Labor in the Forgotten 1970s

Abstract

Rebel Rank and Tile: Labor Militancy and Revolt from Below During the Long 1970s, edited by Aaron Brenner, Robert Brenner, and Cal Winslow. New York, NY: Verso, 2010. 408pp. $29.95 paper. ISBN: 9781844671748. The dominant U.S. labor federation over the last century, the American Federation of Labor, has experienced multiple internal and external challengers to its favored for mat of business unionism. These include the American Labor Union (ALU, 1902 1904), the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW, 1905-1924, date of effective opera tion), the Trade Union Educational League (TUEL, 1920-1929), the Trade Union Unity League (TUUL, 1929-1934), the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO, 1937-1955), and, most recently, Change to Win (2005 present). These challengers provide fodder for interesting examinations that probe the possibilities for a different (namely, more progressive) type of labor movement in the United States. Yet in the end, it has been the AFL (which merged with the CIO in 1955 to form the American Federation of Labor Congress of Industrial Organiza tions (AFL-CIO)) that persisted. Many stud ies of the two largest challengers—the IWW and CIO—have sought to uncover the fac tors involved in their success. Fewer studies chronicle the ALU, TUEL and TUUL. Fewer still call attention to the rebellions of the 1970s.