Why should a Polish locomotive engineer put his livelihood at risk to benefit a black or Chinese gandy dancer merely because they both happened to work for the same large corporation? Labor agitation inevitably involves a dilemma of collective action, tempting some workers (strikebreakers or “scabs”) to defect from the union side. That temptation was especially great for African Americans and other ethnic minorities excluded from unions by white prejudice. Thus, successful unionization inherently involves remolding identities. Only intensive efforts by union organizers to build solidarity
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