M. Labor: General

6031. Barbash, Jack. The practice of unionism. New York, Harper, 1956. 465 p. 56–9325 HD6508.B353

References, comments, and suggested readings:p. 411–446.

6032. Hardman, Jacob B. S., and Maurice F. Neufeld, eds. The house of labor; internal operations of American unions. New York, Prentice-Hall, 1951. xviii, 555 p. (Prentice-Hall industrial relations and personnel series) 51–2599 HD6508.H27

The Practice of Unionism is a survey of the principles and working rules of the modern trade union. General concepts are illustrated with cases of union practice since 1933 and particularly since passage of the Labor-Management Relations (Taft-Hartley) Act in 1947. The incentives for joining and organizing labor unions are Mr. Barbash’s first consideration. There follow expositions of the organization, administration, and structure of unions; an examination of the terms and procedures in the union’s central business of collective bargaining under the Taft-Hartley provisions; and an account of its utilization of the weapons of strikes, picket lines, and boycotts. Union efforts to influence government and politics are explained as following a public policy of which the welfare state is "a shorthand description." The author writes severly of racketeering and communism in unions, calling them "labor pathology." In describing the functions and services of the group of "union technicians" to which he himself belongs, he emphasizes that the labor specialist does not make policy. Another work by the professional branch of the labor movement is The House of Labor, prepared under the auspices of the Inter-Union Institute, as the result of a cooperative study by leading staff members of a number of nationalunions. Mr. Hardman was chairman of the Institute, and Professor Neufeld is with the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University, where many of the "labor technicians" receive their training. The 45 chapters, to which almost 50 specialists have contributed, are in 8 groups. First is a general appraisal of the current state of the unions, their leaders and membership, and the labor movement as a whole. The succeeding parts cover political activities at home and abroad, union publicity and public relations, research and industrial engineering, welfare, health and community services, union administration, educational activities, and the functions and aims of the union staff.

6033. Commons, John R., and others. History of labour in the United States. New York, Macmillan, 1918–35. 4 v. 18–9293 HD8066.C7 HC101.C75, no. 4. Bibliography: v. 2, p. [539]–587; v. 3, p. 701–741;v. 4, p. 639–661.

CONTENTS.—v. 1. Introduction, by J. R. Commons. Colonial and Federal beginnings (to 1827) by D. J. Saposs. Citizenship (1827–1833) by Helen L. Sumner. Trade unionism (1833–1839) by E. B. Mittelman. Humanitarianism (1840–1860) by H. E. Hoagland.—v. 2. Nationalisation (1860–1877) by J. B. Andrews. Upheaval and reorganisation (since 1876) by Selig Perlman.—v. 3. Introduction to volumes 3 and 4, by J. R. Commons. Working conditions, by D. D. Lescohier. Labor legislation, by Elizabeth Brandeis.—v. 4. Labor movements, by Selig Perlman and Philip Taft.

The first two volumes of this classic work constituted the fourth study in the Carnegie Institution series of Contributions to American economic history (see Clark, no. 5904; Johnson, no. 5948; Meyer, no. 5923) and appeared in 1918 (reprinted last in 1935). Like the rest of the series, it was preceded by the preparation and publication of various monographs and documents. Most notable was ADocumentary History of American Industrial Society, edited by Dr. Commons and associates under the auspices of the American Bureau of Industrial Research (Cleveland, A. H. Clark, 1910–11. 11 v.). This compilation of records has provided basic source material not only for the present work but for all subsequent studies in American labor history. Volumes 3 and 4 of the History of Labour continued the original study from 1896 to 1932, and were prepared by colleagues and former students of Professor Commons at the University of Wisconsin. In his introduction this distinguished student of industrial relations gives his own witness to changes in labor organization: "In the course of twenty-five years I saw an industry evolve not only from merchant capitalism to employer capitalism, but also from struggles for ’proletarian dictatorship’ to the concerted regulations of constitutional government."

6034. Dulles, Foster Rhea. Labor in America, a history. New York, Crowell, 1955. 421 p. (The Growth of America series) 55–11009 HD8066.D8 1955

The voluminous studies of Professor Commons and his associates have been drawn on heavily by Professor Dulles in his history for the general reader. In 21 fast-moving chapters he narrates the whole story of American labor from the indentured servant system of Colonial days to the merger of the A. F. of L. and the C. I. O. in 1955. He traces the growth of the national organization of labor—the precursors, the National Labor Union, the Knights of Labor, the American Federation of Labor, the Congress of Industrial Organizations—in perspective against national socioeconomic and political development. Before turning to the teaching of history Mr. Dulles had been a newspaperman, and his training is reflected in his objective and balanced selections from the inexhaustible source material of the modern labor unions. An introduction to trade-union history designed for a wide audience including school and workers’ education groups is Labor in America, by Harold U. Faulkner and Mark Starr, new rev. ed. (New York, Oxford Book Co., 1957. 330 p.). Most of it is a simple retelling of the story of labor from the medieval guilds to the great unions of World War II and the postwar passage of the Taft-Hartley Act. A chapter explains in simplest terms the structure and functions of unions. The last two chapters, on current union activities and on trends and prospects of 1949–56, take into account the AFL-CIO merger.

