On my way back from Calgary I finished the United Electrical Workers
book. It went quite well in one gulp. It is easier to follow the
action and there is some momentum going.

Hey, the commie union is till alive:

     http://www.ranknfile-ue.org/

The meager 35K is no match for the 500K they represented in their
better days. They are still out of AFL-CIO and did not merge with IUE
(http://www.iue-cwa.org/). The book gives the impression that UE is on
the way to come back to AFL-CIO's fold and join with IUE.

Politically, UE is still perky -- they did not endorse Kerry (or
anyone for that matter) but are virulently anti-Bush, UE launched a
major registration campaign. This is a little disingenuous. IUE
endorsed Kerry.

Anyway, the book is okay, the major problem is that it is one of the
author's masters thesis. So it is researchy and tedious to read,
especially in odd moments and 3-5 pages at a time.  The subject is a
little difficult because there are two "narratives" (CIO and UE) and
most of the evidence is "hearsay". Alternatively, the subject
straddles micro and macro-economic matters; so the individuals,
intrigues and squabbles come to the fore at the expense of broad
strokes and socio-economic causes/effects that political-economists
among us are used to.

Overall, the subject is worth reading about and the authors are smart
enough to deserve respect. 3.9 stars out of 5.