Chances are you haven't heard of Silver Capital, a small, now-defunct Chicago-based company that used to manufacture mirrors, frames and glass-cutting boards.

Silver Capital's workers were mostly Mexican immigrants, working for substandard wages and zero benefits--no healthcare, no pensions, no sick days. And no matter what the auto companies tell you, manufacturing work is not fun. Silver Capital workers suffered severe injuries (fingers chopped off, limbs gouged) and rarely saw a dime of compensation.

If only they had a union, right? Actually, Silver Capital workers did have a union. They were members of Teamsters Local 743, a 13,000-member local representing workers throughout Chicago. "The union never helped anybody," says Marcela Garcia, who worked at Silver Capital for seventeen years. "You'd go to them with a problem, they'd say, 'It's not my problem. Talk to the company.'"

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