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Overview
Pulitzer Prize winner John Strohmeyer’s account of the collapse of Bethlehem Steel. As editor of the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Globe-Times from 1956 to 1984, Strohmeyer followed the steel industry from the height of its power through its decline. He evaluates the self-indulgence of both the unions and industry management and movingly describes the human agony caused by the failure of steel. His account is reinforced by over one hundred interviews with steelworkers, union leaders, steel executives, and industry analysts. First issued in 1986, the book is more significant than ever. In this edition, Strohmeyer includes an update on steel today.
Pulitzer Prize winner Strohmeyer examines Bethlehem Steel's paradigmatic slide from number-two status in one of America's bellwether industries to near extinction.
Synopsis
Pulitzer Prize winner John Strohmeyer’s account of the collapse of Bethlehem Steel. As editor of the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Globe-Times from 1956 to 1984, Strohmeyer followed the steel industry from the height of its power through its decline. He evaluates the self-indulgence of both the unions and industry management and movingly describes the human agony caused by the failure of steel. His account is reinforced by over one hundred interviews with steelworkers, union leaders, steel executives, and industry analysts. First issued in 1986, the book is more significant than ever. In this edition, Strohmeyer includes an update on steel today.
Library Journal
Pulitzer Prize winner Strohmeyer was editor of the newspaper in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, for 28 years, a period of decline for American steel. In his analysis, when new technology and competitors came on the scene, a complacent steel industry and its unions ignored ominous signs. The industry failed to adopt new technology on time, allowed management ranks and perquisites to grow too fat. Unions won rigid work rules as well as high pay. He witnessed cost-cutting measures that came too late, and the suffering of managers, workers, and communities due to layoffs and plant shutdowns. The book is thoughtful, fair, and highly readable, though not definitive. His documentation of the self-indulgence common a decade ago at top levels of big industry is fascinating, but his case against union ``rigidity'' is less documented. Frieda Shoenberg Rozen, Labor Studies, Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, Pa.