The roots of decline : the AFL-CIO in the Meany years -- A new president, and a new decade -- Kirkland fights back : the 1981 Solidarity Day mass march -- From solidarity to defeat -- Defending what we have : survival and decline in Reagan's second term -- Partial détente : George H.W. Bush and...

The introduction explores the main theoretical positions taken in this book. Contrary to twentieth-century neoliberal or nineteenth-century wage fund theories, it starts from the assumption that trade unions are a necessary and integral part of the functioning of labour markets in societies...