General intro to labor history book

[JazzRemington]

I'm looking for a book that has a general introduction to the labor movement in the world. I know Roudolf Rocker's Anarcho-Syndicalism has a general introduction to the union movement in Europe, but I want something a little more. Preferably something that's relatively recently written.

Any suggestions?

[Morpheus]

The Rise & Repression of Radical Labor by Daniel Fusfeld is a good short overview of US labor movement in the late 19th & early 20th century. There are some interesting articles at http://www.anarchosyndicalism.net/history/

[STI]

There's a book called "Strike!" by Jeremy Brecher. I havn't read it, but it got a highly kickass review in "The Northeastern Anarchist". Come to think of it, I'm going to consider picking it up myself.

[Red Powers]

World Labor History is seldom a topic for a book. It is generally country by country or maybe Europe-wide. Strike is an excellent book and focuses on mass action not unions. Many authors equate labor history with union history and I think that's a problem. Probably the best thing for what you are looking for is a 3-volume work by Emmanuel Wallerstein "The Modern World System" in it he describes how capitalism reshapes the world and peoples lives all from an academic Marxist(in a good way) point of view.