The Decline of Organized Labor in the United States

michael Goldfield Challenges Standard Explanations For Union Decline, Arguing That The Major Causes Are To Be Found In The Changing Relations Between Classes. Goldfield Combines Innovative Use Of National Labor Relations Board Certification Election Data, Which Serve As An Accurate Measure Of New Union Growth In The Private Sector, With A Sophisticated Analysis Of The Standard Explanations Of Union Decline. By Understanding The Decline Of U.s. Labor Unions, He Maintains, It Is Possible To Begin To Understand The Conditions Necessary For Their Future Rebirth And Resurgence. booknews a Reprint Of The 1987 Original In Which Goldfield (government, Cornell University) Challenges Standard Explanations For Union Decline, Proposing That The Major Causes Are To Be Found In The Changing Relations Between Classes. Annotation C. Book News, Inc., Portland, Or (booknews.com) Goldfield provides a statistical and historical examination of the erosion of unionization in the private sector. Based on National Labor Relations Board data, which serve as an accurate measure of union growth in the private sector, he argues that standard explanations for union decline--structural, industrial, occupational, demographic, and geographic changes--are insupportable or erroneous. He makes a compelling case that the decline is due to changing class relationships, determined corporate anti-unionism, lack of realism on the part of the unions, and a public view of unions as too powerful and untrustworthy. Goldfield maintains that by understanding the decline of U.S. labor unions it is possible to understand the conditions necessary for their rebirth and resurgence. ISBN 0-226-30102-8: $27.50