Immigrant Workers and Urban Solidarity

In: Local government studies, Band 33, Heft 5, S. 520-524

Abstract

In this contribution to a review symposium on a book by Ruth Milkman, L.A. Story: Immigrant Workers and the Future of the U.S. Labor Movement (New York: Russell Sage, 2006), the reviewer contends that Milkman's remarkable story conveys inspiration & hope for the labor movement & for social justice in the US. Turner describes L.A. Story as a product of both expert observation & a grounded perspective based on a career of research on critical issues in American society. Milkman's broad narrative, spanning most of the 20th century & into the 21st, deftly illustrates the development of an influential labor movement in Los Angeles. She confirms that today's low-wage immigrant workers, even the undocumented, tend to be more enthusiastic about unionization than are native-born workers. She sees, in the 'best practice' story of labor movement revitalization in Los Angeles, the potential for an alliance of unions & immigrant workforces "to transform the political, economic, & social landscape of the urban regions that form the building blocks of a global economy. ". References. J. Stanton