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Synopsis
Much has changed for workers in the years since Staughton and Alice Lynd's classic Rank and File: Personal Histories by Working-Class Organizers was first published in 1973.The New Rank and File presents interviews with working-class organizers of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s who face the challenges of a new economy with the same determination and creativity shown by those profiled in the earlier book. Reflecting the increasing globalization of labor practices—and problems—The New Rank and File contains oral histories of workers in Guatemala, Palestine, Nicaragua, Mexico, and Canada, as well as the United States.
In their narratives, rank-and-file workers from many different industries and workplaces reveal the specific incidents and pervasive injustices that triggered their activism. They discuss the frustrations they faced in attempting to effect change through traditional means, and the ways in which they have learned to advocate through innovation. In an incisive introduction, the Lynds set forth their distinctive perspective on the labor movement, with a focus on "solidarity unionism": making decisions on the assumption that we all may be leaders at one time or another rather than relying on static hierarchies. Their insights, along with true stories told in the organizers' own words, contain much to inspire a new generation of workers and activists.
Jim Brophy
Andrea Carney
Chinese Staff and Workers' Association
Coalition of University Employees
Bill DiPietro
Kay Eisenhower
Rich Feldman
The Frente Autentico del Trabajo
Marshall Ganz
Mia Giunta
Martin Glaberman
Mayra Guillen
The Hebron Union of Workers and General Service Personnel
Hugo Hernandez
Margaret Keith
Elly Leary
Ed Mann
Charlie McCollester
Virginia Roman
Vicky Starr
Gary Stevenson
Mike Stout
Manuela Aju Tambriz
James Trevathan
TriState Conference on Steel
Mauricio Vallejos
Workers for Ford in Mexico
About the Authors:
Staughton and Alice Lynd practiced employment law for years as Legal Services attorneys. They now work with prisoners as well as rank-and-file workers. Staughton Lynd is the author of Living Inside Our Hope: A Steadfast Radical's Thoughts on Rebuilding the Movement, also from Cornell. The Lynds have jointly edited Nonviolence in America: A Documentary History and Homeland: Oral Histories of Palestine and Palestinians.
Library Journal
The editors are former legal services attorneys with many years of experience in the labor movement, and Staughton Lynd is the author of several books, including Living Inside Our Hope. Their connections to the movement yield 24 vibrant, intimate interviews with labor organizers from the factory floor who struggle against both the employer and the union bureaucracy. The interviews, often substantiated with other documents, provide insight into how each person entered the movement, key events of particular organizing efforts, and personal responses to the struggle. The representative voices are for the most part not well known and include Chinese, Central American, Mexican, and Palestinian perspectives. Although the editing is uneven, with some interviews providing less context to help make sense of the narrative, this current look at labor issues from the movement's rank and file is invaluable for academic collections in social movements, labor history, and industrial/organizational psychology. Paula R. Dempsey, DePaul Univ. Lib., Chicago Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.