Description: In City Unions, the first comprehensive history of New York City's municipal unions, Mark Maier traces the rise of collective bargaining in New York City from 1896 to the present. Maier argues that despite public images of strength, many New York City unions were in fact "managers of discontent", taking on traditional management roles by preventing strikes and enforcing workplace rules.

Maier studies unions representing transit workers, teachers, police, firefighters, and other civil service employees. He shows that New York City rules for collective bargaining -- now a model for many other U.S. cities -- constrained unions by manipulating the makeup of the bargaining unit and restricting topics brought to the negotiating table. As a result, management developed a symbiotic relationship with large, bureaucratic unions that undercut membership participation, created conflict between the rank and file and their leaders, and caused unnecessary rift between city employees and city residents.

Maier's analysis of the 1975 fiscal crisis argues for new labor policies to reverse the decline in city services. He concludes that New York City employees need no longer be alienated from their jobs, from their unions, or from the community they serve.

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