Labor under Siege

"A meticulous contribution to the oral history of an important sector of the US working class centered around the accounts of Big Bob and influential activists within the ILWU during a crucial period for organized labor."

"In Labor Under Siege, historians Harvey Schwartz and his colleague, the late Ron Magden, have crafted an extraordinary volume of labor history and biography through skilled and meticulous use of oral history interviews...While [the book] is clearly about "Big Bob" McEllrath and why he matters in the constellation of the Union, it also serves as a useful guide to the contours of the history of the ILWU since the 1990's and how its legacy has endured."

"The strength of Labor under Siege lies in what the author calls an oral history-based 'view of how decisions were taken and policy carried out to ensure the ILWU's sustainability during a challenging time for all of labor.'"

"Clear and informative . . . The individual voices of participants are resonant and compelling."

"Labor under Siege offers an intimate, engaging portrait of Big Bob McEllrath."

"Labor under Siege provides a vivid, inside portrait of a union and its leaders facing major challenges. The oral history format allows the reader to understand the participants through their own words."

"By delving deeply into one prominent labor organization, the book reflects the conflicts and constraints that have threatened the existence of American unions in recent years. . . Dr. Schwartz’s Labor under Siege will stand as an important contribution to the recent history of workers. It provides a context for working-class and social justice studies as it informs and inspires today’s workers, activists, union leaders, and all citizens who value justice, fairness, and democracy."

"An important and innovative work that deserves a wide readership among anyone interested in insiders' accounts of the US labor movement's challenges and successes over the last half century."

"In Labor under Siege, Harvey Schwartz skillfully uses multiple voices to highlight the biography of Robert McEllrath, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union’s (ILWU) longtime leader (he retired in 2018), and the history of the union itself over a forty-year period. . . There is little literature, oral history or otherwise, about contemporary labor leaders or about how a mature union manages its affairs. The story of “Big Bob” McEllrath and the ILWU should be welcome reading for oral historians, as well as union leadership and labor historians."

"Labor under Siege presents Big Bob’s trajectory, and that of his union more broadly, as a lens through which to examine how neoliberalism has harmed the labor movement—and how one of this country’s more democratic, socially committed unions has fought back."

"A model of oral history. The ILWU is such a fascinating union with its militant past that bleeds into the present, making Labor under Siege all the more compelling."

"Robert McEllrath steered the legendary, militant West Coast dockworkers union through some of its most tumultuous waters. Schwartz, a consummate oral historian, lets the voices of Big Bob and those around him describe those stormy seas."

"As labor reasserts itself, it can learn from those who recall the importance of effective leadership, maintaining solidarity locally and internationally, supporting social justice causes, and upholding the ILWU motto, "an injury to one is an injury to all.""