Labor Day
This Labor Day, readers curious about the past, present, and future of the labor movement in the U.S. (and beyond) may enjoy this selection of fiction and nonfiction about labor organizers, unions, strikes, and worker’s rights.

The Hammer : Power, Inequality, and the Struggle for the Soul of Labor
by Hamilton Nolan

A long-time labor journalist presents this urgent on-the-ground excavation of the past, present and future of the American labor movement, drawing the line from forgotten workplaces in rural West Virigina to Washington's halls of power and showing how labor solidarity can transform American politics—if it can first transform itself.
The Great Stewardess Rebellion : How Women Launched a Workplace Rebellion at 30,000 Feet
by Nell McShane Wulfhart

In this rousing narrative of female empowerment and the paradigm-shifting‘60s and‘70s, a group of spirited stewardesses who, pushing back on unrealistic expectations, fought for their rights in the cabin and revolutionized the workplace for all American women. 
Fight Like Hell : The Untold History of American Labor
by Kim Kelly

This history of the labor movement examines the workers and organizers who risked their livelihoods to fight for fair wages, better working conditions and an eight-hour workday. .
Gilded Mountain
by Kate Manning

A young 1900s Colorado woman starts work at a wealthy mine-owner's manor house and is fascinated by luxury around her until she discovers the family's philosophy is at odds with the unfair labor practices that built their fortune.
The Great Escape : A True Story of Forced Labor and Immigrant Dreams in America
by Saket Soni

A labor leader recounts how 500 workers from India were brought to American under false pretenses and in held in near slavery conditions and how was able to win them citizenship.
No Right to an Honest Living : The Struggles of Boston's Black Workers in the Civil War Era
by Jacqueline Jones

An award-winning historian, in this harrowing portrait of Black workers and white hypocrisy in 19th-century Boston, highlights their everyday struggles and how injustice in the workplace prevented this city—and the US—from securing true equality for all. 
A Woman of Pleasure
by Kiyoko Murata

After being sold to an exclusive Japanese brothel in 1903, a teenager begins to understand the intertwining of sex and money and unites her fellow courtesans to organize a strike and walk away into the possibility of new lives.
The Spoiled Heart
by Sunjeev Sahota

Running for the leadership of his labor union, Nayan Olak, pitted against newcomer and formidable challenger, Megha, finds their differences spiraling out of control, complicating the ideals he's always held dear and discovers a few words or a single action can trigger a cascade of unimaginable consequences.
Rednecks
by Taylor Brown

Dramatizing the 1920 to 1921 events of the West Virginia Mine Wars, this powerful story of rebellion against oppression follows a Black WWI veteran and coal miner as he leads a miners' revolt and a Lebanese American doctor who risks his life and career to treat the sick and wounded miners.
Labor's Partisans : Essential Writings on the Union Movement from the 1950s to Today
by Nelson Lichtenstein

Introduced and edited by leading labor historians, this essential volume, with over 25 contributions by influential progressive voices, reveals the powerful currents and debates running through the labor movement from the 1950s to today.
Turf Wars : The Fight for the Soul of America's Game
by DeMaurice Smith

An NFL insider's explosive account of the ruthless power struggles between owners and players over the future of football, revealing unprecedented levels of greed and corruption behind closed doors.