Union Members’ SUGGESTED READING
Recently join the union but still feeling unsure about what it means to be in one? Want to learn more about labor history in the United States and in Chicago? Or maybe you’re just looking for recommendations for some good books? Here are a few titles to get you started. Grab a few of your coworkers and start a labor history book club!
There is Power in a Union: The Epic Story of Labor in America
Author: Philip Dray
There is Power in a Union is a nonfiction overview of labor history in the United States, but it reads like an engrossing, character-driven novel. Starting in the 1820s and spanning into the 21st century, historian Philip Dray outlines several different movements, and highlights key historical actions and figures that shaped the way we think about labor today.
There is Power in a Union on Goodreads
Place a hold on There is Power in a Union at CPL
A Collective Bargain: Unions, Organizing, and the Fight for Democracy
Author: Jane McAlevey
Jane McAlevey, a longtime union organizer, describes union history and practice with a boots-on-the-ground approach in her book A Collective Bargain: Unions, Organizing, and the Fight for Democracy. McAlevey asserts that strong unions can do far more than improve the lives of workers; they can also improve the lives of people in our communities and in society as a whole. This powerful read is well-researched and persuasive.
A Collective Bargain on Goodreads
Place a hold on A Collective Bargain at CPL
Death in the Haymarket: A Story of Chicago, the First Labor Movement and the Bombing that Divided Gilded Age America
Author: James Green
If you’re a member of a union in Chicago you’ve got to read up on the Haymarket Tragedy! On May 4, 1886, a bomb exploded at a Chicago labor rally, and an initially placid demonstration for labor rights turned violent. Death in the Haymarket is a riveting narrative, and a crucial history of the Haymarket Tragedy and the early labor movement in Chicago.
Death in the Haymarket on Goodreads
Place a hold on Death in the Haymarket at CPL
Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor
Author: Kim Kelly
Are you searching for the story of labor in America told from a different perspective than that of the white men who often dominate history books? Kim Kelly, Teen Vogue labor columnist, writes about women, people of color, LGBTQIA+ people, sex workers, and other underrepresented leaders of labor movements across the country. Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor was listed as the best book of the year in 2022 by The New Yorker and Esquire, amongst others.
Place a hold on Fight Like Hell at CPL
Work Won’t Love You Back: How Devotion to Our Jobs Keeps Us Exploited, Exhausted, and Alone
Author: Sarah Jaffe
By understanding the rhetoric and marketing used to talk about labor and work, we can understand how to improve our workplaces. While the title is a bit misleading-– this isn’t a self help book– Work Won’t Love You Back is a good reminder to us all that there’s nothing wrong with being unhappy about your current working conditions, and there are steps we can take together to make our lives as workers better for everyone.
Work Won’t Love You Back on Goodreads
Place a hold on Work Won’t Love You Back at CPL
Pedagogy of Freedom: Ethics, Democracy, and Civic Courage
Author: Paulo Freire
Paulo Freire’s best-known work, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, has been essential reading for those working in the education professions for decades. In Pedagogy of Freedom, Freire leads readers to connect ideas on teaching, learning, and information-sharing with an ethics of action through which all learners–teacher and student alike–can grow. Recommended for those who like a dash of critical theory in their workplace practice.
Pedagogy of Freedom on Goodreads
Place a hold on Pedagogy of Freedom at CPL
Curated with help from our fellow bookslingers and labor history aficionados at Pilsen Community Books.