Behind the Union Curtain: The battle between union workers and company doctors [Paperback]

Richard E Sall (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 19, 2006

This book chronicles the tumultuous history of labor unions beginning with the train wrecks in the 1800s. Alongside the unions were the doctors who cared for injured workers. Conflicts arose. The battle between union workers and company doctors is deciphered and potential solutions analyzed.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Richard E. Sall, MD, is a general surgeon who went on to become Board Certified in both Medicine and Surgery after completing his surgical residency. He lives with wife in Central California and continues to be active in medical practice. Dr. Sall began writing in 2001 and published in 2004 his first work, Strategies in Workers’ Compensation, which focused on management problems and solutions of injured workers. Behind the Union Curtain is his second book dealing with injured workers and the compensation system. It goes into the relationship with labor unions and delves into the people who shaped their early days and who made them what they are today. From his vantage point as a physician, the reader becomes privy to information that might unsettle, if not shock. This book is a must for anyone who has ever wondered how the union system works…or doesn’t

Product Details

• Paperback: 158 pages
• Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (June 19, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1419634054
• ISBN-13: 978-1419634055
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,542,436 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Truth about Union Workers and the Doctors their Companies use, July 18, 2006

By 

Michelle Dunn "Award winning author, columnist" (The White Mountains of NH) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Behind the Union Curtain: The battle between union workers and company doctors (Paperback)

Richard Sall has done it again, a great book based on truth. This book starts out way back in the 1800's but focuses on the worker/doctor issues in the early 1900's. You will learn about how the injured workers of the Great Depression influences the labor laws that are in effect to this day. If you don't know how a Union works, this is the book for you.

Dr. Sall defines the conflict between the company appointed doctors and the union workers they deal with. He does something no one else has done and offers ideas on resolutions to this widely unknown issue. If you can't trust your doctor, who can you trust?

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As reviewed by New York Times best-selling author Ellen Tanner Marsh, July 1, 2006

By 

Richard Sall "Richard" (California) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Behind the Union Curtain: The battle between union workers and company doctors (Paperback)

Dr. Richard Sall, a general surgeon now specializing in occupational medicine, has plenty to say about labor unions, which represent nearly 16 million American workers.

After his well received Strategies in Workers' Compensation, Sall took on a far more politicized subject: the controversial and often tumultuous evolution of labor unions, whose development in many ways closely parallels the history of American labor.

In Behind the Union Curtain, we learn about floating laborers and yellow dog contracts, union corruption and the dangers of corporate monopolies. But Sall chronicles more than just the unions; he delves into the people who shaped their early days and who made them what they are today. From his vantage point as a physician, the reader becomes privy to information that might unsettle, if not shock.

For example, beginning in the 1800s, doctors chosen by companies to treat their employees often found themselves on a union's "common enemies" list of individuals caring for the workers while being accused of serving the economic and authoritarian needs of the employer. The result was a doctor client relationship of distrust and hostility that persists today.

The concept of history repeating itself is clearly mirrored in this book. What Sall has accomplished, however, is not only to define the conflict between union workers and company doctors, but to propose some very interesting resolutions. As insightful in its own right as Upton Sinclair's, The Jungle, this book is a must for anyone who has ever wondered how the union system works...or doesn't.

5.0 out of 5 stars Well done Dr. Sall, August 4, 2006

By 

Reader Views "Reviews, by readers, for readers" (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Behind the Union Curtain: The battle between union workers and company doctors (Paperback)

Reviewed by William E. Cooper for Reader Views (7/06)

As a career law enforcement officer who was involved with unions, both as a member and as the Chief of Police of a municipal department, I have considerable experience with unions and associated issues. I studied labor issues and asked the questions about why labor-management conflict exists and what remediation strategies were possible. I learned very quickly that solutions could be premised on simple management principles in most cases. Part of my own book, Leading Beyond Tradition, discusses leadership and labor issues.

Dr. Sall provides his readers with an outstanding history of organized labor, how it evolved, and how it exists today. He provides excellent background, complete with anecdotes and legal issues. While his emphasis speaks to the medical field, his discussions are applicable to virtually any field. I strongly urge managers, leaders, and all students to read and study the valuable information contained in this excellent book.

Well done Dr. Sall.

Received book free of charge.