It is we who push the papers, put the paychecks in the mail;
It is we who type the letters, mind the office without fail.
And until we get a contract, it is we who'll shut down Yale, For the union
makes us strong.
(To the tune of "John Brown's Body")
"Must reading for anyone who wants to learn what a revitalized labor
movement would look like." —
Labor Notes
"A textbook on solidarity unionism." — Staughton Lynd
"One of the very best books on labor in the 1970s and 80s."
— Dana Frank, University of California at Santa Cruz
"There are very few case studies in recent labor history as readable
and provocative as this one." — Karen Sawislak, Stanford University
On Strike for Respect
is a lively account of the 1984-85 strike
by clerical and technical workers at Yale University. Members of Local
34, with a strong female majority, mobilized themselves and the public,
breathing new life into the labor movement as they fought for and won
substantial gains. A short update on current conditions concludes this
volume.