Why Unions Matter or Nuclear Weapons

Why Unions Matter

Author: Michael D Yates

"A comprehensive, readable introduction to the history, structure, functioning, and yes, the problems of U.S. unions. For labor and political activists just coming on the scene or veterans looking for that missing overview, this is the best place to start."

--Kim Moody, author of Workers in a Lean World

With historical sidebars ranging from the Industrial Workers of the World to Cesar Chavez and a generous sprinkling of photos and cartoons, Why Unions Matter is a clear and simple introduction to the labor movement's purpose and promise.

Library Journal

Yates, an economics professor and labor educator whose earlier books focused on workers legal rights (Power on the Job, South End, 1994), here seeks to cover a much broader canvas: how labor unions work, the victories they have won on the battlefields of sexism and racism, and an argument for unions as the sole means by which working people can obtain dignity, equity, and power. Written in a personal, anecdotal style, yet well documented, this book is particularly successful in the chapters that focus on the nuts and bolts of union activities (collective bargaining, structures, organizing), an area largely ignored by current business and political literature. For this reason alone it is a valuable addition to large public and academic libraries.Donna L. Schulman, Cornell Univ. Libs., Ithaca, NY

Booknews

Uses statistics and analysis to prove that unionized workers in every part of the economy get more pay and better benefits than employees who do comparable work but do not belong to a union. Argues that unions' power to inspire dignity and solidarity in workers is just as significant as their material gains, and calls for a more independent and politically progressive labor movement. Provides advice on what makes a collective bargaining campaign effective and what approach unions should take in electoral politics. Includes b&w photos. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

What People Are Saying

Kim Moody
A comprehensive, readable introduction to the history, structure, functioning, and yes, the problems of U.S. unions. For labor and political activists just coming on the scene or veterans looking for that missing overview, this is the best place to start.
—Kim Moody, author of Workers in a Lean World

Table of Contents:

	Introduction	1
1	Why Unions?	8
	Strength in Numbers	10
	The First U.S. Unions	13
	Do Unions Work?	15
	Unions and Dignity	18
2	How Unions Form	24
	A Little History	27
	How Unions Form	30
	Successful Union Organizing	34
3	Union Structures and Democracy	39
	Locals and Internationals	41
	Union Structure and the Law	45
	An Example of Union Democracy	47
	A Local Union Meeting	50
4	Collective Bargaining	53
	The IWW's Case against Collective Bargaining	55
	Strategies of the Contract Campaign	57
	Bargaining in Wartime	64
	At the Table	66
	The Agreement	71
	Politics and Collective Bargaining	79
5	Unions and Politics: Local, National, Global	81
	Why U.S. Labor Politics Are Different	84
	Labor Politics in the 1930s	86
	The AFL-CIO and Politics Today	88
	The Missouri Victory Against Right-to-Work	94
	Workers of the World Suppressed	95
	The American Institute for Free Labor Development	98
	The Time is Ripe	100
6	Unions, Racism, and Sexism	104
	Unions, Racism, and Justice	108
	The United Packinghouse Workers	112
	Black and Latino Unionism	113
	Unions and Women	116
	Women in Struggle	119
	Intersection of Race and Gender	122
	Gay and Lesbian Workers	125
	What Collective Bargaining Has Won	126
	Politics of Liberation	128
7	The Tasks Ahead	130
	The Difficulties Labor Faces	132
	Reasons for Labor's Decline: External Forces	135
	Reasons for Labor's Decline: Internal Forces	140
	The "New Voice"	143
	An International Labor Movement?	147
	Still to Come	148
	Appendix	153
	Notes	157
	Index	176

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Nuclear Weapons: A Very Short Introduction

Author: Joseph M Siracusa

Despite not having been used in anger since Hiroshima and Nagasaki, nuclear weapons are still the biggest threat that faces us in the 21st century. Indeed, for all the effort to reduce nuclear stockpiles to zero and to keep other nations (such as Iran) from developing nuclear capability, it seems that the Bomb is here to stay. In this gripping Very Short Introduction, Joseph M. Siracusa, an internationally respected authority on nuclear arms, provides a comprehensive, accessible, and at times chilling overview of the most deadly weapon ever invented. Siracusa explains the history of the arms race and the politics of the bomb, ranging from the technology of nuclear weapons, to the revolutionary implications of the H-bomb and the politics of nuclear deterrence. The issues are set against a backdrop of the changing international landscape, from the early days of development, through the Cold War, to the present-day controversy over George W. Bush's National Missile Defense, and the role of nuclear weapons in an Age of Terror. Providing an accessible and eye-opening backdrop to one of the most unsettling aspects of the modern world, this compact introduction is must reading.