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Organized Labor, from A to Z
The Lexicon of Labor
by Robert Emmett Murray
New Press, New York
207 pages, soft cover, $13.95
A former Newspaper Guild-CWA local president has literally written the book from "A" to "Z" on the labor movement.
He is Robert Emmett Murray, who served as president of the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild Local 82 (now TNG-CWA Local 37082), based in Seattle, Wash., from 1988 through 1994.
The book is "The Lexicon of Labor," and contains more than 500 entries ranging from "across-the-board increase" to "zipper clause" (which, incidentally, Murray describes as a standard clause in a union contract that precludes any discussion of employment conditions during the life of the agreement).
In addition to the basic lexicon, Murray also provides readers with a list of AFL-CIO affiliated unions, as well as some of the major independent unions, a copy of the "Free Rider’s Card," and a selected bibliography for those who want to read more about the labor movement. Thomas Geoghegan, who wrote "Whose Side Are You On?", contributes the foreword to Murray’s book.
In a blurb on the back cover, Janine Jackson, research director of Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting, calls the book a "critical resource, not just as a guide to the U.S. labor movement’s often-hidden past, but as a spotlight on labor’s living history."
Published in 1998 by the New Press of New York City, a not-for-profit publishing company that operates in the public interest rather than for private gain, the book is available for $13.95 from its distributor, W.W. Norton and Co., New York City, by calling 1-800-223-4830.
Murray, who has been a Newspaper Guild activist for many years, is currently editor of one of the Seattle Times’ suburban editions. He’s been with the Seattle newspaper since 1971. A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., his first union experience was back in the 1950s as an oiler and member of the International Union of Operating Engineers. Today, he lives with his wife, Nancy Rising, a labor and Democratic party activist, in Kirkland, Wash.
Reviewed by Dave Kent,
Associate Editor
by Robert Emmett Murray
New Press, New York
207 pages, soft cover, $13.95
A former Newspaper Guild-CWA local president has literally written the book from "A" to "Z" on the labor movement.
He is Robert Emmett Murray, who served as president of the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild Local 82 (now TNG-CWA Local 37082), based in Seattle, Wash., from 1988 through 1994.
The book is "The Lexicon of Labor," and contains more than 500 entries ranging from "across-the-board increase" to "zipper clause" (which, incidentally, Murray describes as a standard clause in a union contract that precludes any discussion of employment conditions during the life of the agreement).
In addition to the basic lexicon, Murray also provides readers with a list of AFL-CIO affiliated unions, as well as some of the major independent unions, a copy of the "Free Rider’s Card," and a selected bibliography for those who want to read more about the labor movement. Thomas Geoghegan, who wrote "Whose Side Are You On?", contributes the foreword to Murray’s book.
In a blurb on the back cover, Janine Jackson, research director of Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting, calls the book a "critical resource, not just as a guide to the U.S. labor movement’s often-hidden past, but as a spotlight on labor’s living history."
Published in 1998 by the New Press of New York City, a not-for-profit publishing company that operates in the public interest rather than for private gain, the book is available for $13.95 from its distributor, W.W. Norton and Co., New York City, by calling 1-800-223-4830.
Murray, who has been a Newspaper Guild activist for many years, is currently editor of one of the Seattle Times’ suburban editions. He’s been with the Seattle newspaper since 1971. A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., his first union experience was back in the 1950s as an oiler and member of the International Union of Operating Engineers. Today, he lives with his wife, Nancy Rising, a labor and Democratic party activist, in Kirkland, Wash.
Reviewed by Dave Kent,
Associate Editor