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The Perfect Holiday Gift: Books
Wondering what to get the union members, activists and kids on your holiday gift list? You can't go wrong with a book.
We've listed some ideas below for grownups and children. If you can't find them in your local bookstore, check online book sites, including the AFL-CIO store at www.aflcio.org. Find the link under "Family Fun and Resources."
The Betrayal of Work
How Low-Wage Jobs Fail 30 Million Americans
By Beth Shulman - $25.95
Shulman, a former vice president of the United Food and Commercial Workers, spent several years traveling the country talking to some of the 30 million Americans in jobs that pay poverty-level wages with few, if any, benefits. Pulitzer Prize winner Hedrick Smith called it "must-reading for anyone who cares about the future of the American economy and American society."
One of the people featured in the book is an American Airlines call center worker in Texas who helped CWA in its ongoing efforts to organize the airline's passenger service and reservation agents.
Ellen Reynolds, identified as Ellen Nelson in the book, told Shulman how supervisors monitored her calls to make sure she didn't spend more than five minutes with callers, and how they recorded any time spent off the phone, even for using the restroom. Too much "slippage," as they call it, and workers can be penalized or fired. "It is a lot of pressure and stress," she said. "There is no downtime."
Take Back Your Time
Fighting Overwork & Time Poverity in America
Edited by John De Graaf - $14.95
The vast majority of Americans are putting in longer hours on the job than they did in the 1950s and 350 more hours per year than western Europeans - in fact, we put in more hours than the medieval peasants of Europe.
In this 270-page book, various authors and scholars examine the problems of overwork, over-scheduling and stress in America, and they propose solutions.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney praised the book, saying, "The 40-hour week, retirement security and paid leave have been the heart and soul of the union movement for 150 years. 'Take Back Your Time' is a call to action for all of us who believe that the aim of a society is to benefit its people, not maximize profits."
Triangle
The Fire that Changed America
By David Von Drehle - $25
On March 25, 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist factory in New York City became the deadliest workplace in America history when fire swept through the building, killing 146 workers. Most of them were young Jewish and Italian women trapped on upper floors, where management kept their exit doors locked. They either burned to death or jumped. The tragedy spurred union organizing and workplace safety laws.
Von Drehle, a journalist, has been hailed by critics for his meticulously researched and humanizing account of the fire and its aftermath. His "spellbinding and detailed reconstruction of the disaster is complemented by an equally gripping account of the factory owners' subsequent manslaughter trial (they got off scot-free), drawing on court records he helped unearth," the New York Times Book review said.
Shaking the Foundations
200 Years of Investigative Journalism In America
Edited by Bruce Shapiro - $15.95
Illustrating the power of a free press, this 518-page book features 38 stories, from the grandson of Benjamin Franklin unearthing political corruption in 1794 to Nellie Bly's 1887 expose of the horrendous treatment of mental patients, a 1929 series on conditions at Indian reservations and more recent pieces that freed innocent death-row prisoners and shined a light on corporate corruption.
Noting that most right-wing governments have smothered all attempts at exposure, sometimes violently, journalist Pete Hamill says in the preface that it "should remind us how crucial the press is to our own imperfect system."
Thieves in High Places
They've Stolen Our Country and It's Time to Take It Back
By Jim Hightower - $24.95
With his trademark wit and populist humor, Texas-based radio commentator and columnist Jim Hightower takes on the "kleptocrats," what he calls a "ruling class of moneyed elites that usurps liberty, justice, sovereignty and other democratic rights from the people."
"Don't go calling us names like 'consumer' or 'stakeholder' when who we are is full-fledged, dyed-in-the-wool, unbridled, rambunctious citizens -- indeed, we're the ultimate sovereigns of this great land. We don't merely strive for material gain, but also for the spiritual satisfaction of building community and reaping the deeper richness of the common good," he writes.
For Kids
Kids At Work
Lewis Hines and the Crusade Against Child Labor
By Russell Freedman - $9.95
Filled with the famous photographs of investigative child labor photographer Lewis Hines (1874-1940), this book tells the story of Hines' crusade. He documented the exploitation of children as cheap labor, often under brutal conditions and at grave risk, in the early 1900s. He photographed children in coal mines, sweatshops, canneries, textile factories and other locations. "There has been no more convincing proof of the absolute necessity of child labor laws … than these pictures showing the suffering the degradation, the immoral influence, the utter lack of anything that is wholesome in the lives of these poor little wage earners," read one newspaper account of Hines' photos.
We Were There, Too!
Young People in U.S. History
By Phillip Hoose - $28
It's not just grownups who shaped American history. This hefty 264-page book, with many black-and-white photographs, tells about young people who have made a difference from the time of Columbus to the present. From a 16-year-old girl who -- just like Paul Revere -- made a dangerous midnight ride during the American revolution to a 10-year-old coal miner in Pennsylvania to a teenager who worked along Cesar Chavez, the stories are rich with historical detail and fun to read.
Wake Up World
A Day in the Life of Children Around the World
By Beatrice Hollyer - $16.95
This 1999 book, with lots of color pictures, takes children into eight homes around the world - Australia, Brazil, England, Ghana, India, Russia, Vietnam and the United States. Children see how young people in other countries live, what they eat, where they sleep, what their schools are like and how they play. All profits go to Oxfam to fight global poverty and injustice.
