| Popis: |
Chapter 2 examines coal miners during the 1930s through the 1950s, when coal was a central industry both for the U.S. economy and for the growth of industrial unionism. It highlights the vanguard role they played in the labor movement in general and in society at large, especially in the South. It also examines their solidarity and their ability and willingness to help workers in virtually every other industry. They were one of the few groups in the old AFL that had a public commitment to racial equality and a good record on that score. The chapter exposes the myth—accepted by the vast majority of analysts—that coal miner union organizing was facilitated by governmental legislation, especially Section 7(a) of the National Industrial Recovery Act. |
