Fight or be Slaves

I acquired this book from the Oakland Public Library over the weekend. I think I'm going to enjoy reading it - I don't belong to a union, but have long been fascinated with stories of labor struggles, and am looking forward to hearing about these struggles in a local context.

From the publisher's website:  The Oakland-East Bay labor movement has been overshadowed for far too long by attention to San Francisco. The East Bay has a rich, militant and surprisingly independent history. Fight or Be Slaves, the title taken from a statement by C.L. Dellums, Oakland's Vice President of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, sets East Bay history in context of national events using extensive primary and secondary sources. Struggles against union-busting and concessions take the story to the present time, when hundreds of East Bay unionists went to Seattle to protest against the World Trade Organization. Sensitive to issues of class, race, and gender, Fight or Be Slaves is filled with vignettes that bring to life the story of workers in struggle.

A little more background about C.L. Dellums' fight: .... In August 1937 the Brotherhood finally won a contract with Pullman. It was the first economic agreement ever signed between African Americans and a white institution. It sent the message of unionism to the black community nationally.
Dellums became a major figure in Oakland's African American community, heading up the NAACP and bringing its support to the 1946 Oakland General Strike.