The union makes us strong
Subtitle: radical unionism on the San Francisco waterfront
By: David Wellman.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 1995
Place of publication: Cambridge [England]; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 364
Subjects: International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union. Local 10 (San Francisco, Calif.); Stevedores -- Labor unions -- California -- San Francisco; Industrial relations -- California -- San Francisco; Social conflict -- California -- San Francisco
Description: Based on three years of ethnographic research, this book takes a close look at one of the CIO unions that did not move from craft to business unionism: the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union's (ILWU) major longshore local (Local 10, San Francisco). American unionism looks quite different than conventional scholarly wisdom suggests when actual union practices are observed.

One finds that in the ILWU, resistance to management's authority is collectively legitimated behavior, and explicitly acknowledged as good trade unionism. This case study suggests that American labor's trajectory is neither inevitable nor determined; that militant, democratic forms of unionism are possible in the United States; and that collective bargaining need not eliminate contests for control over the workplace.

Under certain conditions, the contract is a bargain that reflects and reproduces fundamental disagreement; it is a document that states how production and conflict will proceed.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 339-349) and indexes.