The era was lost : the rise and fall of New York City's rank-and-file rebels / Glenn Dyer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dyer, Glenn (Historian), author.

Series:

Justice, power, and politics

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Strikes and lockouts--New York (State)--New York--History--20th century.

Strikes and lockouts.

Labor unions--New York (State)--New York--History--20th century.

Labor unions.

Physical Description:

x, 220 pages ; 24 cm.

Other Title:

Rise and fall of New York City's rank-and-file rebels

Place of Publication:

Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, [2024]

Summary:

"An exciting yet relatively unknown episode in American labor history took place in New York City between 1965 and 1975. Rank-and-file members of numerous unions caught a 'strike fever' as they challenged the entrenched power of some of the country's most powerful politicians, employers, and union leaders in a wave contract rejections, wildcat strikes, and electoral campaigns. Workers in unions across New York wanted more than better contracts: they contested control of the work process, racism on the job, and workers' place in America's socioeconomic hierarchy while implicitly and explicitly demanding greater democratic control of their representative organizations and lives. Some initial challenges were effective and succeeded in delivering better contracts and unseating undemocratic leaders. However, those early successes were short-lived. Glenn Dyer traces the way workers were met with employer recalcitrance and union attacks that proved too powerful to organize against. In the face of this resistance, workers retreated into a survivalist attitude of accommodation and resignation, contributing to the decline of social democratic New York and working-class power in the city. Ultimately, as Dyer argues, the failures of the rank-and-file organizing efforts in New York City, which was the biggest center of organized labor in the country, shows how stunted workers' aspirations and numerous defeats not only uprooted the foundations of New York's uniquely social democratic polity but also ushered in a national era of increased working-class subservience that has resonance today"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Rank-and-File Strikes in Transit and Plumbing

Militancy, Alienation, and the Wallace Effect

Strike Fever

Fading Fires

Taxi Drivers' Rage

Rank-and-File Resistance to Fiscal Austerity.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781469682051

1469682052

9781469682068

1469682060

OCLC:

1429887256