This book examines a basic assumption behind most of the critical progressive thinking of our
times: that trade unions are necessarily tools for solidarity and are integral to a more equal
and just society. Shaul A. Duke assesses the trade union's potential to promote equality in
ethnically and racially diverse societies by offering an in-depth look into how unions operate
how power flows between union levels where inequality originates and the role of union
members in union dynamics. By analyzing the trade union's effects on working-class inequality
in Palestine during 1920-1948 this book shifts the conventional emphasis on worker-employer
relations to that of worker-worker relations. It offers a conceptualization of how strong union
members directed union policy from below in order to eliminate competition often by excluding
marginalized groups. The comparison of the union experiences of Palestinian-Arabs
Jewish-Yemeni immigrants and Jewish women offers a fresh look into the labor history of
Palestine and its social stratification.
