“If we're lucky, the next upsurge of the working class will be led
by women. If we're really lucky, some of those leading that
upsurge will be the women in Jane LaTour's new book…” So
begins Andy Piascik’s review of Sisters in the current issue of Z
Magazine. Hailing the courage of trailblazing women as the most
inspirational theme in the book, he described the hard-to-come-
by support of New York’s labor unions as shameful.
“Where, after all, were the left-led unions like District 65 that
many in New York's labor movement so proudly pat themselves
on the back about? Where were the leaders of female-majority
unions like 1199?” he asks. “Were there no local presidents
willing to pressure the obdurate in their fraternity, no officers
willing to join a demonstration at a recalcitrant hiring hall?
Reading between the lines of LaTour's book, the answers are
clearly no.” Read the full review here.
by women. If we're really lucky, some of those leading that
upsurge will be the women in Jane LaTour's new book…” So
begins Andy Piascik’s review of Sisters in the current issue of Z
Magazine. Hailing the courage of trailblazing women as the most
inspirational theme in the book, he described the hard-to-come-
by support of New York’s labor unions as shameful.
“Where, after all, were the left-led unions like District 65 that
many in New York's labor movement so proudly pat themselves
on the back about? Where were the leaders of female-majority
unions like 1199?” he asks. “Were there no local presidents
willing to pressure the obdurate in their fraternity, no officers
willing to join a demonstration at a recalcitrant hiring hall?
Reading between the lines of LaTour's book, the answers are
clearly no.” Read the full review here.
| Working Women Organizing for Equality in New York City |
| By Jane LaTour |
| Sisters in the Brotherhoods |
Sisters in the Brotherhoods, by Jane
LaTour, is an oral-history of women who,
against considerable odds, broke the gender
barrier to blue-collar employment in various
trades in New York City beginning in the
1970s.
LaTour, is an oral-history of women who,
against considerable odds, broke the gender
barrier to blue-collar employment in various
trades in New York City beginning in the
1970s.
It is a story of the fight against deeply
ingrained cultural assumptions about
what constitutes women's work, the
middle-class bias of feminism, the
daily grinding sexism of male co-
workers, and the institutionalized dis-
crimination of employers and unions.
It is also the story of some gutsy
women who, seeking the material
rewards and personal satisfactions of
skilled manual labor, have struggled to
make a place for themselves among
New York City's construction
workers, stationary engineers,
firefighters, electronic technicians,
plumbers, and transit.
ingrained cultural assumptions about
what constitutes women's work, the
middle-class bias of feminism, the
daily grinding sexism of male co-
workers, and the institutionalized dis-
crimination of employers and unions.
It is also the story of some gutsy
women who, seeking the material
rewards and personal satisfactions of
skilled manual labor, have struggled to
make a place for themselves among
New York City's construction
workers, stationary engineers,
firefighters, electronic technicians,
plumbers, and transit.
Each story contributes to an important unifying theme: the
way women confronted the enormous sexism embedded in
union culture and developed new organizational forms to
support their struggles, especially the United Tradeswomen.
way women confronted the enormous sexism embedded in
union culture and developed new organizational forms to
support their struggles, especially the United Tradeswomen.
| More Praise for Sisters in the Brotherhoods |
| Photo by Jon Bloom |
| Photo by Clarence Elie-Rivera |
Yvone Maitin
Elaine Ward
Janine Blackwelder
Margarita Suarez
Joi Beard
Brenda Berkman
| Z Magazine's Andy Piascik Praises Sisters |
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