3 Review(s)

Neither an autobiography nor a scholarly analysis, Labor's Struggles, 1945-1950: A Participant's View is a skilful blend of both genres. Informative and original in its insights and analyses, this book provides the reader with information available from no other source. These insights must be included in any subsequent efforts to interpret this period in labour history. Richter based this account largely on his own experience as legislative representative for the United Auto Workers - C.I.O. from 1943 to 1947, as well as on documents and conversations from that period, supplemented with historical research. This study of policy making in union headquarters and in Washington focuses on the 1945 splits within the C.I.O. as well as the sharp divisions between the 'social' C.I.O. and the 'opportunistic' A.F.L. In addition, it focuses on the Labour Management (Taft-Hartley) Act of 1947 which divided an already fragmented movement.