Our Members Be Unlimited: A Comic About Workers and Their Unions

by Sam Wallman

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In our current political climate, people are looking for answers - and alternatives. The promise of unions is that their 'members be unlimited': that they don't belong to the rich, the powerful, or special interests, but to all workers. How did the idea of unionism arise? Where has it flourished? And what are its challenges in the 21st century? From Britain to Bangladesh, from the first union of the 18th century to today, from solidarity in Walmart China to his own experiences in an Amazon show more warehouse in Melbourne, comics journalist Sam Wallman explores the urge to come together and cooperate that arises again and again in workers and workplaces everywhere. show less

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Member Reviews

3 reviews
This was a screed that I found difficult to read -- yet I'm glad I did. I tend to think that if society is going to allow collectivist capital (i.e., corporations), any pretense to fairness requires collectivist labor (i.e., unions). The book did a good job of painting why that's the case, and what in many ways, a union would ideally be. That said, there are definitely things the author would want a union to do, that I'm not sure they should -- and he implicitly draws a sharp substantive (and moral) distinction between collective capital and collective labor that I just don't see.

(2022 Book 9)
Living in America, it feels as if we're constantly told that all of our labor freedoms are kind gifts deigned upon us workers by the rich and powerful. So it's always refreshing to see the long history of labor movements presented without the constant validation of capitalism's righteousness.

I like a lot about this book! It's brilliantly drawn, with very evocative layouts, but occasionally the text can be hard to read in print. It probably works much better via a digital medium, but I had a few instances of needing to squint to read. It's also informative, including anecdotes about labor movements dating back to the 1700s. However that information can be kind of dense. Combined that with some of the layout difficulties I had, doesn't show more always make for an easy read, but I enjoyed the content well enough to recommend to anyone interested in unionizing, which should be everyone. show less

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5+ Works 57 Members

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Common Knowledge

Original title
Our Members Be Unlimited: a comic about workers and their unions
Original publication date
2022

Classifications

Genres
Graphic Novels & Comics, Teen
DDC/MDS
741.50Arts & recreationDrawing & decorative artsDrawingComic books, graphic novels, fotonovelas, cartoons, caricatures, comic stripsCartoons, Caricatures, Comics
LCC
G2022Geography, Anthropology and RecreationAtlasesBy region or countryEastern Hemisphere. Eurasia, Africa, etc.Europe
BISAC

Statistics

Members
45
Popularity
659,312
Reviews
2
Rating
½ (4.43)
Languages
English
Media
Paper, Ebook
ISBNs
3