6035. Peterson, Florence. American labor unions, what they are and how they work. Rev. ed. New York, Harper, 1952. 270 p. illus. 51–11948 HD6508.P42 1952

6036. Dankert, Clyde E. Contemporary unionism in the United States. New York, Prentice-Hall, 1948. xv, 521 p. diagrs. (The Prentice-Hall industrial relations and personnel series) 48–10478 HD6508.D25

By a former chief of the industrial relations division of the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Labor Unions is a handbook of noteworthy conciseness and clarity. The historic growth of the labor movement is outlined in less than 50 pages. The structure and internal government of federated organizations (A. F. of L., C. I. O.,and the railroad brotherhoods) and of national and local unions are next explained, with precise details as to membership rules, finances, and dues. Benefit programs, public relations, and educational activities are given a separate section. The relations of unions and management are discussed as regards collective bargaining, disputes, strikes, and settlements under the National Labor Relations Act, the Taft-Hartley Act, and the mediation of Federal agencies. The last part examines the international relations of American trade unions. At the end are a glossary of labor terms and a directory of unions in 1951. The same general field is covered in greater detail in the earlier work by Professor Dankert, addressed to a college or professional audience. This objective analysis includes a review of American trade union history, and separate treatments of the structure, government, principles, and activities of the A. F. of L. and the C. I.O. The labor legislation of the New Deal and the wartime and postwar position of labor are taken into account. The text was largely completed before the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947, and although the writer describes its major features, experience had not yet revealed its full significance.

6037. Reynolds, Lloyd G. Labor economics and labor relations. 2d ed., with revisions. Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall, 1956. 722 p. illus. 56–44059 HD4901.R47 1956

This serviceable text by a Yale professor of economics has two distinct parts. The first is a thorough discussion of trade unions, their history, growth, and philosophy, and of the processes of collective bargaining, the public control of labor relations, and the role of labor in politics. The new edition covers conditions and events of 1955. The second part is a study of "The Economics of the Labor Market." Here the author leaves the field of organized labor to examine the broader questions of labor supply and the labor market, of employment and unemployment, of wages and wage determination, and of minimum standards of real income. Throughout be stresses public policy in these fields. A short epilogue aims to sum up the entire labor problem, arriving at a "balance-sheet" of trade-unionism. It is, Dr. Reynolds decides, "a conservative social force and becoming increasingly so as it grows older." He is inclined to consider that, despite many deficiencies, trade-unionism tips the scale on the side of social usefulness. Reference may be made here to a still more recent study of the role of trade unions in the welfare state: John A. Fitch’s Social Responsibilities of Organized Labor (1957), mentioned above as one of Harper’s Series on ethics and economic life (no. 5899).

6038. Slichter, Sumner H. The challenge of industrial relations; trade unions, management, and the public interest. Ithaca, N.Y., Cornell University Press, 1947. 196 p. (The Messenger lectures on the evolution of civilization, 1946) 47–3448 HD8072.S6165

One reviewer said that this little book, embodying six lectures given by Professor Slichter at Cornell University, "may be regarded, by all odds, as the best single volume on modern industrial relations." The author’s writing on labor questions goes back to his thesis at the University of Chicago in 1918, The Turnover of Factory Labor, with foreword by John R. Commons (New York, Appleton, 1919. 460 p). A major work, Union Policies and Industrial Management (Washington, Brookings Institution, 1941. 597 p. The Institute of Economics of the Brookings Institution. Publication no. 85), is a well-rounded examination of collective bargaining. In the present lectures he looks at the labor movement in general, the effect of unions on management, union wage policies, the government of unions, the problem of industrial peace, and the control of unions in the public interest. Central to his discussion is his view that trade unions constitute the greatest private economic power in the community, and that their policies are a major determinant of national prosperity and industrial democracy.

