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

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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?

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.

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.

In Behind the Union Curtain, Dr. Richard Sall chronicles the history of American labor organizations. He begins his depiction in the 1800s and chronicles throughout history introducing his readers to unions, yellow dog contracts, floating laborers, corporate monopolies, and company doctors. In particular, he successfully interlinks the connection between union organizations and company doctors by describing their dysfunctional "feeding" off each other. Over time, this discontent is recognized and the law enters as a salve.

His book teaches readers about how the union system emerged, functions and/or does not function, and reveals the reasons for a decline in union membership, but a need for unions. His thorough attention to historical content contributes to a well researched book. This is especially expressed in the latter half in actual case studies, yellow dog contracts, and law suits portraying the status of unions in present day.

As a physician, Dr. Sall gives the reader he/she otherwise may not have been privy to on a daily basis. His shared knowledge may surprise his audience but certainly is a must read for everyone eager to learn about history, politics, and how our labor union in America came to be in general. His elegant simplicity in style keeps the reader turning the page, without any fear of confusion or boredom.