AFSCME's Philadelphia Story
Municipal Workers and Urban Power in the Twentieth Century

A history of the largest union in the AFL-CIO and its growth in a major American city

AFSCME's Philadelphia Story provides the most comprehensive account of the early years of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which is one of America's largest and most politically powerful unions in the AFL-CIO. Author Francis Ryan details the emergence of the Quaker City's interracial union, charting its beginnings in the political patronage system of one of the nation's most notorious political machines to the first decade of the twenty-first century. Ryan provides new insight into the working class origins of African American political power in the late twentieth century as well as a thorough overview of the role the municipal state played in the urban economy of one of the nation's largest cities. Ryan describes the work processes and how they changed, and uses workers' testimonies to ground the detailed accounts of issues and negotiations. Beginning in the 1920s and ending in the 2000s, Ryan's study offers a long-term analysis of the growth of a single union in a major American city.

Introduction
1: Ward Politics and Municipal Labor in Philadelphia in the 1920s
2: The Founding of the Municipal Workers Union
3: Forging Municipal Unionism in Philadelphia, 1939-1945
4: The Challenge of Reform, 1946-1952
5: Working for America's City 1952-1961
6: The New Militancy in Philadelphia
7: The Stout Era, 1970-1986
8: Philadelphia Municipal Workers in a Global Age
Appendix: AFSCME District Council