There is Power in a Union: The Epic Story of Labor in America [Hardcover]

Philip Dray (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 7, 2010

From an award-winning historian, a stirring (and timely) narrative history of American labor from the dawn of the industrial age to the present day.

From the textile mills of Lowell, Massachusetts, the first real factories in America, to the triumph of unions in the twentieth century and their waning influence today, the con­test between labor and capital for their share of American bounty has shaped our national experience. Philip Dray’s ambition is to show us the vital accomplishments of organized labor in that time and illuminate its central role in our social, political, economic, and cultural evolution. There Is Power in a Union is an epic, character-driven narrative that locates this struggle for security and dignity in all its various settings: on picket lines and in union halls, jails, assembly lines, corporate boardrooms, the courts, the halls of Congress, and the White House. The author demonstrates, viscerally and dramatically, the urgency of the fight for fairness and economic democracy—a struggle that remains especially urgent today, when ordinary Americans are so anxious and beset by eco­nomic woes.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This stirring study situates one of the most subversive yet profoundly American of social movements at the heart of the nation's history. Historian Dray (At the Hands of Persons Unknown) follows organized labor from the struggles of early 19th-century female textile workers to the present-day retreat of organized labor following the failed 1981 air trafic controllers' strike. His episodic narrative, structured around major strikes, shows labor's heroic age as an era of naked class warfare: strikers died by the dozens in pitched battles with police, soldiers, and Pinkerton agents, and such charismatic organizers as Eugene Debs, Big Bill Haywood, and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn braved prison and worse. The post-WWII period, by contrast, is a story of union conservatism, corruption scandals, and one rout after another at the hands of union-busting corporations abetted by government indifference. Organized labor's legacy, the author argues, is as much political as economic; it challenges bedrock American values of self-reliance while championing civil liberties--IWW speakers faced mass arrest for their public square orating--and bringing rights to the workplace. Packed with vivid characters and dramatic scenes, Dray's fine recap of a neglected but vital tradition has much to say about labor's current straits.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Dray traces the history of American trade unionism from the textile mills of Lowell, Massachusetts, in the 1820s to unionism’s decline in the 1980s and the current status of organized labor, which the author suggests “may have been reduced to a whisper of its former greatness.” He explores such issues as what workers in different eras felt were their rights, what kind of future they envisioned for themselves and their families, the tension that erupts between skilled and unskilled labor, the impact of immigration, and the changing role of government in labor issues. The reader learns about recent labor concerns, including decades of globalization, which allows U.S. businesses to relocate production overseas using lower-cost workers and creative personnel practices such as massive hiring of temporary and part-time employees, who do not receive pension and health benefits. He notes that security of full-time employees is also threatened in our 24/7 workplace dominated by computers and e-mail, which he dubs “the electronic collar.” A thought-provoking book. --Mary Whaley

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 784 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; First Edition edition (September 7, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385526296
• ISBN-13: 978-0385526296
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.9 x 9.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #437,791 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Very readable and well documented history of the US workers struggle. October 1, 2010

By R. Blackler

Format:Hardcover

I find this a very well written and well researched history of the US Labor movement.

Although I share the author's great sympathy for the cause, I find his treatment well balanced;
giving management their due, but also sparing neither side their blind spots.

The author emphasizes some struggles and neglects others but I find this a strength because his narrative and detail work well
without neglecting important issues such as racism and sexism within the unions.

43 of 46 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The rise and fall of the American labour union September 18, 2010

By Paul Gelman

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

In this new book by Dray, there are an endless number of episodes relating to the struggles between the big business and the American workers from the nineteenth century onwards. Murder, greed,corruption,sacrifice,farcical trials,personal courage and many interesting narratives are at the core of this story. Many mythical figures populate the pages here,among them Eugene Debs,Mother Jones,Walther Reuther,Jimmy Hoffa and others.
It is worth quoting a passage which can easily represent the general message of this important opus.The following words were uttered by another well-known figure,Big Bill Haywood during his trial after being charged with conspiracy:
"We are conspiring to prevent the making of profits on labor power in any industry. We are conspiring against the dividend makers. We are conspiring against rent and interest. We want to establish a new society,where people can live without profit,without dividends,without rent and without interest if it is possible;and it is possible,if people will live normally,live like human beings should live.I would say that if that is a conspiracy,we are conspiring"(p.366)
The workers were also concerned about their safety and in the period between 1880-1910 fifteen thousand American workers a year perished in on-site accidents,with thousands more injured or sickened, mostly in connection with mine and railroad work.Many anarchists joined the workers in their struggle and one of them ,Alexander Berkman, even added that "the removal of a tyrant is not merely justifiable;it is the highest duty of every true revolutionist".
At the urging of Congress, Attorney General A.Mitchell Palmer targeted suspected Bolshevik sympathizers and labour radicals across the country especially during WW1. What we take today for granted after getting hired in various jobs-social benefits, health care- was achieved only with many effors and struggles,as this superb book makes it clear.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Labor History - A Must Read November 3, 2010

By Benjamin Brockwell

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Philip Dray's powerful book lives up fully to its subtitle -
The Epic Story of Labor In America. Few books move with the power and ease of "There is Power In A Union."
Filled with unforgettable characters who claim monumental places in American history, Dray captures the personalities that carved the labor movement into the annals of American history. Bill Haywood, Mother Jones, Elizabeth Flynn, Albert Parsons, Joe Hill, Frank Little: some of them died, all of them made huge contributions to give American workers the benefits they have today. The unions may not be the powerful forces they once were in American history, but this book stirs up the ghosts and brings the historic battle between labor and capital back to life. I have read lots of history - few books stand up to the splendid work of this one. It is impossible to appreciate the anatomy of the labor fight in America without reading this book.