For Labor To Build Upon
Wars, Depression and Pandemic

Labor law scholar William B. Gould IV examines the history and enduring legacies of unions in the United States.

William B. Gould IV (Author)

9781009159371, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 2 June 2022

280 pages
23.5 x 15.7 x 1.6 cm, 0.437 kg

'… an insightful and well thought out analysis of the historical evolution of American labour law [that] offers detailed recommendations for its reform.' Braham Dabscheck, Australian Journal of Labour Law

One of the enduring legacies of the United States Civil War is that democracy in the workforce is an essential part of societal democracy. But the past century has seen a marked decline in the number of unionized employees, a trend that has increased with the rise of the internet and low-paying, gig-economy jobs that lack union protection. William B. Gould IV takes stock of this history and finds that unions, frequently providing inadequate energy and resources in organizing the unorganized, have a mixed record in dealing with many public-policy issues, particularly involving race. But Gould argues that unions, notwithstanding these failures, are still the best means to protect essential workers in health, groceries, food processing, agriculture, and the meatpacking industry, and that the law, when properly deployed, can be a remedy not only for trade union-employer relationships, but also for the ailments of democracy itself.

1. Introduction
2. An overview
3. Unions, employment conditions, and American exceptionalism
4. The historical backdrop
5. Modern labor framework
6. The gig economy and all that
7. American amateur players arise: You have nothing to lose but your amateurism
8. Union decline: Can labor law revisions be enacted and have an impact?
9. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Industrial relations & trade unions law [LNHR], Trade unions [KNXB2]