Reaction to the Book

Bill Clinton (“…a great book.”), Tom Ridge (“…offers a compelling and provocative look at labor’s role in the political, social and economic marketplace”), Congressman Chris Van Hollen (“Few topics are more important in defining today’s America…State of the Unions does a masterful job of…showing how labor can revitalize itself so it is a position to tackle the problems.”), Reuters (“a comeback playbook for organized labor”), Donna Brazile (“Through a compelling mix of stories, Phil Dine gives an intriguing new perspective on labor’s declining numbers and the ill effects for our country if we let this trend continue.”), Bernard DeLury, director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service under President George H.W. Bush, (“the author enters areas few media professionals have ever even visited…in this astonishing new book…Philip Dine shows how a strengthening of the labor movement can help preserve the American middle class…lays out a strategy for going forward.”), Richard Hurd, Professor of Labor Studies, Cornell University (“of great interest to labor leaders, scholars and students, as well as citizens concerned about the future of our democracy”), St. Louis Post-Dispatch (“…shatters conventional wisdom.”), AFL-CIO (“One of the best books in years about the union movement, its strengths, its weaknesses and its pivotal importance for America’s middle class…[Dine] tells fascinating stories few knew.”), Sacramento News & Review (“If you’d like to understand where the jobs have gone, and why, and what can be done to stop the bleeding — it’s worth reading Philip M. Dine’s analysis of what’s happened to unions in the last three decades…”), former Sen. Evan Bayh (“…shrewd political insight…”), Boilermaker Reporter/International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (“Who better to assess labor’s decline and identify strategies for its survival? Dine is particularly sensitive to labor’s relationship with the media.”), Sam Donaldson (“…makes a compelling case…”), Alexis Herman, Secretary of Labor under President Clinton, (“…offers an insightful, riveting, reader-friendly examination of organized labor…”), American Prospect (“…thoughtful…give{s} readers hope that America’s working class can regain the strength and respect they rightfully deserve..”), Stephen Hess, Brookings Institution (“Philip Dine on the labor movement is a must read in Washington.”), former Sen. Ted Kennedy (“an excellent, inspiring, and very readable analysis of the current struggles and past triumphs of the American labor movement. Longtime respected labor reporter Phil Dine makes a compelling case…”), G. Neel Lattimore, former Press Secretary to First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, (“When I read Phil Dine’s account of the largest strike by black workers in Mississippi’s history, I was swept back to the summer of 1990 standing in a cotton field in Indianola, Mississippi…Phil Dine tells their story as no one else can. He too stood with me in that cotton field and proved once again that the pen is mightier than the sword.”), Norm Ornstein, American Enterprise Institute, (“…lively and indispensable…brings the people, the issues, and the problems to life.”), Hedrick Smith (“Anyone interested in the fate of the American middle class in today’s cutthroat global economy needs this book…State of the Unions is rich with insights into our current predicament.”), Mike Wallace (“Phil Dine tells a compelling tale – and he writes beautifully — of the decline, fall, and potential rebirth of a powerful labor movement in the U.S.”), William Gould, Stanford University law professor and NLRB chairman in the Clinton administration, (“…mandatory reading…”), Linda Foley, past President, the Newspaper Guild-CWA, (“State of the Unions — with its keen observations and thoughtful conclusions — could be a primer for labor leaders and labor reporters. Except that it’s so well-written and entertaining, it beckons anyone who works for a living to bring it to the beach.”), Michael Isikoff (“…provides a penetrating look at what’s happened to American workers…an important book on a subject that gets far too little attention.”), John J. Flynn, former President, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, (“…a must read for anyone concerned about the future of our country.”), former Congressman Jack Buechner (“…not just the clearest evaluation of the U.S. labor movement…it is also a roadmap. Workers, management, politicos and all the other Americans searching for something lost but not forgotten need to read this book”.), Thomas R. Donahue, former President of the AFL-CIO, (“…a fascinating tale of America’s unions. It’s a lively read that should be of interest to people who either know a lot — or nothing — about the trade union movement.”), former Congressman Bill Delahunt (“…delves deep into labor’s struggle…”), Joseph J. Hunt, former General President, International Association of Iron Workers, (“…Philip Dine challenges organized labor to respond to the business and political forces ‘arrayed against them’…His words should be heeded if unions are to survive and grow…”), Ralph G. Neas, past President and CEO, People for the American Way, (“…a provocative and riveting book on the current state of the labor movement. His analysis and recommendations should be robustly debated inside and outside the world of labor.”), John Calhoun Wells, Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service under President Clinton, (“..a book worthy of attention and study by the labor movement, its friends, and all those who care about social and economic issues in America today..It offers prescriptive ideas and practical strategies of how labor can reinvent itself and be a greater presence in the national dialogue. It also provides real world examples in which labor has done this in politics and organizing. These are models for the future. State of the Unions is an important book.”)