Duquesne and the Rise of Steel Unionism (Working Class in American History) [Hardcover]

James D. Rose (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 31, 2001 | Series: Working Class in American History

Not all workers' needs were served by the union. Focusing on the steel works at Duquesne, Pennsylvania, a linchpin of the old Carnegie Steel Company empire and then of U.S. Steel, James D. Rose demonstrates the pivotal role played by a nonunion form of employee representation usually dismissed as a flimsy front for management interests. The early New Deal set in motion two versions of workplace representation that battled for supremacy: company-sponsored employee representation plans (ERPs) and independent trade unionism. At Duquesne, the cause of the unskilled, hourly workers, mostly eastern and southern Europeans as well as blacks, was taken up by the union - the Fort Dukane Lodge of the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers. For skilled tonnage workers and skilled tradesmen, mainly U.S.-born and of northern and western European extraction, ERPs offered a better solution. Initially little more than a crude antiunion device, ERPs matured from tools of the company into semi-independent, worker-led organizations. Isolated from the union movement through the mid-1930s, ERP representatives and management nonetheless created a sophisticated bargaining structure that represented the shop-floor interests of the mill's skilled workforce. Meanwhile, the Amalgamated gave way to the Steel Workers Organizing Committee, a professionalized and tightly organized affiliate of John L. Lewis's CIO, that expended huge resources trying to gain companywide unionization. Even when the SWOC secured a collective bargaining agreement with U.S. Steel in 1937, however, the Union was still unable to sign up a majority of the workforce at Duquesne. A sophisticated study of the forces that shaped and responded to workers' interests, "Duquesne and the Rise of Steel Unionism" confirms that what people did on the shop floor was as critical to the course of steel unionism as were corporate decision making and shifts in government policy.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Traces the influence of the employee committees and the rise of steel unionism at U.S. Steel's Duquesne works... Rose ... offers a detailed, comprehensive account of the relation between ERPs and the Steel Workers' Organizing Committee and explores the shop floor effects of the ERPs. Clearly written and thoroughly researched, this study makes a valuable contribution to an important period in industrial relations." -- Choice "An excellent book. Rose provides ample evidence for his arguments, and he challenges our conceptions of how industrial unionism took root in the United States. This book should be must reading for labor historians and industrial relations scholars." -- James R. Zetka, Jr., Journal of American History "Rose's study significantly expands our understanding of big steel and the rise of steel unionism in this country... Rose's access to U.S. Steel's records ... gives his account of the evolution of unionism in the steel industry a unique perspective... His grasp of the historiography and nuances of the steel industry and unionism is both broad and deep." -- Marilyn D. Rhinehart, American Historical Review "Original and thought-provoking in its perspective, and clearly written. " -- Kenneth Warren, Business History "Rose delivers a well-crafted and detailed story which raises questions about working-class militancy and class consciousness in the decade many historians see as a high point of working-class mobilization and unity. And, he suggests, the Steelworkers Union adopted a highly-centralized and top-down organizational model not because union bureaucrats betrayed rank-and-file aspirations ... but because workers were less united and less militant than supposed and because only a centralized and bureaucratic union could actually succeed... Well worth reading." -- Richard Oestreicher, Pennsylvania Magazine of History "An excellent reference for serious students wanting specifics on the steel industry." -- Tom Hull, Tech Directions ADVANCE PRAISE "This excellent work has far-reaching implications not only for historians but also for labor activists. Rose provides a very persuasive analysis of the dynamics of union organizing in the steel industry, as well as important lessons in 'how it was done.' No other scholar has developed with such clarity the argument that in-plant organizing produced not one movement but two." -- David Montgomery, author of The Fall of the House of Labor: The Workplace, the State, and American Labor Activism, 1865-1925 "The thoroughness of Rose's research and the breadth and depth of his knowledge are truly impressive. At a time when many labor historians have chosen to focus mainly on issues of ethnicity, gender, and race, Rose's unapologetic concentration on the shop floor and the "inner" history of unionism at the Duquesne Works offers a neglected--but instructive and richly textured--angle of vision." Bruce Nelson, author of Divided We Stand: American Workers and the Struggle for Black Equality

From the Inside Flap

"This excellent work has far-reaching implications not only for historians but also for labor activists. Rose provides a very persuasive analysis of the dynamics of union organizing in the steel industry, as well as important lessons in ‘how it was done.' No other scholar has developed with such clarity the argument that in-plant organizing produced not one movement but two." -- David Montgomery, author of The Fall of the House of Labor: The Workplace, the State, and American Labor Activism, 1865-1925

"The thoroughness of Rose's research and the breadth and depth of his knowledge are truly impressive. At a time when many labor historians have chosen to focus mainly on issues of ethnicity, gender, and race, Rose's unapologetic concentration on the shop floor and the "inner" history of unionism at the Duquesne Works offers a neglected--but instructive and richly textured--angle of vision."

Bruce Nelson, author of Divided We Stand: American Workers and the Struggle for Black Equality

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press (July 31, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252026608
• ISBN-13: 978-0252026607
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,594,716 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book, April 8, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Duquesne and the Rise of Steel Unionism (Working Class in American History) (Hardcover)

Rose has written an important book that should be read by all people interested in work and justice. By carefully examining shop floor activism at the mill and life in the Duquesne community, Rose reveals the challenges of forming a union in a key industry beset by a working class divided by skill, ethnicity, and race. Based on the most impressive archival research I have ever encountered, this books stands as a signal achievement in the profession. It is an important story well told! Buy this book!