Includes bibliographical references (pages 395-406) and index.
Contents:
The roots of decline : the AFL-CIO in the Meany years -- A new president, and a new decade -- Kirkland fights back : the 1981 Solidarity Day mass march -- From solidarity to defeat -- Defending what we have : survival and decline in Reagan's second term -- Partial deĢtente : George H.W. Bush and the AFL-CIO -- He's on our side? : Hope and betrayal in the Clinton years -- Saying no to the status-quo : the 1995 leadership challenge -- Big visions and big hopes : the early Sweeney years -- Our job has never been harder : the Sweeney presidency in the Bush era, 2001-2009 -- Holding on in the Trumka years.
Summary:
From the Reagan years to the present, the labor movement has faced a profoundly hostile climate. As America's largest labor federation, the AFL-CIO was forced to reckon with severe political and economic headwinds. Yet the AFL-CIO survived, consistently fighting for programs that benefited millions of Americans, including social security, unemployment insurance, the minimum wage, and universal health care. With a membership of more than 13 million, it was also able to launch the largest labor march in American history--1981's Solidarity Day--and to play an important role in politics. In a history that spans from 1979 to the present, Timothy J. Minchin tells a sweeping, national story of how the AFL-CIO sustained itself and remained a significant voice in spite of its powerful enemies and internal constraints. Full of details, characters, and never-before-told stories drawn from unexamined, restricted, and untapped archives, as well as interviews with crucial figures involved with the organization, this book tells the definitive history of the modern AFL-CIO. -- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.