Oral History Interview with George Perkel, May 27, 1986. Interview H-0281. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007).
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Abstract
George Perkel began his career as an economist on the National War Labor Board during World War II, after which he took his expertise to the Textile Workers Union of America. However, this interview does not focus on Perkel's experiences; instead, it distills Perkel's research, giving him an opportunity to describe his conclusions about unions in the South. Perkel seeks to explain unions' lack of strength in southern states, citing factors such as a mill town culture that made textile workers suspicious of organizers and resistant to outside influence, legislation intended to protect the right to organize that lost its teeth, and effective opposition from political and industrial interests. This dense, rich interview is a primer on the failure of unionization in the South, with a nod to some of the movement's successes in the region. It will make an excellent starting point for scholars interested in mill labor and the role of unions in the South.
Excerpts
A union career
Some reasons for the lack of a successful union movement in the South
Mill owners control their workers' communities in various ways
The decline of the legal protection of the right to organize
State and local governments help tamp down union organization in the South
American Textile Workers Union as a motivated and innovative group
Organized labor finds some success in the South
The need for federal aid to southern organization efforts
The catastrophic impact of imports on the American textile industry
Predictions for the future of unions in the South
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Subjects
Trade-unions--Textile workers--North Carolina
Textile workers--North Carolina--Health and hygiene
Textile Workers Union of America
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