Autowork
By: edited by Robert Asher and Ronald Edsforth with the assistance of Stephen Merlino.
Contributors: Asher, Robert.; Edsforth, Ronald, 1948-; Merlino, Stephen.
Series: SUNY series in American labor history
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Published: 1995
Place of publication: Albany
Language: eng
Number of pages: 307
Subjects: International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America -- History.; Automobile industry workers -- United States -- History.; Automobile industry and trade -- United States -- History.; Automobile industry workers -- Labor unions -- United States -- History.
Description: Autowork focuses on the character of automobile work in the modern factory and the relationships between autoworkers, their union, and management from 1913 to the present. Two-thirds of the essays are devoted to the post-World War II period, which historians have not examined as extensively as the early years of the automobile industry.

In these original essays, the experiences of assembly-line workers come alive as never before. Using transcripts of governmental hearings, minutes of negotiations, records of arbitration proceedings, and articles in union newspapers, the authors present autoworkers' and union officials' descriptions of working conditions and the effect these conditions had on workers' health and home life.

The essays analyze the dynamics of collective bargaining on important shop-floor issues such as safety, work pace, overtime, job assignments, and managerial discipline. Autowork demonstrates that many historians have underestimated the militancy and effectiveness of the United Automobile Workers of America.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 257-302) and index.