This book by Melvyn Dubofsky provides a comprehensive overview of the history of the American labor movement, from its beginnings in the 19th century to the present day. It examines the various labor organizations, their goals and strategies, and their successes and failures. It also looks at the
The nature and power of organized labor in the United States is the outcome of historical tensions among counter-acting forces involving workplace rights, wages, working hours, political expression, labor laws, and other working conditions. Organized unions and their umbrella labor federations such as the AFL–CIO and citywide federations have competed, evolved, merged, and split against a backdrop of changing values and priorities, and periodic federal government intervention.