With God on Our Side

The Struggle for Workers' Rights in a Catholic Hospital

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Politics, Labour & Industrial Relations
Cover of the book With God on Our Side by Adam D. Reich, Cornell University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Adam D. Reich ISBN: 9780801464652
Publisher: Cornell University Press Publication: April 15, 2012
Imprint: ILR Press Language: English
Author: Adam D. Reich
ISBN: 9780801464652
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Publication: April 15, 2012
Imprint: ILR Press
Language: English

When unions undertake labor organizing campaigns, they often do so from strong moral positions, contrasting workers’ rights to decent pay or better working conditions with the more venal financial motives of management. But how does labor confront management when management itself has moral legitimacy? In With God on Our Side, Adam D. Reich tells the story of a five-year campaign to unionize Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, a Catholic hospital in California. Based on his own work as a volunteer organizer with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Reich explores how both union leaders and hospital leaders sought to show they were upholding the Catholic "mission" of the hospital against a market represented by the other. Ultimately, workers and union leaders were able to reinterpret Catholic values in ways that supported their efforts to organize.

More generally, Reich argues that unions must weave together economic and cultural power in order to ensure their continued relevancy in the postindustrial world. In addition to advocating for workers’ economic interests, unions must engage with workers’ emotional investments in their work, must contend with the kind of moral authority that Santa Rosa Hospital leaders exerted to dissuade workers from organizing, and must connect labor’s project to broader conceptions of the public good.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

When unions undertake labor organizing campaigns, they often do so from strong moral positions, contrasting workers’ rights to decent pay or better working conditions with the more venal financial motives of management. But how does labor confront management when management itself has moral legitimacy? In With God on Our Side, Adam D. Reich tells the story of a five-year campaign to unionize Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, a Catholic hospital in California. Based on his own work as a volunteer organizer with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Reich explores how both union leaders and hospital leaders sought to show they were upholding the Catholic "mission" of the hospital against a market represented by the other. Ultimately, workers and union leaders were able to reinterpret Catholic values in ways that supported their efforts to organize.

More generally, Reich argues that unions must weave together economic and cultural power in order to ensure their continued relevancy in the postindustrial world. In addition to advocating for workers’ economic interests, unions must engage with workers’ emotional investments in their work, must contend with the kind of moral authority that Santa Rosa Hospital leaders exerted to dissuade workers from organizing, and must connect labor’s project to broader conceptions of the public good.

More books from Cornell University Press

Cover of the book Afterlives by Adam D. Reich
Cover of the book The French Idea of History by Adam D. Reich
Cover of the book The War after the War by Adam D. Reich
Cover of the book The End of the West? by Adam D. Reich
Cover of the book Heading Out by Adam D. Reich
Cover of the book The Forms of Historical Fiction by Adam D. Reich
Cover of the book Balkan Smoke by Adam D. Reich
Cover of the book Drawing the Lines by Adam D. Reich
Cover of the book J. Edgar Hoover Goes to the Movies by Adam D. Reich
Cover of the book Immigrant Girl, Radical Woman by Adam D. Reich
Cover of the book Global Matters by Adam D. Reich
Cover of the book The Five by Adam D. Reich
Cover of the book Speaking the Unspeakable in Postwar Germany by Adam D. Reich
Cover of the book Arctic Mirrors by Adam D. Reich
Cover of the book Perceiving God by Adam D. Reich
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy