Publishers Weekly
12/20/2021
Labor organizer Pitkin debuts with an intimate and moving account of the campaign to unionize industrial laundries in Arizona and her friendship with Alma, a laundry worker who became a fellow organizer. In 2003, Pitkin led efforts to unionize a Sodexho (now Sodexo) laundry in Phoenix where workers labored under unsafe conditions and with insufficient protections. The facility contracted with several hospitals, and workers who sorted gowns, blankets, and other soiled linens often encountered infectious bodily fluids and medical waste. (In other countries, Pitkin notes, hospital linens are sanitized by machine before workers handle them.) Presenting an up-close view of the organizing process, Pitkin describes the “underwater” phase of strategizing with a few employees before launching a union card–signing “blitz,” details Alma’s firing after a work stoppage, and documents the legal wrangling that eventually resulted in a labor contract. Throughout, Pitkin draws an extended analogy linking the biological process of metamorphosis to how union organizing transforms communities and individuals (she and Alma call each other las polillas, or the moths) and highlights the role of women workers in the American labor movement. Enriched by Pitkin’s sharp character sketches and sincere grappling with issues of class, race, and privilege, this is a bracing look at the challenges facing American workers. (Mar.)
From the Publisher
I started reading and couldn’t stop. In an age of unchecked corporate power, On the Line is a timely and lyrical story of resistance, a behind-the-scenes portrait of labor organizing with all its hope and heartache. Candid, clear-eyed and utterly engrossing, Pitkin’s writing couldn’t come at a better—or more necessary—time.”—Jessica Bruder, New York Times bestselling author of Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century “Part memoir and part rallying cry, this is a gripping tale of the birth of a union today . . . Poetic, stirring . . . A heartfelt and persuasive argument for organized labor now more than ever.” —San Francisco Chronicle “Captivating . . . Remarkable . . . Beautifully written . . . An intimate look at the volatile work of union organizing.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune “Pitkin’s book captures the drama and transformative power of labor organizing better than any book published in the United States in years. With so many powerful narratives generated by similar union campaigns in American history…we should have many more books like hers.” —The New Republic “Compelling. In this stirring debut, Daisy Pitkin deftly renders the intimate work of union organizing, demystifying the process as she takes care to ensure the focus remains on the workers themselves. Ultimately, On the Line is a ringing endorsement for the power of a union, and an essential read for anyone who's ever been inspired to fight for a better world.”—Kim Kelly, labor journalist and author of Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor “It is hard to imagine a more humanizing portrait of the American labor movement. Rendered with lyric, incandescent prose, On the Line is both deeply personal and profoundly political, with an acute sense for the ebb and flow of history. With this remarkable debut, Pitkin has given us a riveting and intimate meditation on power, class consciousness, and the true meaning of solidarity.” —Francisco Cantú, New York Times bestselling author of The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border “An excellent primer on labor organizing in addition to a gripping read. It shows just how difficult unionizing is in the U.S. and how hard people have to work to overcome this broken labor system. It’s especially relevant in the context of the current Great Resignation and reckoning with the nature of work in the U.S.”—Sarah Neilson, Shondaland.com “Highly moving and a fine piece of nonfiction . . . Gripping.”—Bill O’Driscoll, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette “Pitkin’s story will hit you in the heart as it provides an intimate view of the nitty-gritty work of organizing while emphasizing its more human side.” —Kim Kelly, Teen Vogue “Absorbing and lyrical . . . The organizing comes alive . . . Pitkin reminds us that ultimately our power lies in each other.”—Luis Feliz Leon, Labor Notes“An intimate and moving account . . . Enriched by Pitkin’s sharp character sketches and sincere grappling with issues of class, race and privilege, this is a bracing look at the challenges facing American workers.” —Publishers Weekly “Intimate and touching . . . A much-needed spotlight on the daily struggles of a vulnerable population.” —Kirkus Reviews “With vulnerability and complexity, Daisy Pitkin delivers a beautifully written cultural critique and memoir about labor organizing and labor history, resistance and surrender, the unbalanced landscape between herself and the laborers she represents, but mainly, it’s about love. On The Line is underscored by an obsession with moths, creatures—like herself—that are beckoned by flames that ultimately harm them. Pitkin is a companionable force you want on your side of any fight.”—Kerri Arsenault, author of Mill Town: Reckoning with What Remains “A riveting, elegant, and intimate masterpiece. On the Line passed the great book test for me when I set it down for the last time and marveled and grieved in its beauty and sorrow, while understanding that my view of the world had changed.”—Todd Miller, author of Storming the Wall: Climate Change, Migration, and Homeland Security “A stunning, luminous debut about what drives people to rise up for change. Pitkin tells a captivating personal story, as well as an essential cultural one, unveiling the cruelty and injustice of industrial laundries, the erosion of the right to organize, and the hard-won persistence of women who have fought for nearly a hundred years for safety and justice in the workplace.”—Alison Hawthorne Deming, author of A Woven World “Brilliant, evocative. Pitkin’s journey through the trenches of the American class war is at once personal and universal, devastating and hopeful, raw and elegant. I am grateful that she chose to share it with us. I am awed that she wrote it so beautifully.” —David Hill, Vice President, National Writers Union, and author of The Vapors
Library Journal - Audio
★ 06/01/2022
Pitkin has an agenda: to protect workers. Over a five-year period, Pitkin and Alma Gomez García, a second-shift immigrant worker, fight to unionize industrial laundry factories. They routinely deal with biohazardous waste, harsh chemicals, and faulty protective gear, and they attempt to make changes within the broken U.S. labor law system. Moving between the present and the history of the labor movement during the 19th and 20th centuries, particularly with regard to contributions from women, Pitkin deftly demonstrates the parallels of now and then; how in order for American industries to save money and produce faster, some workers have paid with their lives. Pitkin's narration makes the choice to write as though in conversation with Alma a great one. She gives depth, soul, and a human face to what it takes to organize. VERDICT At once incredibly impactful and insightful, this is a lesson in history and humanity. Highly recommended.—Anna Clark
Library Journal
03/11/2022
Community and union organizer Pitkin weaves a poetic narrative with a century of intertwining histories of union organization in the United States and its often-unsung leaders. The bulk of the story rests on her experiences navigating the fight of laundry workers in Phoenix in the early 2000s, with the help of her coworker, co-organizer, and friend, Alma. The choice to tell the story as conversations pointed toward and with Alma, successfully folds readers into the collective experience of the tumultuous journey of their struggle. Alongside the fraught emotional minutiae of organizing (a complicated process that will expand many readers' conceptions of unions themselves), this book explores the history of women's involvement in unions throughout the labor history of the 19th and 20th centuries. The substantial parallels Pikin draws among her experiences, famous labor events, and the seemingly odd focus on the history and science of moths, create an elegant chronicle out of the often-brutal realities of workers. Pitkin's literary innovation lends itself to a powerful message dissecting solidarity and the power of the collective. VERDICT A necessary addition to academic collections, and also a great choice to round out any biography collection.—Halie Kearns
Kirkus Reviews
2021-12-29
The memoir of a labor organizer’s fight to unionize commercial laundry facilities in Arizona.
In her intimate and touching debut, Pitkin shares the story of her role in bringing a voice to workers who were “tired of being treated like a machine, tired of working in such dangerous conditions, and doing it for a company that didn’t care if you get sick or hurt.” Focusing on her efforts related to the campaign at Sodexho, the author describes the friendship that emerged with Alma, an immigrant worker at the factory who became a fellow organizer. At Sodexho, which services the linens for many hospitals, the workers’ primary concerns were health and safety. Pitkin vividly describes the “gruesome” working conditions, including encountering bodily fluids, IV bags, and needles left in sheets and gowns; being forced to reuse too-thin gloves that were susceptible to puncture; lack of shoe protection; and missing safety guards on machines. Narrating as if speaking to Alma, Pitkin recounts the time they spent together during the campaign, including the fear and uncertainty they faced during their groundwork, work stoppage, and beyond. She alternates her primary narrative with a discussion of the history of labor unions in the U.S. During this arduous process, she and Alma began referring to themselves as “Las Polillas,” the moths, a takeoff on “Las Mariposas,” who “worked clandestinely to oppose the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic and were nicknamed The Butterflies.” Pitkin also interjects details about her personal life, including her recurring dreams about moths and the metamorphosis that this journey brought her as well as her view on the true meaning of solidarity. Declaring “a new wave of worker momentum,” the author rightly contends that “labor law in this country is broken, and just as in the early 1900s, a strike is a worker’s only recourse, the only way to force a company to the bargaining table.”
A much-needed spotlight on the daily struggles of a vulnerable population.
