商品簡介
Unionism in the United States was quite successful during and after World War II, especially during the "golden years" of American capitalism (1947-73) as workers' wages increased quite dramatically in a number of industries. For example, average hourly earnings for workers in meatpacking rose 114% between 1950 and 1965, those in steel 102%, in rubber tires by 96%, and in manufacturing 81%. At the same time as union members' wages were increasing, union membership was declining. Yet, the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) argued that organizing new members was not a priority. By concentrating on the existing membership and "bread-and-butter" issues, and not organizing new members, unionism could not deal with the attack on the "social contract" by employers and the government beginning in the United States in the late 1970s. However, while many people are claiming that organized labor is a dinosaur, Schiavone argues that a strong union movement is needed now more than ever.
作者簡介
Michael Schiavone is Lecturer and Visiting Fellow at Flinders University, Australia, where he runs a master's program jointly with a Chinese university. He has written articles and encyclopedia entries on unionism and globalization for Greenwood Press and other publishers.
