The Cio 1935-1955

by Zieger, Robert H.

• ISBN13: 9780807846308
• ISBN10: 0807846309
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-02-01
• Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Pr

Summary

The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) encompassed the largest sustained surge of worker organization in American history. Robert Zieger charts the rise of this industrial union movement, from the founding of the CIO by John L. Lewis in 1935 to its merger under Walter Reuther with the American Federation of Labor in 1955. Exploring themes of race and gender, Zieger combines the institutional history of the CIO with vivid depictions of working-class life in this critical period. Zieger details the ideological conflicts that racked the CIO even as its leaders strove to establish a labor presence at the heart of the U.S. economic system. Stressing the efforts of industrial unionists such as Sidney Hillman and Philip Murray to forge potent instruments of political action, he assesses the CIO's vital role in shaping the postwar political and international order. Zieger's analysis also contributes to current debates over labor law reform, the collective bargaining system, and the role of organized labor in a changing economy.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Abbreviations	ix
Introduction. The Fragile Juggernaut	1	(5)
Before the CIO	6	(16)
Founding the CIO, 1935 -- 1936	22	(20)
Over the Top, 1936 -- 1937	42	(24)
The Diverse Arenas of the CIO, 1936 -- 1938	66	(24)
Stasis and Schism, 1938 -- 1940	90	(21)
1941, Year of Decision	111	(30)
World War II	141	(71)
After the War	212	(41)
The CIO and Its Communists	253	(41)
The Korean War	294	(11)
The Postwar CIO	305	(28)
The Final Years of the Late, Great CIO	333	(24)
Merger and Beyond	357	(15)
Conclusion	372	(7)
Notes	379	(98)
Index	477