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"This book traces efforts by Black public-sector workers and their unions to combat racial and economic injustice in Baltimore. For decades, civil rights activists had been fighting against employment discrimination and for a greater role for African Americans in municipal decision-making. In the 1960s, activists seized the opportunity of the Great Society-and the government jobs it created on the local level-to advance their goals. They met with considerable success. The public sector became a critical job niche for Black workers, especially women, a largely unheralded achievement of the civil rights movement. A vocal contingent of Black public-sector workers pursued the activists' goals from their government posts and sought to increase and improve public-service delivery. They also fought for their rights as workers and won union representation. During an era often associated with deindustrialization and union decline, Black government workers and their unions were just getting started"--
List of contents
List of Abbreviations
Introduction. Public-Sector Workers and the Battle over Cities
Chapter 1. "Boom Times" in Baltimore?
Chapter 2. "A New Mood" Is Spreading: The Great Society as Job Creation
Chapter 3. "We Had to Fight to Get This": Antipoverty Workers Take on City Hall
Chapter 4. "Better Wages and Job Conditions with Dignity": Unionizing the Public Sector
Chapter 5. "A Posture of Advocacy for the Poor": Fighting Poverty in an Era of Austerity
Chapter 6. "The Hell-Raising Period Is Over": New Federalism in Baltimore
Chapter 7. "Polishing the Apple While the Core Rots": Carter and the Cities
Chapter 8. "A Tourist Town at the Expense of the Poor": The Making of Two Baltimores
Chapter 9. "A Revolving Door for Impoverished People": Reaganomics and American Cities
Chapter 10. "There's Tragedy on Both Sides of the Layoffs": Privatization and the Urban Crisis
Conclusion
Notes
Index
Acknowledgments
About the author
Jane Berger
Summary
A New Working Class traces efforts by Black public-sector workers and their unions to fight for racial and economic justice in Baltimore. Federal policy shifts imperiled their efforts. Officials justified weakening the welfare state and strengthening the carceral state by criminalizing Black residents-including government workers.