6039. Taft, Philip. The structure and government of labor unions. Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1954. xix, 312 p. tables. (Wertheim Fellowship publications in industrial relations) 54–8633 HD6508.T27

A close study of the internal aspects of unions, which begins with a survey of radicalism in American labor. Professor Taft takes a cross-section of union history to show that the membership of the unions, in spite of vigorous attempts by Communist leaders, has always rejected radical philosophy. He examines on the same pattern elections and competition for office, dues, initiation fees, and salaries of officers, and "does not shy away from investigating the most intimate aspect of union life, namely, how and for what reasons unions discipline their members" ("Foreword" by S. H. Slichter). Three chapters are case histories of particular unions. "The Unlicensed Seafaring Unions" have been important targets for Communist agitation and the scene of incessant intra- and interunion battles. The two largest unions of C. I. O., the Automobile Workers’ Union and the Steel Workers’ Union, are compared in detail. An individual case study is made of the expanding and aggressive Teamsters’ Union (three years too early for comment on its disciplinary expulsion from AFL-CIO). The authorreturns to the theme of democratic theory in a last look at the present state of the unions: "Far from perfect, unions fundamentally reflect the will of their members. They not only fulfill a vital need for the workers’ representation and protection in industry, but they are the most effective guarantee against Communist infiltration into American labor."

6040. Twentieth Century Fund. Employment and wages in the United States, by Wladimir S. Woytinsky and associates. New York, 1953. xxxii, 777 p. 53–7170 HD8072.T8

This extensive survey presents a tremendous array of data on American labor and its remuneration, past and present (from before 1870 to and including 1950), which is set down statistically in tables (242 in the text, 118 in the appendix) and 86 graphs and maps. These are embodied in a full expository text, documented in footnotes. The whole is designed to provide reliable source material for future studies. The coverage is indicated in the foreword: "The working people of the United States and their conditions of labor: the size, make-up and distribution of the labor force; the various occupations represented and the numbers of workers employed in each; the ebb and flow of employment and unemployment; the wages that American workers are paid and how their wages are determined; their hours of labor and other working conditions and the regulations and controls that government has imposed upon them; labor unions and the role they play in the vast drama of wages and employment; the underpinnings of insurance which have been set up to make the worker’s life more secure; and finally, the relation of all these basic facts to the operation of the economy as a whole."

6041. Ulman, Lloyd. The rise of the national trade union; the development and significance of its structure, governing institutions, and economic policies. Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1955.xix, 639 p. diagrs., tables. (Wertheim publications in industrial relations) 56–5175HD6508.U4

In the first five parts of this long and scholarly monograph the writer analyzes the historical development of the trade union movement in the late 19th and early 20th century. By the turn of the century, he finds, the nationally organized union had achieved maturity as to its governing institutions, its relationships with local unions and other labor bodies, its strike and wage policies, and its work rules. Among causes for nationalization he emphasizes the important factor of geographical mobility—the "traveling member" who moved to new ground for a jobs—and the financial and other coordinated assistance which the national organization could provide to support local strikes. His special research sources were the constitutions, proceedings, and journals of five national unions, the Bricklayers’, Carpenters’, Printers’, Molders’, and Bottle Blowers’. In his sixth part he examines the wage and strike policies of these and other national unions and compares them with employers’ policies. In the seventh he proceeds to the theory of labor unions, criticizing the older views of J. R. Commons and Selig Perlman, and offering his own hypothesis based on a profit motivation of labor matching the individualism of American enterprise; it is this which has produced a dynamic "business unionism" concentrated upon collective bargaining.

6042. Yoder, Dale. Manpower economics and labor problems. 3d ed. New York, McGraw-Hill, 1950. 661 p. illus. 50–8119 HD8072.Y6 1950

Previous editions published under title: Labor Economics and Labor Problems.

A comprehensive work on manpower as "the most versatile, valuable, and complicated resource of modern societies," and on the problems arising out of the use of this resource in our society. The first four chapters are devoted to theoretical and historical examination of the general theme. Then particular aspects are studied as to practice and policy: wages; employment and unemployment; the labor of such special groups as women, children, the aged, and the handicapped; and questions of status in industry. It is only in the last third of the book that Professor Yoder focuses his attention on organized labor. He examines American trade unions (in 1949 amounting to approximately one-fourth of the total labor force) in respect to the practices, policy, and economic implications of collective bargaining. Last he looks at industrial relations, reviewing such devices for "maximized cooperation" as profit sharing, employee stock ownership, employee representation, and union-management collaboration, but suggesting that the "simple virtues" of honesty, sincerity, and integrity are more important in establishing mutual confidence. The author is director of the Industrial Relations Center at the University of Minnesota and a frequent consultant to government agencies on manpower problems. His big textbook, Personnel Management and Industrial Relations, 4th ed. (Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall, 1956. 941 p.), has been a standard work in its field since its first appearance in 1938.