UT Expert Offers Labor Unions Advice And Criticism

By Tim Taliaferro in Blog on September 8, 2010 at 9:26 am | 1 Comment

Labor Day may be over, but a UT professor suggests we still consider the cause behind the holiday.

Labor scholar Julius Getman has come out with a new book, Restoring the Power of Unions: It Takes a Movement, published by Yale University Press. 

As the son of an immigrant factory worker, Getman grew up crediting the union for getting his father decent wages, doctor’s visits, and a little education. But in law school, he says, he came to see his earlier views as one-sided, and he worked to become a neutral labor expert.

In his new book, he suggests new methods for organizing and strengthening labor, but he also counters some established union opinions. He criticizes, for instance, the Employee Free Choice that unions have staunchly supported.

Getman is signing copies of his book Thursday at 7 p.m. at Book People in Austin.