Thesis advisor: Mark Gelfand / Labor in the United States has been commonly associated with images of industrialism, factories, and skilled craftsmen. This narrow vision of labor ignores the millions of Americans employed by the federal, state, and local governments. As early national labor law failed to define the rights of government employees, each state was forced to create their own public labor law through judicial rulings and state legislation. This study is framed around the struggles of Rhode Island public employees, specifically public school teachers, to obtain the right to organize and employ labor's greatest weapon, the strike. An in-depth examination of the 1975 Woonsocket Teachers' Guild strike incorporating the experiences of union officers, labor lawyers, and other participants provides a concrete example of the difficulties encountered by government employees against the courts, legislature, and public opinion. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2005. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: History. / Discipline: College Honors Program.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BOSTON/oai:dlib.bc.edu:bc-ir_102100 |
| Date | January 2005 |
| Creators | DiPardo, Elizabeth Marie |
| Publisher | Boston College |
| Source Sets | Boston College |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, thesis |
| Format | electronic, application/pdf |
| Rights | Copyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted. |
Page generated in 0.0018 seconds