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COMING in FEBRUARY 2006 from
SOLIDARITY FOR SALE
How Corruption Destroyed the Labor Movement and
Undermined America's Promise
Robert Fitch
Publication date: February 2006
ISBN I-891620-72-X; S28.50; 432 pages
The first comprehensive history of the American labor movement and an explosive call-to-arm:
against the corruption and scandal that have swayed it-from its admirable ideals and objective!
for the past hundred years
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ISBN I-891620-72-X; S28.50; 432 pages
"Passionate...The book traces a century's worth of labor history... [a] sweeping condemnation... fascinating." – Publishers Weekly |
| "[Solidarity for Sale] makes for a superb companion to Linda Chavez and Daniel Gray's Betrayal: How Union Bosses Shake Down Their Members and Corrupt American Politics and Herman Benson's Rebels. Reformers and Racketeers: How Insurgents Transformed the Labor Movement... In fact, this one's even better...[Fitch] has seen his share of union crooks through the years. He writes from the perspective of a distinctly New York City political type: the Leftie mugged by reality. Equally importantly, he puts the reader in the mind of modem film noir, a la Goodfellas, Casino, Hoffa and Donnie Brasco – all movies dealing, directly or indirectly, with union corruption. Solidarity for Sale, often through cross-cutting from one scene to the next, conveys the intimidation, the betrayal and the violence embedded in that world...But read the whole book, not just the conclusions. It's an indispensable guide to making the people who run labor unions accountable to rank-and-file membership and the general public." |
| –National Labor and Policy Center |
against the corruption and scandal that have swayed it-from its admirable ideals and objective!
for the past hundred years
The recent New York City transit strike and this fall's breakup of the AFL-CIO into warring factions mean that the time is ripe for change in the American labor movement. While the goals of unions –better working conditions and benefits for even the lowest workers, job security and protection for members – arc admirable, the actions of the unions and the officials that run them have been less than saintly since the start of the labor movement over a century ago. From "Big-Jim" Colosimo, the patron saint of Chicago's Mafia, to Brooklyn's Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, corruption and organized crime have plagued unions and controlled their actions since their inception—a dangerous and sordid situation that still exists today. But until now, no "muckraking" journalist has been willing to expose the reality of this corruption.
Impassioned, revelatory, prodigiously researched and reported, and thoroughly convincing, Solidarity for Sale shows how the American labor system's decent ends are continually undermined by its tawdry means—a diet of daily corruption longer than the menu at a Long Island diner. By telling the untold histories, uncovering the untold scandals, and showing how the labor movement could change its evil ways in days to come, journalist and union member Robert Fitch both builds a devastating indictment of America's unions and goes beyond it to show that union corruption, stagnation and decline do not have to be America's destiny.
Robert Fitch joined the Laborer's Union, Local 5, in Chicago Heights, Illinois, when he was fifteen years old. Fitch eventually traded his shovel for a briefcase, and has since taught at Cornell and New York University, organized for the unions, and written for the Village Voice, The Baffler, Newsday, the Washington Post, the Las Angeles Times and The Nation. Still a union member, he lives in New York City.
For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact Jaime Leifer, Senior Publicist,
at 212/397-6666 x532 or jaimeleifergperseusbooks corn
250 West 57th Street, Suite 1321 • New York, NY 10107
www.publicaffairdbooks.corn
Impassioned, revelatory, prodigiously researched and reported, and thoroughly convincing, Solidarity for Sale shows how the American labor system's decent ends are continually undermined by its tawdry means—a diet of daily corruption longer than the menu at a Long Island diner. By telling the untold histories, uncovering the untold scandals, and showing how the labor movement could change its evil ways in days to come, journalist and union member Robert Fitch both builds a devastating indictment of America's unions and goes beyond it to show that union corruption, stagnation and decline do not have to be America's destiny.
Robert Fitch joined the Laborer's Union, Local 5, in Chicago Heights, Illinois, when he was fifteen years old. Fitch eventually traded his shovel for a briefcase, and has since taught at Cornell and New York University, organized for the unions, and written for the Village Voice, The Baffler, Newsday, the Washington Post, the Las Angeles Times and The Nation. Still a union member, he lives in New York City.
at 212/397-6666 x532 or jaimeleifergperseusbooks corn
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