Overview
&&LI&& Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:""Table Normal""; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:""Times New Roman""; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} This engaging study provides an account of the independent railroad brotherhoods from the period of their formation in the 1860s and '70s to the consolidation of their power on the eve of World War I. By commanding the attention of U.S. presidents and establishing the eight-hour workday, railroad brotherhoods employed responsible trade unionism to their advantage. Paul Michel Taillon focuses on the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, the Order of Railway Conductors, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, and the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen to investigate the impact of these unions on early twentieth-century politics and society. Notorious for their conservative bent and exclusiveness based on race and trade, the unions also demonstrated a capacity for change and a particular acumen for negotiating in political and public circles, all but guaranteeing brotherhood survival. In highlighting the successes and failures of these railroad unions, Taillon shows how they employed capitalist principles; how they were influenced by considerations of gender, race, and class; and how they prompted momentous debates about the proper relationships among government, private enterprise, labor, and management.
Full Product Details
Author: Paul Michel Taillon
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Imprint: University of Illinois Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 2.30cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 0.454kg
ISBN: 9780252076787
ISBN 10: 0252076788
Pages: 296
Publication Date: 27 October 2009
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: To order
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.
Reviews
A well-document, lucid account of railway labor organizations during a crucial period. . . . Highly recommended. -- Choice
<p> A well-document, lucid account of railway labor organizations during a crucial period. . . . Highly recommended. -- Choice
""Successfully presents a portrait of the contradictory legacy of the railroad unions--ahead of their time in realizing the need for state intervention to protect workers' rights, yet obstructionist in preserving white-skinned privilege for some of the most highly skilled workers of the industrializing era.""--Labor Studies Journal ""A breakthrough book that integrates gender and race into an understanding of the politics of class consciousness on the American railroads... Should be widely read, not only as first-rate history but also as an object lesson for social reformers.""--EH.NET ""A well-document, lucid account of railway labor organizations during a crucial period... Highly recommended.""--Choice ""Engaging, well written, and well researched. It is a must-read for anyone interested not only in the history of workers and unions in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century America but also society, culture, and politics in Gilded Age and Progressive Era America.""--The Journal of American History
Author Information
Paul Michel Taillon is a senior lecturer in the History Department at the University of Auckland, New Zealand.
