Overview

In recent years, New Yorkers have been surprised to see workers they had taken for granted--Mexicans in greengroceries, West African supermarket deliverymen and South Asian blackcar drivers--striking, picketing and asking their support for better working conditions. Before their eyes the economy of New York, and the nation, had changed as businesses became dependent on low-paid immigrants to fill the entry-level jobs that few native-born Americans would take. Parallel Unionism tells the story of these workers' struggle for equality and respect, how they came to find the courage to organize labor actions at a time when most laborers have become quiescent, and while most labor unions were ignoring them. Showing how unions can learn from the example of these laborers, and demonstrating the importance of solidarity beyond the workplace, the book offers a telling look into the lives of some of America's newest immigrants.

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9781592130405

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Reviews

[T]he book is full of excellent material on the changing labor market and the reality that old-fashioned class struggle is still the means to fight. International Socialist Review Ness' work offers valuable lessons for union leadership and activists on both immigrant organizing and community unionism. Because he combines concise cases with links to the broader economic and labor issues, his work also has strong relevance for a wide range of educational contexts. Labor Studies Through interviews and from his extensive knowledge of labor history, Ness draws some interesting conclusions as to why these workers organized and what such organization might mean to the labor movement. Ness' book gives us much to think about. Monthly Review an important and needed study of organizing unions by recent immigrants. This book should be in every library in New York City and be read by anyone running for mayor of the Big Apple. Multicultural Review Together, these three cases studies form a coherent and successful project. Ness integrates a clear theoretical perspective on the impact of global capitalism on workers with a detailed analysis of the efforts made by these workers to transform their conditions of work, and their lives. Mobilization The book is a sympathetic and informative treatment of a controversial subject. Recommended. Choice [A] fine new book...the book's case studies are terrific...this is what good books do...[t]hey provoke dialogue and debate. New Labor Forum Professor Ness' book is rich in descriptive detail, effective in the use of the three case studies, and superb in its narrative style and social analysis. This book is solid and will definitively be one of the best books written on labor politics and urban political economy this year. Hector Cordero-Guzman and James DeFilippis Ness provides us with three well researched and compelling case studies of immigrant worker organizing in New York City...the book is a must read for scholars and activists interested in social movements, immigrants and labor. Not only is the book well written and carefully researched, but it also provides hope about the future of the labor movement. Social Forces Ness contributes to the ethnography of work by providing a qualitative understanding of contemporary immigrant workers' lives...With this book, Ness provides not only a critical examination of the current U.S. labor movement, but also a detailed description of immigrant workers' own interpretations of and explanation for their organizing efforts. This book will be of interest to those both within and outside the labor movement who are committed to its revival. Anthropology of Work Review This is an important and well-researched book that usefully frames the challenges of immigrant workers organizing in restructuring urban labor markets in the United States while also showing the power of worker collective action. It will be of interest to scholars and students who are interested in learning more about labor organizing among segments of the workforce that are often regarded as 'unorganizable' and is suitable for use in undergraduate and graduate courses in urban studies, community development and labor studies. Urban Affairs Review

Author Information

Immanuel Ness is Professor of Political Science at Brooklyn College - City University of New York. He is the editor of the journal WorkingUSA. His books include Trade Unions and the Betrayal of the Unemployed: Labor Conflict in the 1990s and Organizing for Justice in Our Communities: Central Labor Councils and the Revival of American Unionism.

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