Labor's Home Front
Title | Labor's Home Front PDF eBook |
Author | Andrew E. Kersten |
Publisher | NYU Press |
Total Pages | 289 |
Release | 2009-03 |
Genre | Business & Economics |
ISBN | 0814748244 |
One of the oldest, strongest, and largest labor organizations in the U.S., the American Federation of Labor (AFL) had 4 million members in over 20,000 union locals during World War II. The AFL played a key role in wartime production and was a major actor in the contentious relationship between the state, organized labor, and the working class in the 1940s. The war years are pivotal in the history of American labor, but books on the AFL’s experiences are scant, with far more on the radical Congress of Industrial Unions (CIO). Andrew E. Kersten closes this gap with Labor’s Home Front, challenging us to reconsider the AFL and its influence on twentieth-century history. Kersten details the union's contributions to wartime labor relations, its opposition to the open shop movement, divided support for fair employment and equity for women and African American workers, its constant battles with the CIO, and its significant efforts to reshape American society, economics, and politics after the war. Throughout, Kersten frames his narrative with an original, central theme: that despite its conservative nature, the AFL was dramatically transformed during World War II, becoming a more powerful progressive force that pushed for liberal change.
The American Federationist
Title | The American Federationist PDF eBook |
Author | |
Publisher | |
Total Pages | 300 |
Release | 1895 |
Genre | Labor unions |
ISBN |
Includes separately paged "Junior union section."
Pure and Simple Politics
Title | Pure and Simple Politics PDF eBook |
Author | Julie Greene |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Total Pages | 313 |
Release | 1998-06-28 |
Genre | Political Science |
ISBN | 1139427040 |
Scholarship on American labor politics has been dominated by the view that the American Federation of Labor, the dominant labor organization, rejected political action in favor of economic strategies. Based upon extensive research into labor and political party records, this study demonstrates that, despite the common belief, the AFL devoted great attention to political activity. The organization's main strategy, however, which Julie Greene terms 'pure and simple politics', dictated that trade unionists alone should shape American labor politics. Exploring the period from 1881 to 1917, Pure and Simple Politics focuses on the quandaries this approach generated for American trade unionists. Politics for AFL members became a highly contested terrain, as leaders attempted to implement a strategy which many rank-and-file workers rejected. Furthermore, its drive to achieve political efficacy increasingly exposed the AFL to forces beyond its control, as party politicians and other individuals began seeking to influence labor's political strategy and tactics.
Report of Proceedings of the ... Annual Convention of the American Federation of Labor
Title | Report of Proceedings of the ... Annual Convention of the American Federation of Labor PDF eBook |
Author | American Federation of Labor. Convention |
Publisher | |
Total Pages | 988 |
Release | 1913 |
Genre | Labor unions |
ISBN |
Report of Proceedings of the ... Annual Convention of the American Federation of Labor
Title | Report of Proceedings of the ... Annual Convention of the American Federation of Labor PDF eBook |
Author | American Federation of Labor. Convention |
Publisher | |
Total Pages | 266 |
Release | 1905 |
Genre | Labor movement |
ISBN |
American Federation of Labor
Title | American Federation of Labor PDF eBook |
Author | American Federation of Labor |
Publisher | |
Total Pages | 354 |
Release | 1924 |
Genre | |
ISBN |
American Federationist
Title | American Federationist PDF eBook |
Author | |
Publisher | |
Total Pages | 644 |
Release | 1914 |
Genre | Labor unions |
ISBN |
Includes separately paged "Junior union section."