Kenny Riley and Black Union Labor Power in the Port of Charleston

by Ted Reed, John J. Yurechko

Overview

Their ancestors may have been cargo in the slave ships that arrived in Charleston, S.C. Today, the scale has been rebalanced: black longshoremen run the port's cargo operation. They are members of the International Longshoremen's Association, a powerful labor union, and Kenny Riley is the charismatic leader of the Charleston local.

Riley combines commitment to the civil rights movement with the practicality to ensure that Charleston remains a principal East Coast port. He emerged on the international stage in 2000, rallying union members worldwide to the defense of "The Charleston Five," longshoremen arrested after a confrontation with police turned violent. This is Riley's story as well as a behind-the-scenes look at organized black labor in a Deep South port.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476639284
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	03/10/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	213
File size:	11 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Former Miami Herald reporter, Ted Reed is a business and labor writer. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. John Yurechko is a retired senior government military analyst. He lives in Locust Grove, Virginia.
Former Miami Herald reporter, Ted Reed is a business and labor writer. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.
John Yurechko is a retired senior government military analyst. He lives in Locust Grove, Virginia.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Preface by Ted Reed
Introduction
 1. We Lived in Our Own Little World
 2. Getting an Education, Separate Not Equal
 3. Charleston the Slave Port
 4. A City Is Born: It Grows on the Backs of Slaves
 5. The War for Freedom Leaves Many Enslaved
 6. South Carolina Declares War on the United States
 7. ­Ex-Slaves Form a Labor Union and It Folds
 8. Charleston Rots and Then Rebounds
 9. George Washington German Brings the Union Back
10. On the Waterfront
11. Containers Take Over the World
12. A Sixties Kid Takes Over Local 1422
13. A World Beyond Charleston
14. The Charleston Five
15. Lessons Learned from the Charleston Five
16. A Charleston Guy Finds Allies in New York and San Francisco
17. The Family Politics of Local 1422
18. For Labor, South Carolina Is Tough, but “The Union Is Anomalous”
19. Riley Looks to Retirement
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Ted Reed’s eagerness to cover stories untold and keen eye for detail create an amazing understanding of the intrinsic role labor unions play in making transportation industries work. I can’t think of anyone better to tackle the legacy of Kenny Riley’s transformative leadership as a powerful black labor leader in the heart of the anti-union South.”—Sara Nelson, international president, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO

From the Publisher