cover image Labor Rising: The Past and Future of Working People in America

Labor Rising: The Past and Future of Working People in America

Edited by Daniel Katz and Richard A. Greenwald. New Press (Perseus, dist.), $20.95 trade paper (336p) ISBN 978-1-59558-518-9

In an era when workers are in desperate straits, labor historians Katz (All Together Different) and Greenwald offer a passionate and thought-provoking collection of original essays that focuses on the prospects for empowering labor in the U.S. As the activists, professors, and social critics who contributed to this collection note, U.S. workers haven’t had a real raise since 1979; their unions are weak and fractured, and according to recent estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, almost 30% of all Americans work contingently as contractors, consultants, day laborers, or are self-employed. Some essays highlight the labor successes of the past to draw lessons for the future, such as how in the 1920s in a similar period of union decline, the Jewish-led International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union built one of the most influential unions of the mid-20th century by promoting multiculturalism through labor education. With such topics as how Wal-Mart transformed the labor market, the need to embrace green jobs, and the potential for reframing labor rights as a moral issue on college campuses, this cogent, varied, and accessible collection has much to offer union leaders, social advocates, and all those curious about the future of the labor movement. (July)