WATCH: Daisy Pitkin on the Challenges Facing American Workers Today

The United States is currently in the throes of one of the largest labor upheavals in decades. More than 100,000 unionized employees have overwhelmingly voted to authorize strikes, and workers in vastly different industries across the country—from automobile and food product companies to newsrooms and bookstores—have all recently headed to picket lines.

At this crucial moment comes author and veteran community organizer Daisy Pitkin’s stirring debut book of nonfiction, which chronicles a bold five-year campaign to bring a union to the dangerous industrial laundry factories of Phoenix, Arizona.

On the Line tells the exhilarating story of the eye-opening crusade led by two women: Alma, a second-shift immigrant worker who risks her livelihood to fight for the rights of herself and her fellow factory workers, and Daisy, a young labor organizer taking on her first campaign.

Grappling with issues of race, class, and privilege, Pitkin gives us a bracing look at the challenges facing American workers today. In the first days of having freshly, officially unionized ourselves, Greenlight Bookstore is thrilled to welcome Pitkin in conversation with David Hill, author of The Vapors, for a reading and conversation that promises to edify and inspire.

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Founded in October 2009 by Rebecca Fitting and Jessica Stockton Bagnulo, Greenlight Bookstore is an independent bookstore in Brooklyn, New York. Combining the best traditions of the neighborhood bookstore with carefully curated, community-minded events, Greenlight has earned a reputation as a literary destination. Greenlight has continued to serve its community during the COVID-19 pandemic with a diverse array of virtual events, and has been inspired by the movements for racial justice across the country to engage in the work of becoming a more anti-racist company. Learn more at greenlightbookstore.com or check them out @greenlightbklyn.