Melvyn Dubofsky
State University of New York at Binghamton
Foster Rhea Dulles
Harlan Davidson, Inc.
Wheeling, Illinois 60090-6000
C
Preface / ix
1. COLONIAL AMERICA / 1
Life and Labor in the Colonies I 6
Workers, Politics, and Revolution 115
2. THE FIRST UNIONS / 20
Early Unions I 23
Law vs. Labor 128
Growth ofLabor Organization I 30
3. THE WORKINGMEN'S PARTIES / 33
Leadership I 37
Political Action I 42
4. LABOR STRENGTH IN THE 1830s / 48
Union Growth I 49
A National Labor Movement1? I 53
An Urge to Strike I 54
An Employer Counterattack I 57
The National Trades Union I 60
The Decline of Unionism I 64
5. THE IMPACT OF INDUSTRIALISM / 66
Industrialism, Technological Change, and Reform I 69
Rebuilding a Union Movement I 79
vi
CONTENTS
6. TOWARD NATIONAL ORGANIZATION / 85
The National Labor Union I 90
The NLU and Social Reform I 95
Depression and Union Decline I 99
7. A N ERA OF UPHEAVAL / 102
Unrest and Conflict 1103
The Great Railroad Strikes 1106
The Haymarket Riot 1110
8. T H E RISE AND DECLINE OF THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR / 114
Origins of the Knights ofLabor / 116
The Rise of the Knights I 125
The Decline of the Knights 1131
9. T H E AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR / 135
Triumph ofBusiness Unionism 1136
Samuel Gompers and the New Unionism 1138
Emergence of the AFL 1141
AFL Principles and Policies / 145
10. HOMESTEAD AND PULLMAN / 149
The Great Pullman Strike and Boycott 1154
Labor, Populism, and Socialism / 161
Labor in Ebb Tide / 164
11. T H E PROGRESSIVE ERA / 166
Employers and Unions: A New Understanding 1168
The Anthracite Coal Strike, 1902 / 170
Employers Fight Back / 175
AFL and Political Action / 180
Organizing Immigrant Workers / 185
12. THUNDER ON THE L E F T / 189
The Wobblies 1190
The Spirit of the IWW1194
The Lawrence Strike / 195
Repressing the IWW, 1913-19191199
The Meaning ofthe IWW 1202
CONTENTS
13. THE FIRST WORLD WAR — AND AFTER / 204
Postwar Labor Upheaval 1209
Year of Strikes, 19191219
Labor Militancy / 218
14. LABOR IN RETREAT / 221
The American Plan and the Open Shop I 225
Welfare Capitalism 1229
Labor and Insurgent Politics I 233
The AFL after Gompers 1235
The Demoralization of Organized Labor I 237 15. THE N E W DEAL / 242
Section 7(a) I 243
A New Unionism and Its Limits I IAS
The Wagner Act 1264
The New Deal Political Order I 264
16. THE RISE OF THE CONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL
ORGANIZATIONS / 264
John L. Lewis and the CIO I 268
The Impact of the CIO / 281
17. LABOR AND POLITICS / 286
War, Lewis, and the Election ofl 940 / 292
18. THE SECOND WORLD W A R / 303
The National War Labor Board / 313
The 1945-1946 Strike Wave I 317
A New Industrial Relations System I 323
19. FROM TAFT-HARTLEY TO THE MERGER OF THE
AFL AND THE CIO / 325
Labor, Taft-Hartley, and Politics I 329
A United Labor Movement I 337
AFL-CIO:A "Sleepy Monopoly" I 342
20. DISAPPOINTED HOPES / 344
Labor's Decline I 345
Corruption, Politics, and Labors Travail I 348
Race, War, and Agricultural Workers I 361
A Satisfied Labor Movement I 364
VII
vin
21.
CHAPTER 1
HARD TIMES: WORKERS AND UNIONS,
1973-2000 / 365
An End to Economic Growth? I 366
Restructuring the Labor Force I370
The Rise ofPublic Employee Unionism I 374
Labor and Politics I 377
The Crisis of Unionism I 385
Lane Kirk/and and Dashed Hopes / 389
Union Troubles in Mass-Production Industries I 392
Deregulation and Union Decline in Transportation / 395
A Mixed'Bag I'397
A New Labor-Left Alliance I 401
A Dim Futurefor Labor? I 403
22. HOPE AND DESPAIR: WORKERS AND UNIONS SINCE 2000 / 405
Labor and Politics I 405
A New Unionism I 410
Hard and Dangerous Work I 412
A New War Economy I 414
Toward an Unequal Society I 415
The Wal-Mart Effect I 418
Labors Travails Cause Dissension I 420
Triumph and Tribulation I 425
Whither Labor? / 433
FURTHER READING / 435
INDEX / 463
PHOTOS FOLLOWING PAGES
/ 32,188,324,364