Abstract
The difference between the original 2001 Union Member’s Complete Guide and the new second edition tells a lot about what has happened in the last twenty years. Labor relations are more adversarial. Many employers, courts, and political appointees, including those to the National Labor Relations Board, have swung hard to the anti-union right. Many unions have responded with stronger internal organizing and broader outreach to the working class. This means that what union members need to know about their union has also changed.
The 2019 edition of this classic book is about forty pages longer, with slightly bigger print and wider margins for jotting notes. The tone is still very precise and focused, with no wasted language. The additional length is made up mostly of new sections that have the overall effect of helping a member understand what is possible in this current hostile environment where threats are more serious, but the scope of a union’s concerns is greater and the choices more varied.
We see this reflected in an expanded section on unions as a social justice movement (pp. 10-11), new sections on Alt-Labor and alliances (pp. 20-21), and an expanded section on international connections that includes a sidebar on inequality (pp. 22-25). In the 2001 edition, the threats to public sector workers got only a warning sidebar; in 2019, the Janus decision has made that threat a reality and gets three entries. This leads to an expanded section on union security arrangements (p. 33) and a clear explanation of right-to-work, plus another sidebar telling the story of how one union turned the tables on Janus through internal organizing and came out stronger than before (p. 36). There are sections on alternatives to NLRB procedures (p. 108), social media including flash mobs (p. 63), holidays and leave (p. 73), the dangers of two-tier pay (pp. 72-73), and social media privacy (pp. 124-125). The section on immigration (pp. 121-123) has expanded from a quarter of a page to two pages.
These days, with seemingly more strikes in the news, the new section on bargaining explains the steps available for both union and employer before they resort to a strike or a lockout if the parties deadlock: mediation, factfinding, arbitration, and last best offer (p. 58). On page 47 of the new edition, there is a specific warning against believing anything found on Unionfacts.com. The section on organizing (pp. 133-144) has doubled from six to twelve pages with a section on money in politics (pp. 143-144).
This is still the same classic book that all newly hired workers should receive from their steward on their first day of work, and that workers considering organizing their workplaces should study in order to visualize what to expect. Instead of explaining unions from the top down, it starts from the bottom, answering the questions most new members would have more or less in the order in which they come up in real life. These questions include, for example, how stewards and union officials usually get their jobs (p. 14) and what can go wrong with employee involvement programs (p. 15).
The new edition does not have the old edition’s color illustrations but has kept the good cartoons by Kelley Bell. The index is shorter but seems to have the items you’d want to look up most often. There is a new appendix on Labor Themed Films (pp. 177-179). The price is definitely right, whether you are buying one copy for personal use or several hundred to distribute to members or a labor education class: $15 plus shipping, with deals for bulk orders. It is a “must buy” and should be in every worker’s locker, backpack, glove compartment, or desk.