POLITICAL DIVISIONS IN ORGANIZED-LABOR, 1968-1988

The American labor movement is no monolith united behind a single course of political action. It is, as this article shows, beset by internal divisions. In the two decades between 1968 and 1988, which are the focus of this analysis, a number of issues divided labor's leadership into dominant and dissident wings that often played opposing roles in American politics. The author argues that this division arose from the expanding social base and agenda of the Democratic Party and that the schism within labor weakened Democratic liberalism as well as the union movement.