David B. Reynolds , Partnering for Change: Unions and Community Groups Build Coalitions for Economic Justice

Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, June, 2005

David B. Reynolds (Ed.), Partnering for Change: Unions and Community Groups Build Coalitions for Economic Justice. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2004. $66.95 hardcover, $24.95 papercover.

Unions have traditionally focused on the needs of their own members. They first emerged to mobilize workers who campaigned for improved working conditions, increased secure job security and the end of exploitative practices that characterized 19th century industrial employment. However, they not only offered workers an opportunity to promote their own interests but to express solidarity with working people and to join wider campaigns for social reform. Although social welfare history textbooks often pay more attention to the role of politicians and the leaders of the social reform movement in bringing about progressive social change, the unions made a critically important contribution to efforts to introduce social security, expand social services for families and children, and formulate policies designed to reduce poverty.

Although unions have long been involved in partnering with social reform movements and progressive politics, their contribution has not been properly recognized. The problem has been exacerbated in recent times as unions have been portrayed in the media as self-interested, corrupt and economically irresponsible. Many corporations have successfully exploited these images to discourage and even prohibit union activities. As union membership has continued to decline, unions have been challenged to address these challenges and to reinvent themselves in order to enhance their relevance not only to their members but to the wider community.

In this significant book, David Reynolds shows how unions are working more closely with community organizations to create coalitions that address social and economic justice issues and to promote progressive causes. The book consists of 14 chapters organized into four sections. The first deals with the way unions and community organizations have established coalitions, while the second focused on a number of areas of fields of activity in which these partnerships have been successful. This section forms the core of the book and shows how union-community partners have worked together to promote living wage campaigns, foster corporate accountability, assist progressive urban development policies and programs and build political coalitions. The next section deals with institution building while the final section discusses cooperation with employers.

This book makes an important contribution to the literature on union-community partnerships and it should be widely consulted by anyone involved in community practice either as educators or practitioners. The link between union and community activism has not been widely discussed in the literature on community practice and this book will certainly help fill the gap. Its coverage of issues such as living wage campaigns is particularly informative and useful. Its deserves to be widely read.