The Jewish Guilded Age

Mention unions and Jews in the same breath, and the first things that usually come to mind are the ILGWU, sweatshops, long hours, low wages, strikes, and Samuel Gompers, the labor union leader. Some cynics will immediately shout, “they’re ruining the country.” Others will maintain that unions are the backbone of the middle class worker, keeping the playing field as level as possible. Still, others will invoke the history of the labor movement and the significant Jewish influence on improvements in the contemporary workplace.