From Blackjacks to Briefcases: A History of Commercialized Strikebreaking and Unionbusting in the United States

Rating:
Summary: A good read
Review: A thorough study of a little known aspect of the labor story. Smith explains that the labor movement has never taken hold in the United States partly because employers, since the dawn of the age of industrial upheaval and continuing until today have turned to contractors who specialized in breaking strikes and smashing unions. Packed with great quotes, plenty of insight and lots of vilonce he plows virgin ground as he uncovers the wide spread use of hired guards, like the Pinkertons or Baldwin-Felts thugs, the tactics of armies of professional strikebreakers and the machinations of labor spies and labor relations consultants. A must read for labor historian, labor members and anyone interested in modern American history.

Rating:
Summary: Labor Studies Journal review
Review: From Blackjacks to Briefcases: A History of Commercialized Strikebreaking and Unionbusting in the United States. By Robert Michael Smith. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 2003. 179 pages. $44.95 hardback $16.95 paper. This book is as interesting as the title promises. It is an excellent little volume, succinct and well-researched. The main thesis of the book is compellingly laid out, bringing readers easily to share the author's contention that unionbusting today is much the same as it was in 1880. From Blackjacks to Briefcases deserves a place in the personal lending library of every labor educator and trade unionist in the country, and it should be passed from reader to reader. This book will fire up union supporters with frustration that labor's story is not told. Few people, even in the labor movement, know the tremendous investment and effort put into unionbusting over the past century. The book vividly demonstrates the need for labor history as an integral part of labor education and a stimulus to activism. For those who need convincing, this book presents compelling evidence of class warfare in America, even to this current day.