"It was a corporate mantra for the 1990s: streamline operations, maximize profits, and keep shareholders happy with rising returns. But while executive pay skyrocketed, rank-and-file employees watched their benefits shrink, their job security evaporate, and their workload swell. With veteran journalist Stephen Franklin looking on, the blue-collar bastion of Decatur, Illinois, became the proving ground for the new corporate ruthlessness.

For nearly 10 years, Franklin witnessed an epic clash between three manufacturing goliaths and once-mighty labor unions whose members were now being brought to their knees. These massive labor disputes are brought to life here through the stories of men and women who lived through them. Chronicling a decade of disillusionment and hardship.

Franklin yields vital insights into how the rules are changing in the global economy - not just for blue-collar workers, but for all Americans - and what it will take to safeguard our quality of work and life."--BOOK JACKET.