"A Ghost at the Bargaining Table: Labor Unions and Defense Production in the 1960s"

This paper examines union organizers as they looked to capitalize on boom conditions in the newly minted "Aerospace" industry. As overall union density began to fall after the mid 1950s, the aerospace sector, which was dominated by defense contracting, remained highly organized. Laborites in the AFL-CIO, the IAM, and the UAW established close ties to the Pentagon and aerospace company executives. Rank-and-file members constructed their identities as national security-essential workers. Yet, fundamental contradictions between union prerogatives and those of defense policy began to plague the relationship.