Immigrants Unions & The New Us Labor MktIn recent years, New Yorkers have been surprised to see workers they had taken for granted—Mexicans in greengroceries, West African supermarket deliverymen and South Asian limousine drivers—striking, picketing, and seeking support for better working conditions. Suddenly, businesses in New York and the nation had changed and were now dependent upon low-paid immigrants to fill the entry-level jobs that few native-born Americans would take. Immigrants, Unions, and the New U.S. Labor Market tells the story of these workers' struggle for living wages, humane working conditions, and the respect due to all people. It describes how they found the courage to organize labor actions at a time when most laborers have become quiescent and while most labor unions were ignoring them. Showing how unions can learn from the example of these laborers, and demonstrating the importance of solidarity beyond the workplace, Immanuel Ness offers a telling look into the lives of some of America's newest immigrants. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 13 | |
New Models for New Workers | 40 |
4 Mexican Immigrants Class Formation and Union Organizing in New Yorks Greengrocery Industry | 58 |
5 Francophone West African Supermarket Delivery Workers Autonomous Union Organizing Outside of a Union | 96 |
Industrial Restructuring and New Worker Organizing | 130 |
7 The PostSeptember 11 Economic Crisis and the Government Crackdown on Immigrant Workers | 162 |
Immigrants and Unions | 181 |
Notes | 197 |
| 205 | |
| 219 | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
AFL-CIO African immigrants AMAT back wages back-wage black-car drivers black-car industry Camara car service contract decline delivery workers deliverymen deportation Despite Duane Reade Eliot Spitzer employers employment ethnic exploitation federal fleet owners Food Emporium Freedom Ride garment global greengrocery greengrocery industry greengrocery workers hired immi immigrant organizing immigrant workers independent contractors informal economy interview Jofre jurisdiction labor contractors labor law labor market labor movement Latino leaders low wages low-wage immigrant Lower East Side Manhattan Mexican immigrants Mexican workers migration militancy minimum wage Muslim national unions native-born workers neighborhoods neoliberal orga organizing campaign organizing drive organizing efforts percent protections rank-and-file restaurants restructuring sector September 11 social networks South Asian subcontracting supermarket taxi drivers taxicab tion transnational workers UFCW undocumented immigrants undocumented workers UNITE Local 169 USA PATRIOT Act Weinstein worker organizing workforce workplace York City York City’s
Popular passages
Page 208 - African Immigrants in the United States: A Socio-Demographic Profile in Comparison to Native Blacks.