Philip Dine's State of the Unions - review - Book Report/Review Example

In an accessible manner, Dine compiles his criticisms of disruptive government policies, and proposes mechanisms for the strengthening of the nucleus of the labour force in the United States – the middle class. An award winning labour reporter, Dine reveals the trends surrounding the descending legitimacy of unionism with journalistic precision. In his defence of organized labour, he combines well researched generalizations with specific episodes of recent labour history, which unravel the American government’s inability to cope with social unrest and workers’ discontent.

Alongside the topic of unionism and its political descent in the last several decades in America, the author implicitly reveals broader trends, characterizing modern societies in the twentieth and twenty first centuries such as the diminishing power of organized labour. . Dine delves into the depths of unionism not as simply an economic ideology, aiming to secure protection and social representation for the workers. His compelling observations on unionism reveal the reforming power of organized labour in the constant struggle for social justice, and its ability to influence American politics and key decision-makers.

The case of the Teamsters in preventing Mr. Coffee to move to Mexico and thus saving hundreds of working places is an important indication, that unionism is not entirely devoid of substance in contemporary American politics. As described by Dine, it is also an outlet of a long suppressed popular discontent, provoked by the unjust deindustrialization of American labour and its relentless export. In his description of the fire – fighters’ historic protest in Iowa in 2004, Dine focuses on structural, as well as political issues, which triggered the protests.

He makes an unusual observation on how contemporary unions have evolved in the last century. In the beginning they were based on professional issues, related to working schedules and industrial conditions, civil service protection, and benefits. In the last several decades however, Dine notes a transformative trend in the role of unions and their growing legitimacy as political factors. In the case of the Iowa protests, the fire-fighters rally managed to change the election result on caucus day (Dine 2-15).

Here Dine proposes a revised strategy for the integration of the unions in politics, which involves extending their policy interests and dressing them with well organized activities and demonstrations. The role of the