I believe that Zieger is correct in his view that labor unions are the most important institutions of the U.S. The fundamentally establishment character of Zieger’s book is unfortunate at a time when today’s labor movement is in such dire need of critical thinking. labor establishment are likely to find The CIO disappointing, for Zieger has written what is in effect the Whig history of the labor bureaucrats, one which demonstrates the inevitability and desirability of their long-term tenure. Those who look for a critical perspective on the U.S. This narrow institutional history is fundamentally an apology for the labor bureaucracy of the CIO, particularly Sidney Hillman, Philip Murray and above all Walter Reuther. With a masterful command of the archives of the CIO, its affiliated International unions, and government agencies, as well as the large secondary history in this field, Zieger has produced a very readable and comprehensive institutional history dealing with all the major events, personalities and issues.Īt the same time, for the field of labor history, Zieger’s CIO represents a conservative turn both in form and content. Zieger’s work will be for many years the standard work and definitive history of the Congress of Industrial Organizations. ZIEGER’S The CIO: 1935-1955 will take its place on the labor history shelves next to Philip Taft’s history of the American Federation of Labor, and near the works of John R.
Review: The CIO 1935-1955 | Solidarity Review: The CIO 1935-1955 - Dan La Botz The CIO: 1935-1955Ĭhapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1995,
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