The CIO, 1935-1955 / Edition 1

by Robert H. Zieger

Overview

The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) encompassed the largest sustained surge of worker organization in American history. Robert Zieger charts the rise of this industrial union movement, from the founding of the CIO by John L. Lewis in 1935 to its merger under Walter Reuther with the American Federation of Labor in 1955. Exploring themes of race and gender, Zieger combines the institutional history of the CIO with vivid depictions of working-class life in this critical period. Zieger details the ideological conflicts that racked the CIO even as its leaders strove to establish a labor presence at the heart of the U.S. economic system. Stressing the efforts of industrial unionists such as Sidney Hillman and Philip Murray to forge potent instruments of political action, he assesses the CIO's vital role in shaping the postwar political and international order. Zieger's analysis also contributes to current debates over labor law reform, the collective bargaining system, and the role of organized labor in a changing economy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807846308
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	02/26/1997
Edition description:	1
Pages:	504
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)
Lexile:	1510L (what's this?)

About the Author

Robert H. Zieger, professor of history at the University of Florida, is author of Rebuilding the Pulp and Paper Workers' Union and American Workers, American Unions

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

A finely crafted volume that draws upon a wide array of archival sources and oral histories as well as the burgeoning secondary literature on labor in the 1930s and 1940s.—West Virginia History



Zieger's fine book provides us with an essential foundation for understanding the modern labor movement, its institutions, and its rank and file.—Industrial and Labor Relations Review



A well-paced, definitive narrative.—Chicago Tribune



[A] comprehensive and illuminating new history.—In These Times



This thorough, well-documented narrative, based on an array of archival records and oral histories, will benefit and interest a variety of readers.—Choice



Will be standard reading for anyone interested in this crucial period of American labor history.—American Historical Review



An enormously useful history of the tumultuous career of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, one bound to be treated as the definitive account for years to come.—Business History Review



This is institutional history at its best.—Business History



Extensively researched, solidly argued, and well-written. . . . A major achievement by a distinguished scholar and a welcome addition to the literature.—Journal of American History



Can be relied upon as the most authoritative factual overview and the most detailed interpretive reading of the CIO's history we have.—Journal of Southern History

Editorial Reviews

[A] thorough, well-documented narrative, based on an array of archival records and oral histories.

"Choice"

[A]n essential foundation for understanding the modern labor movement, its institutions, and its rank and file.

"Industrial and Labor Relations Review"

ÝA¨ thorough, well-documented narrative, based on an array of archival records and oral histories.

"Choice"

ÝA¨n essential foundation for understanding the modern labor movement, its institutions, and its rank and file.

"Industrial and Labor Relations Review"

ÝB¨ound to be treated as the definitive account for years to come.

"Business History Review"

A well-paced, definitive narrative.

"Chicago Tribune"

"[A] thorough, well-documented narrative, based on an array of archival records and oral histories.

"Choice""

"[A]n essential foundation for understanding the modern labor movement, its institutions, and its rank and file.

"Industrial and Labor Relations Review""

"A well-paced, definitive narrative.

"Chicago Tribune""

[B]ound to be treated as the definitive account for years to come.

"Business History Review"

Will be standard reading for anyone interested in this crucial period of American labor history.

"American Historical Review"

From the Publisher

Ziegler (history, Univ. of Florida) has written a comprehensive history of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) from its founding in 1935 as a break-away from the American Federation of Labor (AFL) until the merging of the two federations in 1955. He analyzes the stormy relations between the rival labor groups, the CIO's complex dealing with governmental authorities, and its successes and failures in organizing workers and negotiating labor contracts. Vivid warts-and-all portraits are painted of the CIO's leaders, notably founding father John L. Lewis and Walter Reuther, who dominated the CIO in its later years. Characterizing the CIO as a "fragile juggernaut," Ziegler deals with its internal problems of structure and finances and the debilitating effects of its battles with Communist elements in its ranks. Highly recommended for labor collections of academic libraries.-Harry Frumerman, formerly with Hunter Coll., New York

Library Journal