Brother Bill McKie – New Edition

Description

Originally published in 1953, Phillip Bonosky’s Brother Bill McKie—Building the Union at Ford is now a classic history of trade union resilience and struggle.

The story is well-known: Henry Ford boasted that he would never let the workers unionize—and for over 20 years he kept the union out of River Rouge with guns, blacklists, goons, and frame-ups. This is the thrilling story of how auto’s rank and file union members, like Brother Bill McKie, fought this long and bloody struggle and how together they won!

This new edition includes a new Foreword by UAW leader Steve Noffke. He places McKie, the UAW—and the Communist Party—in historical and political context highlighting how class struggle trade unionism won a historic victory, and how it was betrayed by Cold War anti-communism, which ultimately laid the groundwork for business unionism and decades of concessions. Noffke argues—now more than ever—we need a democratic, militant trade union movement, a movement Brother Bill McKie spent his life fighting for!

The original Foreword by legendary labor leader William Z. Foster is also included.