My Journey Through Union World: A Memoir

MY JOURNEY THROUGH UNION WORLD: A Memoir The sudden dismantling of the Living Wage NYC Campaign in 2012 also marked the fitting end of Jeff Eichler’s 30-plus year career in labor. Feeling betrayed by his union’s leadership, Eichler, who ran the Living Wage Campaign as Director of the RWDSU’s Retail Organizing Project, decided to retire. During the Covid lockdown, Jeff began writing a memoir recounting his work with several different unions from the late 1970s to 2012, a period of massive decline in union membership and worker power. Jeff’s narrative provides important insights into this interval, primarily in the New York metropolitan area. He traces the roots for his involvement with union organizations, his efforts at creating a rank-and-file led local at New York University, and his work as a staffer for various unions. It is a journey through what he calls Union World. The story is a sad one in many ways but it is told honestly.