Harry Van Arsdale, Jr: Labor's Champion

Rating:
Summary: The Value of One Man
Review: Harry Van Arsdale, Jr's remarkable contribution to the history of New York City and the American labor movement is revealed in Gene Ruffini's new book. Harry Van Arsdale, Jr. was truly a "man of all seasons"; greatly admired by friends and foes alike for his ability to get many continuous leaders to work cooperatively for the greater good of the city and nation. Van Arsdale's well-honed ability to use his moderation, patience and personal relationships with such diverse personalities as Nelson Rockefeller, Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, and other labor leaders like George Meany, to achieve workable results is unmatched by his contemporaries in Van Arsdale's years of labor and civic leadership from the 1930's to his death at his humble home in Flushing, New York in 1986.

Anyone studying the history of New York must read this book, as Van Arsdale was the visionary not only behind many of labor achievements in the latter half of the 20th century, but many of the historic compromises of New York and American political life - from his victories in the Great Depression; to his fights against gangsters and communists; to his courage, and that of his union, Local 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), in the face of false criminal charges; to his role in New Deal social reforms; to his personal interventions to save New York from economic collapse in the 1970s.

The book offers new detail, found no where else, of Van Arsdale's influential role in one news making event after another as well as new information on his relationships with every President from FDR (one of Van Arsdale's heroes), to his famous denunciation of Ronald Reagan for breaking the air traffic controllers union. The accounts of Van Arsdale's influence and struggles, with New York City's Mayors from Lindsay to Koch, who were often anti-union, alone makes this book vital reading for anyone interested in the City's politics over the past 40 years.

Modest and unassuming, Van Arsdale was unique as a labor leader; he did not simply build his union local (and other unions), but created a fraternity dedicated to a living "brotherhood" among working men and women in New York City. Van Arsdale's vision of brotherhood and his practical solutions to settling disputes between labor and management, to reaching agreement between political parties, and to ending fights between factions within his own union, would lead him to achieve not only good wages and benefits for his electrical union members and many other unions, but also broad educational and social programs. Throughout his tenure as a "giant" among American labor leaders, Van Arsdale emphasized that union workers had to not only keep up their expertise in their particular tradecraft but also needed formal academic credentials to bolster labor's role in developing the nation. He would go out of his way to encourage an educated workforce.

His early on organizing of Local 3 as a hybrid vertical/horizontal union is typical of his pragmatic approach to social and political problems. To this day this hybrid union model has served its members well and is emulated by labor organizers worldwide. Electrical workers in New York City revere Van Arsdale as a "saint".

The book reveals that at all times, and in all he did, he did so with an eye and a mind to benefiting every working man and woman. This important book chronicles the life of a most successful "pragmatic idealist".

Rating:
Summary: The Value of One Man
Review: Harry Van Arsdale, Jr's remarkable contribution to the history of New York City and the American labor movement is revealed in Gene Ruffini's new book. Harry Van Arsdale, Jr. was truly a "man of all seasons"; greatly admired by friends and foes alike for his ability to get many continuous leaders to work cooperatively for the greater good of the city and nation. Van Arsdale's well-honed ability to use his moderation, patience and personal relationships with such diverse personalities as Nelson Rockefeller, Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, and other labor leaders like George Meany, to achieve workable results is unmatched by his contemporaries in Van Arsdale's years of labor and civic leadership from the 1930's to his death at his humble home in Flushing, New York in 1986.

Anyone studying the history of New York must read this book, as Van Arsdale was the visionary not only behind many of labor achievements in the latter half of the 20th century, but many of the historic compromises of New York and American political life - from his victories in the Great Depression; to his fights against gangsters and communists; to his courage, and that of his union, Local 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), in the face of false criminal charges; to his role in New Deal social reforms; to his personal interventions to save New York from economic collapse in the 1970s.

The book offers new detail, found no where else, of Van Arsdale's influential role in one news making event after another as well as new information on his relationships with every President from FDR (one of Van Arsdale's heroes), to his famous denunciation of Ronald Reagan for breaking the air traffic controllers union. The accounts of Van Arsdale's influence and struggles, with New York City's Mayors from Lindsay to Koch, who were often anti-union, alone makes this book vital reading for anyone interested in the City's politics over the past 40 years.

Modest and unassuming, Van Arsdale was unique as a labor leader; he did not simply build his union local (and other unions), but created a fraternity dedicated to a living "brotherhood" among working men and women in New York City. Van Arsdale's vision of brotherhood and his practical solutions to settling disputes between labor and management, to reaching agreement between political parties, and to ending fights between factions within his own union, would lead him to achieve not only good wages and benefits for his electrical union members and many other unions, but also broad educational and social programs. Throughout his tenure as a "giant" among American labor leaders, Van Arsdale emphasized that union workers had to not only keep up their expertise in their particular tradecraft but also needed formal academic credentials to bolster labor's role in developing the nation. He would go out of his way to encourage an educated workforce.

His early on organizing of Local 3 as a hybrid vertical/horizontal union is typical of his pragmatic approach to social and political problems. To this day this hybrid union model has served its members well and is emulated by labor organizers worldwide. Electrical workers in New York City revere Van Arsdale as a "saint".

The book reveals that at all times, and in all he did, he did so with an eye and a mind to benefiting every working man and woman. This important book chronicles the life of a most successful "pragmatic idealist".