Impossible Union
The Epic Story of Organizing America's Agribusiness Workers from the Great Depression to the Cold War
The labor and civil rights accomplishments of the union that championed forgotten workers
Cloth – $135
978-0-252-08990-9
Paper – $38
978-0-252-08991-6
eBook – $19.95
978-0-252-08992-3
Publication Date
Paperback: 03/16/2027
Cloth: 03/16/2027
Cloth: 03/16/2027
About the Book
The United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing, and Allied Workers of America (UCAPAWA) and its successor, the Food, Tobacco, Agricultural and Allied Workers of America (FTA), organized some of the nation’s most exploited workers. Jarod Roll, Erik S. Gellman, and eleven other contributors provide a first-ever complete history of UCAPAWA-FTA that illuminates the organizations’ mission, accomplishments, and impediments while offering a new account of the potential for working-class democracy in the New Deal and World War II eras.Workers of many racial, ethnic, and social identities united under the UCAPAWA-FTA banner. Their grassroots activism and bold national leadership fueled the union’s success despite opposition from employers, the government, and other labor groups. The union’s common sense anti-fascist ideology empowered workers to forge solidarities across their vast differences and linked workers’ rights to campaigns against racism and inequality. UCAPAWA-FTA advocated for an inclusive American democracy that can inform today’s struggles for dignity and security. This unique volume includes a special collection of essays by affiliated scholars that explore specific aspects of the union’s larger history.
Expansive and monumental, Impossible Union chronicles the labor organization that brought personhood and power to America’s marginal yet essential workers.
Additional contributors: Benjamin Makani Fortun, Dorothy Fujita-Rony, Robert Korstad, Bernadette Pérez, Michael Pierce, Charles Romney, Vicki L. Ruiz, Dan Sidorick, Dwana Waugh, John Weber, and Lane Windham
About the Author
Jarod Roll is the Kinder Institute Professor of Missouri History & Constitutional Democracy at the University of Missouri. He is the author of Poor Man’s Fortune: White Working-Class Conservatism in American Metal Mining, 1850-1950. Erik S. Gellman is a professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the author of Troublemakers: Chicago Freedom Struggles through the Lens of Art Shay. Roll and Gellman coauthored The Gospel of the Working Class: Labor's Southern Prophets in New Deal America.Reviews
“In the heart of the Great Depression, the poorest workers in America created a labor union that successfully fought on behalf of justice for all. Their story is beautifully depicted in Impossible Union. Indispensable lessons for labor organizers and scholars today.”—Paul Ortiz, author of An African American and Latinx History of the United States
“Impossible Union does the impossible itself in providing a detailed account, the ?rst of its kind in scope, of the history of the multi-site, multifaceted Food, Tobacco, Agricultural, and Allied Workers (FTA) union through some of the most tumultuous decades of twentieth century US history. The book is an amazing accomplishment from the incomparable amount of research undertaken, all woven together into a richly told, riveting, narrative. I didn’t want to put it down.”
—Lisa Phillips, author of A Renegade Union: Interracial Organizing and Labor Radicalism
“A monumental achievement. Gellman and Roll have combed archival collections and followed UCAPAWA-FTA’s trail from coast to coast to tell a comprehensive history of an important union from the 10,000-foot view. Their book recovers the story of UCAPAWA-FTA’s expansive and multiracial vision of American democracy while also taking seriously the productive tensions and organizing traditions within the union and among its staff. The authors successfully embrace institutional history while not losing sight of the rank-and-file.”
—Jessie Wilkerson, author of To Live Here, You Have to Fight: How Women Led Appalachian Movements for Social Justice
Related Titles
