A New Turn at 1199  

The beleaguered New York City hospital workers’ union, Local 1199, shows signs of renewal. In a rare break with the power of union incumbency, the scandal-ridden regime of President Doris Turner was narrowly defeated in a late-April ballot monitored by …



Bread & Roses, Crusts & Thorns  

From the beginning, the New York Hospital Workers—Local 1199 of the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU)—projected an exceptional image among American labor unions. Its first strike for recognition in May 1959 came at a time when many longtime …



The Leader as a Man  

In 1949 Ray Ginger published a remarkable book, The Bending Cross, subsequently retitled Eugene V. Debs: A Biography (Collier Books, Macmillan, 1962). For more than 30 years Ginger’s lively prose stood as the best available introduction not only to the …