
INTRODUCTION TO PART III: MEGACORP AND THE SEIU IN PENNSYLVANIA
6. "We Will Not Be Silenced": Escalating Mobilization
7. "Whatever It Takes, as Long as It Takes": Exploiting Antiunionism
Epilogue to Part III: The Ambiguity of Victories
Conclusion: Social Movement Unionism and Social Movement Theory
Appendix
Notes
Bibliography
Index