We've listed some ideas below for grownups and children. If you can't find them in your local bookstore, check online book sites, including the AFL-CIO store at www.aflcio.org. Find the link under "Family Fun and Resources."
The Betrayal of Work
How Low-Wage Jobs Fail 30 Million Americans
By Beth Shulman - $25.95
Shulman, a former vice president of the United Food and Commercial Workers, spent several years traveling the country talking to some of the 30 million Americans in jobs that pay poverty-level wages with few, if any, benefits. Pulitzer Prize winner Hedrick Smith called it "must-reading for anyone who cares about the future of the American economy and American society."
One of the people featured in the book is an American Airlines call center worker in Texas who helped CWA in its ongoing efforts to organize the airline's passenger service and reservation agents.
Ellen Reynolds, identified as Ellen Nelson in the book, told Shulman how supervisors monitored her calls to make sure she didn't spend more than five minutes with callers, and how they recorded any time spent off the phone, even for using the restroom. Too much "slippage," as they call it, and workers can be penalized or fired. "It is a lot of pressure and stress," she said. "There is no downtime."
Take Back Your Time
Fighting Overwork & Time Poverity in America
Edited by John De Graaf - $14.95
The vast majority of Americans are putting in longer hours on the job than they did in the 1950s and 350 more hours per year than western Europeans - in fact, we put in more hours than the medieval peasants of Europe.
In this 270-page book, various authors and scholars examine the problems of overwork, over-scheduling and stress in America, and they propose solutions.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney praised the book, saying, "The 40-hour week, retirement security and paid leave have been the heart and soul of the union movement for 150 years. 'Take Back Your Time' is a call to action for all of us who believe that the aim of a society is to benefit its people, not maximize profits."
Triangle
The Fire that Changed America
By David Von Drehle - $25
On March 25, 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist factory in New York City became the deadliest workplace in America history when fire swept through the building, killing 146 workers. Most of them were young Jewish and Italian women trapped on upper floors, where management kept their exit doors locked. They either burned to death or jumped. The tragedy spurred union organizing and workplace safety laws.
Von Drehle, a journalist, has been hailed by critics for his meticulously researched and humanizing account of the fire and its aftermath. His "spellbinding and detailed reconstruction of the disaster is complemented by an equally gripping account of the factory owners' subsequent manslaughter trial (they got off scot-free), drawing on court records he helped unearth," the New York Times Book review said.
Shaking the Foundations
200 Years of Investigative Journalism In America
Edited by Bruce Shapiro - $15.95
Illustrating the power of a free press, this 518-page book features 38 stories, from the grandson of Benjamin Franklin unearthing political corruption in 1794 to Nellie Bly's 1887 expose of the horrendous treatment of mental patients, a 1929 series on conditions at Indian reservations and more recent pieces that freed innocent death-row prisoners and shined a light on corporate corruption.
Noting that most right-wing governments have smothered all attempts at exposure, sometimes violently, journalist Pete Hamill says in the preface that it "should remind us how crucial the press is to our own imperfect system."
Thieves in High Places
They've Stolen Our Country and It's Time to Take It Back
By Jim Hightower - $24.95
With his trademark wit and populist humor, Texas-based radio commentator and columnist Jim Hightower takes on the "kleptocrats," what he calls a "ruling class of moneyed elites that usurps liberty, justice, sovereignty and other democratic rights from the people."
"Don't go calling us names like 'consumer' or 'stakeholder' when who we are is full-fledged, dyed-in-the-wool, unbridled, rambunctious citizens -- indeed, we're the ultimate sovereigns of this great land. We don't merely strive for material gain, but also for the spiritual satisfaction of building community and reaping the deeper richness of the common good," he writes.
For Kids
Kids At Work
Lewis Hines and the Crusade Against Child Labor
By Russell Freedman - $9.95
Filled with the famous photographs of investigative child labor photographer Lewis Hines (1874-1940), this book tells the story of Hines' crusade. He documented the exploitation of children as cheap labor, often under brutal conditions and at grave risk, in the early 1900s. He photographed children in coal mines, sweatshops, canneries, textile factories and other locations. "There has been no more convincing proof of the absolute necessity of child labor laws … than these pictures showing the suffering the degradation, the immoral influence, the utter lack of anything that is wholesome in the lives of these poor little wage earners," read one newspaper account of Hines' photos.
We Were There, Too!
Young People in U.S. History
By Phillip Hoose - $28
It's not just grownups who shaped American history. This hefty 264-page book, with many black-and-white photographs, tells about young people who have made a difference from the time of Columbus to the present. From a 16-year-old girl who -- just like Paul Revere -- made a dangerous midnight ride during the American revolution to a 10-year-old coal miner in Pennsylvania to a teenager who worked along Cesar Chavez, the stories are rich with historical detail and fun to read.
Wake Up World
A Day in the Life of Children Around the World
By Beatrice Hollyer - $16.95
This 1999 book, with lots of color pictures, takes children into eight homes around the world - Australia, Brazil, England, Ghana, India, Russia, Vietnam and the United States. Children see how young people in other countries live, what they eat, where they sleep, what their schools are like and how they play. All profits go to Oxfam to fight global poverty and injustice.