If We Can Win Here

Fran Quigley

Description

Do service-sector workers represent the future of the U.S. labor movement? Mid-twentieth-century union activism transformed manufacturing jobs from backbreaking, low-wage work into careers that allowed workers to buy homes and send their kids to college. Some union activists insist that there is no reason why service-sector workers cannot follow that same path. In If We Can Win Here, Fran Quigley tells the stories of janitors, fry cooks, and health care aides trying to fight their way to middle-class incomes in Indianapolis. He also chronicles the struggles of the union organizers with whom the workers have made common cause.The service-sector workers of Indianapolis mirror the city's demographics: they are white, African American, and Latino. In contrast, the union organizers are mostly white and younger than the workers they help rally. Quigley chronicles these allies' setbacks, victories, bonds, and conflicts while placing their journey in the broader context of the global economy and labor history. As one Indiana-based organizer says of the struggle being waged in a state that has earned a reputation as antiunion: "If we can win here, we can win anywhere." The outcome of the battle of Indianapolis may foretell the fate of workers across the United States.

Sujets

• Histoire
• USA
• Movimiento sindical
• Local history
• Industrial relations
• Trade union
• Tertiary sector of the economy
• History of the Americas
• États-Unis

Informations

• Publié par: Cornell University Press
• Date de parution: 25 août 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780801456145
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

If We Can Win Here

If We Can Win Here

The New Front Lines of the Labor Movement

Fran Quigley

ILR Press an imprint of Cornell University Press Ithaca and London

Copyright © 2015 by Cornell University

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.

First published 2015 by Cornell University Press First printing, Cornell Paperbacks, 2015 Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Quigley, Fran, 1962– author. If we can win here : the new front lines of the labor movement / Fran Quigley.  pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8014-5367-0 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-8014-5655-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Labor movement—Indiana—Indianapolis. 2. Labor unions—Organizing—Indiana— Indianapolis. 3. Service industries workers—Labor unions—Organizing—Indiana—Indianapolis. 4. Working poor—Indiana—Indianapolis. I. Title.  HD8085.I53Q46 2015  331.88'11640977252—dc23 2014042069

Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing of its books. Such materials include vegetable-based, low-VOC inks and acid-free papers that are recycled, totally chlorine-free, or partly composed of nonwood îbers. For further information, visit our website at www.cornellpress.cornell.edu.

Cloth printing Paperback printing

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Portions of the introduction and chapters 1, 3, 6, 8, 9, 10, and 17 were previously published as the fol- lowing, respectively: “We Deserve Better: Local Hotel Workers Talking Union,” Indianapolis NUVO, November 18, 2012; “The Battle of Indianapolis: Workers Win Gains despite Right to Work Laws,” Working In These Times, December 14, 2012; “Low Wages Mean Two Jobs in One Day,” Indianapo- lis NUVO, November 16, 2012, and “Local Janitors Pushing for Living Wages,” Indianapolis NUVO, July 31, 2013; “Workers Pushing for Unions May Pay the Price,” Indianapolis NUVO, November 16, 2012; “Butler Food Workers Fight for Improvements,” Indianapolis NUVO, June 21, 2013; “The Caregivers’ Dilemma,” Indianapolis NUVO, July 10, 2013; “Security Guards Seek Training, Health Care,” Indianapolis NUVO, December 19, 2012; and “Workers Brave Cold for Medicaid Expansion Rally,” Indianapolis NUVO, January 23, 2014. Cover photo of James Meyers by Mark A. Lee.

To Ellen

Acknowledgments

Contents

Introduction: “Why Can’t I Do That as a Housekeeper?”

 1. A Campus Union

 2. “We Can Win Here”

 3. Dreaming of One Good Job

 4. Alt-Labor Hits Indianapolis

 5. The Fight for 15

 6. Legal Problems

 7. UNITE HERE

 8. Struggling for Contracts

 9. Wonderful Field, Awful Pay

10. Trying to Secure a Union

ix

1 10 23 35 47 63 73 81 92 105 115

v i i i Contents

11. Prayers for Citizenship

12. Advocacy for Citizenship

13. Contracts on Campus

14. Turned Away at the Hotels

15. Back to the Hyatt

16. “Bring Lisa Back!”

17. “That Is What the Union Does for Me”

Notes Index

125 135 142 151 160 172 183

193 205

Acknowledgments

The working people of Indianapolis are the heart of this book. Both the workers named in the book and many others who are not named taught and inspired me. They were patient with my many questions and my pres- ence as a witness to their struggles. My deepest gratitude—and admira- tion—goes to them. I also thank the organizers, whose idealism and persistence provide an example I will strive to emulate. Like the workers, they took time from overstuffed schedules to explain puzzling situations and new concepts to me. When I get it right in this book, the workers and organizers are to be credited. When I got it wrong, that is on me—because they certainly did their best to keep me on track. Special thanks goes to Yasmina Bersbach, who spent many hours tran- scribing interviews and offered insightful comments throughout the pro- cess. Early readers of portions of this book helped guide its development. Those readers include Ellen Quigley, Florence Roisman, John White, Steve