A stimulating study of how antiunionism has shaped the hearts and minds of American workers

From the nineteenth-century textile mills of Lowell, Massachusetts, to the triumph of unions in the twentieth century and their waning influence today, the contest between labor and capital for the American bounty has shaped our national experience. In this stirring new history, Philip Dray shows us the vital accomplishments of organized labor and illuminates its central role in our social, political, economic, and cultural evolution. His epic, character-driven narrative not only restores to our collective memory the indelible story of American labor, it also demonstrates the importance of the fight for fairness and economic democracy, and why that effort remains so urgent today.

In a fresh and timely reinterpretation, Nelson Lichtenstein examines how trade unionism has waxed and waned in the nation's political and moral imagination, among both devoted partisans and intransigent foes. From the steel foundry to the burger-grill, from Woodrow Wilson to John Sweeney, from Homestead to Pittston, Lichtenstein weaves together a compelling matrix of ideas, stories, strikes, laws, and people in a streamlined narrative of work and labor in the twentieth century. The "labor question" became a burning issue during the Progressive Era because its solution seemed essential to the survival of American democracy itself. Beginning there, Lichtenstein takes us all the way to the organizing fever of contemporary Los Angeles, where the labor movement stands at the center of the effort to transform millions of new immigrants into alert citizen unionists. He offers an expansive survey of labor's upsurge during the 1930s, when the New Deal put a white, male version of industrial democracy at the heart of U.S. political culture. He debunks the myth of a postwar "management-labor accord" by showing that there was (at most) a limited, unstable truce. Lichtenstein argues that the ideas that had once sustained solidarity and citizenship in the world of work underwent a radical transformation when the rights-centered social movements of the 1960s and 1970s captured the nation's moral imagination. The labor movement was therefore tragically unprepared for the years of Reagan and Clinton: although technological change and a new era of global economics battered the unions, their real failure was one of ideas and political will. Throughout, Lichtenstein argues that labor's most important function, in theory if not always in practice, has been the vitalization of a democratic ethos, at work and in the larger society. To the extent that the unions fuse their purpose with that impulse, they can once again become central to the fate of the republic. State of the Union is an incisive history that tells the story of one of America's defining aspirations.

Today, organized labor is fighting for its very existence. They're using every weapon at their disposal - including every channel of communication, running corporate campaigns, and influencing politics and legislation with large donations. Their foot soldiers are waging an all-out war against corporate America, and the spoils of victory are your employees. In Union Proof: Creating Your Successful Union Free Strategy, Peter Bergeron, a 33-year veteran of labor relations and human resources, shares his experiences, offers advice and gives you the "best practices" that truly make a difference in remaining union-free. Far from a legal text, Peter provides the practical tools and advice that can help you make union representation irrelevant within your organization. Peter J. Bergeron spent most of his 33+ years of service with General Dynamics, managing all areas of Human Resources with particular emphasis on Labor/Employee Relations and Union Avoidance. Most notably, Peter's primary successful union avoidance experience thwarted many large union organizing efforts at one of General Dynamics' largest non-union production facilities. Peter was utilized by numerous General Dynamics business units throughout the country to lead counterorganizing efforts in campaigns ranging from as few as 13 to as many as 6,500 employees. Peter earned BA in Psychology from Villanova University and a MS in Systems Management from the University of Southern California.

A stimulating study of how antiunionism has shaped the hearts and minds of American workers

Discovering the Real America examines the often overlooked history of white privilege, racism and discrimination in the United States. The text explains how the media have played a big part in maintaining the status quo. The book offers solutions to overcoming the obstacles of bigotry so that people can finally discover that the richness in the real America is in the long-overlooked diversity of this nation's multiethnic, multiracial, multicultural, multinational, multitalented people.

The decline in private sector unions in America is well documented, but some unions have bucked this trend, most notably the 2.1 million member Service Employees International Union. Its former president liked to say: "We use the power of persuasion first. If it doesn't work, we try the persuasion of power." The targets of SEIU's corporate campaigns find themselves on the defensive and, tied to traditional public responses, are often flummoxed by the intensity and thoroughness of the SEIU's efforts. There is, however, a new arrow in the quiver that can be used by firms that are being attacked in a corporate campaign. Social media offers an effective remedy, if used early, thoughtfully, and decisively. This book tells the story of one such counter-campaign, a story of how a blog held off the most powerful union in America. With a foreword by Professor David P. Boyd, D'Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University "What a fascinating story! This is a powerful lesson in winning a battle of perception with the modern tools of transparency and internet speed." Roni Zeiger MD, CEO Smart Patients "Corporate campaigns by unions seek to bypass secret ballot elections that are provided for workers under current law. It was the genius of Paul Levy to capitalize on that anti-democratic deficiency in the union's approach by shining the full light of exposure on this tactic. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis said that "Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants" and Paul's use of social media and his blog was just the disinfectant needed to show a curious public that SEIU's campaign against Beth Israel Deaconess was no public service, but a frequently outrageous effort at self-promotion and union organizing without having to do the actual hard work of persuading employees to vote that a union was truly in the workers' interest." Kenneth C. Robbins, JD, President, Illinois Hospital Association (1983-2009) "Paul Levy, an innovative, caring, thoughtful, and strategic hospital CEO, writes convincingly how he used a blog, a low cost vehicle, to help counter a well-financed union corporate campaign that sought a neutrality agreement and card check. This fascinating story deserves to be read, it offers lots of insights and useful lessons." Fred K. Foulkes, Professor of Organizational Behavior, Boston University "Just as we have seen Arab Spring erupt from chaos because of the use of new forms of social media, and Ai Weiwei thwart the Chinese government with his use of the internet to spread his freedom message, Paul Levy's effective use of the blogosphere to frame and advance his side of a union-management conflict illustrates how leaders can use social media effectively in a modern era of health care and business. "Levy artfully tells the story of getting his hospital's message out without having a war chest to spend on public relations. His persistent and effective use of social media evened the playing field and allowed him to keep diverse audiences informed and engaged." Harris A. Berman, M.D., Boston