Reform or repression : organizing America's anti-union movement / Chad Pearson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pearson, Chad, author.

Series:

American business, politics, and society.

American Business, Politics, and Society

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Open and closed shop--United States--History--20th century--Case studies.

Open and closed shop.

Labor unions--United States--History--20th century--Case studies.

Labor unions.

Employers' associations--United States--History--20th century--Case studies.

Employers' associations.

Industrial relations--United States--History--20th century--Case studies.

Industrial relations.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (312 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Historians have characterized the open-shop movement of the early twentieth century as a cynical attempt by business to undercut the labor movement by twisting the American ideals of independence and self-sufficiency to their own ends. The precursors to today's right-to-work movement, advocates of the open shop in the Progressive Era argued that honest workers should have the right to choose whether or not to join a union free from all pressure. At the same time, business owners systematically prevented unionization in their workplaces. While most scholars portray union opponents as knee-jerk conservatives, Chad Pearson demonstrates that many open-shop proponents identified themselves as progressive reformers and benevolent guardians of America's economic and political institutions. By exploring the ways in which employers and their allies in journalism, law, politics, and religion drew attention to the reformist, rather than repressive, character of the open-shop movement, Pearson's book forces us to consider the origins, character, and limitations of this movement in new ways. Throughout his study, Pearson describes class tensions, noting that open-shop campaigns primarily benefited management and the nation's most economically privileged members at the expense of ordinary people. Pearson's analysis of archives, trade journals, newspapers, speeches, and other primary sources elucidates the mentalities of his subjects and their times, rediscovering forgotten leaders and offering fresh perspectives on well-known figures such as Theodore Roosevelt, Louis Brandeis, Booker T. Washington and George Creel. Reform or Repression sheds light on businessmen who viewed strong urban-based employers' and citizens' associations, weak unions, and managerial benevolence as the key to their own, as well as the nation's, progress and prosperity.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Introduction. Reformers and Fighters: Employers and the Labor Problem

Chapter 1. Fighting ‘‘Union Dictation’’: Birth of the Open-Shop Movement

Chapter 2. ‘‘For the Protection of the Common People’’: Citizens, Progressives, and ‘‘Free Workers’’

Chapter 3. A Tale of Two Men: Class Traitors and Strikebreaking in Cleveland

Chapter 4. Avenging McKinley: Organized Employers in Buffalo

Chapter 5. Making the ‘‘City of Prosperity’’: The Poetry of Industrial Harmony in Worcester

Chapter 6. ‘‘A Solid South for the Open Shop’’: N. F. Thompson and the Labor Solution

Conclusion. Creating the ‘‘Common Good’’: Individual Rights, Industrial Progress, and Virtuous Citizenship

Notes

Index

Acknowledgments

Notes:

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780812292206

0812292200

OCLC:

933420169