During the 1910s and 1920s, the Philadelphia waterfront was home to the most durable interracial, multiethnic union seen in the United States prior to the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) era. For much of its time, Local 8's majority was African American and included immigrants from Eastern Europe as well as many Irish Americans. In this important study, Peter Cole examines how Local 8, affiliated with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), accomplished what no other did at the time. He also shows how race was central not only to the rise but also to the decline of Local 8, as increasing racial tensions were manipulated by employers and federal agents bent on the union's destruction.
- ISBN10 0252031865
- ISBN13 9780252031861
- Publish Date 27 July 2007 (first published 1 January 2007)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint University of Illinois Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 256
- Language English