By Amelia Gruber Activists who articulate causal explanations for potential plant closings, and feasible preventative measures, build stronger coalitions. Fighting for Jobs: Case Studies of Labor-Community Coalitions Confronting Plant Closings, by Bruce Nissen. 215 pp. Albany: State University of New York, 1995. $49.50, $16.95.
Marge Luzader, an employee at Stratojac's Hammond, Indiana branch, and president of United Garment Workers Local 256, never doubted her job security. She finished high quality, top-of-the-line, men's wear under a benevolent, paternalistic plant manager's surveillance. Relatively high wages, above average for the industry, also boosted her spirits. Unfortunately, Luzader's secure world splintered in early December 1985 when her aging plant manager sold his family business to Steve Sakin, an incompetent outsider. Not two months passed before this newcomer fled town, narrowly escaping accusations of blatant mismanagement and leaving a few hundred former employees destitute.
Luzader never suspected the imminent closing until she encountered her former plant manager one afternoon. Irate, he allegedly shouted: "Cash your paycheck quick! He's [Sakin] leaving town!" Days later, Sakin officially announced the Hammond closing.
And Luzader was only one of nearly 200 stunned by the plant closing! Alongside the others, typically 47-year old females with 11 years seniority, narrow low-wage skills, and poor commands of English, she faced grim re-employment prospects. But outside Indiana, her plight didn't generate front-page news. After all, plant closings are common now. Downsizing is an ever-growing, nationwide concern. In Fighting for Jobs, Bruce Nissen draws battle plans for a serious fight against downsizing.
He concentrates on five actual plant closings in the Calumet region of Northwest Indiana, and uses these specialized cases as grounds for subsequent generalizations. Hammond, the former site of a Stratojac branch, is one of three larger cities in the Calumet area. Adjacent to the Chicago city line and Lake Michigan, Hammond is a far cry from the wealthy suburbs of Schaumburg and Lake Forest. The entire Calumet region is heavily industrialized. In the 1960s and 70s, local manufacturing plants provided well-paying unionized jobs but in the following decades, national trends of downsizing and de-industrialization took a toll on the area. Nissen analyzes ensuing labor struggles, studying early warning signs, labor-management issues, corporate strategy and structure, purely economic factors, and government activism in each situation.
His cases vary in scope and outcome. He departs from the rather depressing Stratojac scenario and presents a definitive success story: a struggle at Hammond's LaSalle Steel Plant inspired coalition-building. The Progressive Steel Worker's Union, Indiana Economic Development Committee, Calumet Project for Industrial Jobs, local politicians, and local press joined forces, protecting the plant's future. As a cohesive unit, these labor activists prevented the potential relocation of LaSalle's crucial training and grinding departments.
Nissen also notes the general importance of isolated labor struggles, even those that are overlooked on a local level. Regional activism may stimulate national awareness and alter public policy. For instance, struggles in the Calumet region encouraged passage of the federal Worker Adjustment Retraining and Notification Act (WARN) in 1988, requiring 60 days minimum advance closing notice. This legislation represents progress toward prevention of Stratojac-style surprises yet possesses some unfortunate loopholes--WARN does not cover small firms (those with fewer than 100 employees) and 60 days barely allows time for adequate worker adjustment programs.
Nissen concludes Fighting for Jobs with strategies for alliance/political coalition-building. After a mere retelling of history, he finally shares his own thoughts on labor struggles. Or rather, his wisdom and deceivingly simple advice. Raw emotion, he warns, is a warrior's worst enemy. So Luzader and her fellow labor activists shouldn't rush headlong into battle at the first hint of an imminent closing. Not before establishing a rationale for anger against the current management. Nissen observes that activists who articulate causal explanations for potential closings, and feasible preventative measures, build stronger coalitions. And strong alliances are key in any battle.
Nissen's bottom line isn't especially creative or bold. His analysis is thorough, his generalizations well-founded--but this is dramatic material! Stakes are high, the sides are diametrically opposed. Who will prevail? The activist judging community welfare by the availability of well-paying jobs, or the executive concerned about profits? Nissen shies away from this drama, focusing instead on a merciless barrage of details. He rarely explores the human dimensions of downsizing, and this makes Fighting for Jobs less compelling than it could be.
Copyright 1998, Amelia Gruber