ON THE LINE

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.