Portside

This is the first in a three part series examining the history of the use of paid officers and staff in labor unions. This installment looks at the origins of the practice in the 18th & 19th centuries. Links to parts 2 and 3 at end of article.

Gregg Shotwell is a retired UAW member who frequently contributes poems to the Blue Collar Review, and is the author of Autoworkers Under the Gun (Haymarket Press, 2012).