Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
An "entertaining, tough-minded, and strenuously argued" (The Nation) account of ten moments when workers fought to change the balance of power in America A Kirkus Reviews best book of 2018, A History of America in Ten Strikes--published in the wake of the teachers' strike that swept the country in 2018--challenges all of our contemporary assumptions around labor, unions, and American workers. Labor historian Erik Loomis recounts ten critical workers' strikes in American labor history in "chapters that] are self-contained enough to be used on their own in union trainings or reading groups" (Labor Notes), and adds an appendix detailing the 150 most important strikes in American history. These labor uprisings do not just reflect the times in which they occurred, but speak directly to the present moment, where American workers are still fighting for basic rights like a livable minimum wage.
From the Lowell Mill Girls strike in the 1830s to Justice for Janitors in 1990, "what Loomis's book perhaps does best is remind us that the promise of the labor movement, despite its many failures and compromises, has always been to make everyday life more democratic" (The New Republic).
As a new generation of workers flexes their muscles with renewed strike campaigns on behalf of teachers, autoworkers, and nurses, we have much to learn from both the victories and defeats of the past, from the boots up.
Synopsis
Recommended by The Nation, the New Republic, Current Affairs, Bustle, In These Times An "entertaining, tough-minded, and strenuously argued" (The Nation) account of ten moments when workers fought to change the balance of power in America
"A brilliantly recounted American history through the prism of major labor struggles, with critically important lessons for those who seek a better future for working people and the world." --Noam Chomsky
Powerful and accessible, A History of America in Ten Strikes challenges all of our contemporary assumptions around labor, unions, and American workers. In this brilliant book, labor historian Erik Loomis recounts ten critical workers' strikes in American labor history that everyone needs to know about (and then provides an annotated list of the 150 most important moments in American labor history in the appendix). From the Lowell Mill Girls strike in the 1830s to Justice for Janitors in 1990, these labor uprisings do not just reflect the times in which they occurred, but speak directly to the present moment.
For example, we often think that Lincoln ended slavery by proclaiming the slaves emancipated, but Loomis shows that they freed themselves during the Civil War by simply withdrawing their labor. He shows how the hopes and aspirations of a generation were made into demands at a GM plant in Lordstown in 1972. And he takes us to the forests of the Pacific Northwest in the early nineteenth century where the radical organizers known as the Wobblies made their biggest inroads against the power of bosses. But there were also moments when the movement was crushed by corporations and the government; Loomis helps us understand the present perilous condition of American workers and draws lessons from both the victories and defeats of the past.
In crystalline narratives, labor historian Erik Loomis lifts the curtain on workers' struggles, giving us a fresh perspective on American history from the boots up.
Strikes include:
Lowell Mill Girls Strike (Massachusetts, 1830-40)
Slaves on Strike (The Confederacy, 1861-65)
The Eight-Hour Day Strikes (Chicago, 1886)
The Anthracite Strike (Pennsylvania, 1902)
The Bread and Roses Strike (Massachusetts, 1912)
The Flint Sit-Down Strike (Michigan, 1937)
The Oakland General Strike (California, 1946)
Lordstown (Ohio, 1972)
Air Traffic Controllers (1981)
Justice for Janitors (Los Angeles, 1990)
Synopsis
Platform: Loomis blogs at the hugely popular site Lawyers, Guns, and Money, with 550,000 unique visitors and over one million pageviews a month, where his ongoing series "This Day in Labor History" (the basis for this book) won the 2011 Cliopatria Award from the History News Network. He also has over 17,000 followers on Twitter, where he maintains an active presence and isn't afraid to wade into debates on class, race, labor movements, and electoral politics.
Media track record: Loomis's A History of America in Ten Strikes was featured in The New Republic, The Nation, Working Class Studies Journal, Labor Notes, Socialist Worker, and The Indypendent; Loomis has written for the New York Times, The Washington Post, Dissent, and The New Republic.
Material: Wonderfully accessible introductory format; there are no other obvious introductory texts in labor history.
Strong hardcover sales: A History of America in Ten Strikes has sold over 6,000 copies in hardcover and ebook and still enjoys consistent sales over a year since publication
New Press labor track record: Labor history is a solid subject for The New Press--From the Folks Who Brought You the Weekend has sold 18,000 copies combined; Lexicon of Labor has sold 14,000 copies combined.