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Book Review
| Richard A. Brisbin Jr, A Strike Like No Other: Law and Resistance During the Pittston Coal Strike of 1989–1990, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2002. pp. xiv + 350. US $49.95 cloth.
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| US labour history has what seems to be a never-ending number of major industrial disputes worthy of historical analysis. Richard Brisbin focuses on a recent coal miners' strike which spread through the states of Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky in the last days of the presidency of George Bush Snr. With an extraordinary level of detail Brisbin describes the actions of the United Mine Workers Association (UMWA), the major employer involved, the Pittston Group of coal mining companies, and, more especially, the entire state and federal legal apparatus which established what he defines as the crucial context for the dispute. |
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This is not a standard narrative history. As a legal historian, Brisbin brings a particular concern for the long-term legal history that shaped the context of the dispute. He characterises early twentieth century labour relations as a 'patriarchal' mode of employer dominance which was slowly modified through the New Deal period. An emerging 'legalism' gave industrial conflict institutional and legal status with the increasing role of the Federal Government and key Supreme Court decisions. During the post-war period, a consensus developed where peak management groups negotiated with a small and relatively isolated UWMA leadership. By the 1960s this consensus began to fracture as rank and file groups emerged. All up we are given more than a 50 year context in which to understand the Pittston strike which began in 1989. |
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The methodological apparatus that Brisbin employs is quite fascinating. The author applies theories of law and society towards developing an historical understanding of US labour law. The metaphors and analogies come from the language of the theatre, and draw freely from anthropology and sociology. Both union and management develop their own 'script', 'staging', 'performance', and 'interpretation' during the prelude, course and outcome of the strike. In light of the resistance and pro-company decisions of the legal apparatus, for example, Brisbin suggests that it was quite a rational 'adaptive choice' for coal miners and their allies to move to extra-legal means of prosecuting their cause. |
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Coupled with the distinctive methodology is a detailed social history of the strike and the activities of both sides. This material is not the focus of the analysis for it is employed to illuminate the broader thesis. However, there is still a rich font of interviews, court and newspaper reports that capture the vibrant culture of protest and dissent which manifested during the dispute. In Australia, this kind of methodology could be productively applied to the 1949 coal strike, the 1961 and 1964/65 Mount Isa disputes or the more recent 1998 Maritime dispute. But class is not a key feature of the methodology. 'Class conflict' appears not as any kind of materialist explanation of the labour and capital relationship but as a 'discourse' or a particular political strategy that might organise or structure choice, action and rhetoric. The changing economic circumstances of the coal industry are well covered but there is less focus on the coal mining labour process itself as a way to explore the eventual conflict. |
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The book succeeds admirably on its own terms, and generates a fresh approach to the history of industrial disputes. More than a history of this specific dispute, A Strike Like No Other will help us explore the highly politicised definition of violence, and the limits of acceptable practice for both companies and unions engaged in industrial battle. It will help us understand why for example the violence of a picket line is usually defined as 'unlawful' more often than the violence of management intimidation, or wrongful arrest. |
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| University of Newcastle |
ERIK EKLUND | |
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