A renegade union

Dedicated to organizing workers from diverse racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds, many of whom were considered "unorganizable" by other unions, the progressive New York City-based labour union District 65 counted among its 30,000 members retail clerks, office workers, warehouse workers, and wholesale workers. Lisa Phillips presents a distinctive study of District 65 and its efforts to secure economic equality for minority workers in sales and processing jobs in small, low-end shops and warehouses throughout the city. Phillips shows how organizers fought tirelessly to achieve better hours and higher wages for "unskilled," unrepresented workers and to re-value their work, the result of an economy inclining toward fewer manufacturing jobs and more low wage service and processing jobs.