<DIV><p>Workers in the United States have a rich tradition of fighting back and achieving gains previously thought unthinkable, from the weekend, to health care, to the right to even form a union.</p> <p>But in 2005, the number of workers organized in unions reached a 100-year low in both the public and private sectors, even though more and more people would like the protection of a union, and real wages for most workers have stagnated or declined since the early 1970s.</p> <p>Smith explores how the connection between the US labor movement and the Democratic Party, with its extensive corporate ties, has repeatedly held back working-class struggles. And she closely examines the role of the labor movement in the 2004 presidential election, tracing the shrinking electoral influence of organized labor and the failure of labor-management cooperation, &ldquo;business unionism,&rdquo; and reliance on the Democrats to deliver any real gains.</p> <p>Smith shows how a return to the fighting traditions of US labor history, with their emphasis on rank-and-file strategies for change, can turn around the labor movement.</p> <p><i>Subterranean Fire</i> brings working-class history to light and reveals its lessons for today.</p> <p><b>Sharon Smith</b> is the author of <i>Women and Socialism</i>, also published by Haymarket Books, as well as many articles on women&rsquo;s liberation and the US working class. Her writings appear regularly in <i>Socialist Worker</i> newspaper and the <i>International Socialist Review</i>. She has also written for the journal <i>Historical Materialism</i> and is a contributor to <i>Iraq Under Siege :The Deadly Impact of Sanctions and War</i> and <i>Women and the Revolution</i> by Ethel Mannin. She lives in Chicago, Illinois.</p></DIV>