A CIA-connected labor union, an assassination attempt, a mysterious car crash, listening devices, and stolen documents--everything you'd expect from the latest thriller. Yet, this was the reality of Tony Mazzocchi, the Rachel Carson of the U.S. workplace; a dynamic labor leader whose legacy lives on in today's workplaces and ongoing alliances between labor activists and environmentalists, and those who believe in the promise of America.

In The Man Who Hated Work and Loved Labor: The Life and Times of Tony Mazzocchi, author and labor expert Les Leopold recounts the life of the late Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers Union leader. Mazzocchi's struggle to address the unconscionable toxic exposure of tens of thousands of workers led to the passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and included work alongside nuclear whistleblower Karen Silkwood. His noble, high-profile efforts forever changed working conditions in American industry—and made him enemy number one to a powerful few.

As early as the 1950s, when the term "environment" was nowhere on the political radar, Mazzocchi learned about nuclear fallout and began integrating environmental concerns into his critique of capitalism and his union work. An early believer in global warming, he believed that the struggle of capital against nature was the irreconcilable contradiction that would force systemic change.

Mazzocchi's story of non-stop activism parallels the rise and fall of industrial unionism. From his roots in a pro-FDR, immigrant family in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, through McCarthyism, the Sixties, and the surge of the environmental movement, Mazzocchi took on Corporate America, the labor establishment and a complacent Democratic Party.

This profound biography should be required reading for those who believe in taking risks and making the world a better place. While Mazzocchi's story is so full of peril and deception that it seems almost a work of fiction, Leopold proves that the most provocative and lasting stories in life are those of real people.

"Tony Mazzocchi formed my understanding of the fundamental relationship between work and our environment. He always reminded me, [Carl, companies don't eliminate jobs because of environmental standards. They fight environmental standards so they can degrade and eliminate jobs. It's a skilled, motivated work-force they want to get away from, not clean air and clean water. Workers are the environment's first line of defense.'"
--Carl Pope, Executive Director, Sierra Club

"The Man Who Hated Work and Loved Labor crackles with life--and it's hard to imagine a life better spent than Tony Mazzocchi's. He was a friend and an inspiration to me, as he will be to anyone who reads this riveting biography."
--Barbara Ehrenreich, author, Nickel and Dimed

"Les Leopold has vividly brought to life an extraordinary man—an incorruptible fighter for the rights of labor—an historic figure who should never be forgotten. Whether leading the charge for the Occupational and Health Safety Act, protecting workers from toxic exposures, traveling the country to argue for health insurance, testifying before Congress, or inspiring a generation of student activists, Mazzocchi's fiery passion for social and economic justice was revealed in every action he took. And in Leopold he has found an equally passionate and dedicated biographer. This is an important work in the annals of labor history."

—Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize Winning historian

"Tony Mazzocchi formed my understanding of the fundamental relationship between work and our environment. He always reminded me, [Carl, companies don't eliminate jobs because of environmental standards. They fight environmental standards so they can degrade and eliminate jobs. It's a skilled, motivated work-force they want to get away from, not clean air and clean water. Workers are the environment's first line of defense.'" —Carl Pope, Executive Director, Sierra Club

"When a company comes and exploits natural resources, there are laws that say they have to replenish those resources. Yet when a company comes into a town and exploits our greatest natural resource, our workers, there are few laws that protect the people. Tony Mazzocchi spent his life fighting to protect workers like those who lost their jobs in my hometown and all over the country. We still don't have those laws. But maybe this book can inspire us to move a few steps closer."

—Bruce Springsteen, Grammy Award-winning musician

"Tony Mazzocchi is one of the unsung, unnoticed heroes of the American working class, and Les Leopold's biography gives us the gift of his extraordinary life--from the battlefields of World War II to the present-day struggle for workers' rights. In that struggle, Tony Mazzocchi was brilliant, bold, imaginative, and fearless. He loved life, food, fun, and children, and I believe his story can inspire a new generation of activists to work for peace and economic justice."
--Howard Zinn, author, A People's History of the United States

In this paramount biography of the late Tony Mazzocchi, author and labor expert Leopold recounts the life of the former Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers Union leader and his struggle to address the disgraceful toxic exposure of tens of thousands of workers.

A CIA-connected labor union, an assassination attempt, a mysterious car crash, listening devices, and stolen documentseverything youd expect from the latest thriller. Yet, this was the reality of Tony Mazzocchi, the Rachel Carson of the U.S. workplace; a dynamic labor leader whose legacy lives on in todays workplaces and ongoing alliances between labor activists and environmentalists, and those who believe in the promise of America.

In The Man Who Hated Work and Loved Labor: The Life and Times of Tony Mazzocchi, author and labor expert Les Leopold recounts the life of the late Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers Union leader. Mazzocchi's struggle to address the unconscionable toxic exposure of tens of thousands of workers led to the passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and included work alongside nuclear whistleblower Karen Silkwood. His noble, high-profile efforts forever changed working conditions in American industryand made him enemy number one to a powerful few.

As early as the 1950s, when the term environment was nowhere on the political radar, Mazzocchi learned about nuclear fallout and began integrating environmental concerns into his critique of capitalism and his union work. An early believer in global warming, he believed that the struggle of capital against nature was the irreconcilable contradiction that would force systemic change.

Mazzocchis story of non-stop activism parallels the rise and fall of industrial unionism. From his roots in a pro-FDR, immigrant family in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, through McCarthyism, the Sixties, and the surge of the environmental movement, Mazzocchi took on Corporate America, the laborestablishment and a complacent Democratic Party.

This profound biography should be required reading for those who believe in taking risks and making the world a better place. While Mazzocchis story is so full of peril and deception that it seems almost a work of fiction, Leopold proves that the most provocative and lasting stories in life are those of real people.

After attending Oberlin College and Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs (MPA 1975), Les Leopold cofounded and currently directs two non-profit educational organizations: The Labor Institute (1976) and the Public Health Institute (1986). He designs research and educational programs on occupational safety and health, the environment and economics. He is now helping to form an alliance between the United Steel Workers Union and the Sierra Club.

Acknowledgments
Prologue
1. The Prince of Shallow Junior High
2. Basic Training
3. Running With the Reds
4. Infiltrator
5. Subversive Suburbs
6. From Bombs to Broadway
7. From CIO to CIA
8. Masters of War
9. Stars in Their Vision
10. The Mad Rush
11. Catalytic Converter
12. Crash
13. The Heart of the Deal
14. Round Two
15. Lost Battalions
16. Party Time
17. Stepping Stones
Notes