The Changing of the Guard: The New American Labor Leader

By ARTHUR R. SCHWARTZ and MICHELE M. HOYMAN

ABSTRACT: This article analyzes recent changes in the leadership of international unions. There has been a trend toward leaders who are lifetime bureaucrats rather than rank-and-file members with charisma. This change toward more technocratic leadership is due to the different environment and new challenges that labor currently faces. The is a good example of a union that has had many changes in the type of person who has become president, from the labor giant John L. Lewis to the 33-year-old lawyer . The is an example of a union whose leadership has been consistently drawn from the union hierarchy. The AFL-CIO has made a change in leadership from to the labor bureaucrat . There will probably be an increase in the number of women and minorities in top leadership positions in unions, but this will be a gradual increase.

Arthur R. Schwartz is an assistant research scientist at the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations, University of Michigan. His research interests include the economic impact and changing nature of collective bargaining. He received his Ph. D. in economics from the University of Michigan. Michele M. Hoyman is an assistant professor at the University of Missouri—St. Louis. Her research interests include the impact of government regulation on unions as well as women’sparticipation in unions. She received her Ph. D. in political science from the University of Michigan.

64 65

any organization the leader has a and sport an undergraduate or profes- I Ngreat impact on overall direction sional degree. In other words, the mod- and policy. This is especially true of ern labor leader may look less like their labor unions. Many labor leaders have rank-and-file members than like their put their stamp on a union that lasts counterparts on the management side of beyond their lifetime. For example, the the table. The labor leaders of the past adherence of the AFL-CIO to the politi- had less education. They started out cal philosophy of is working on the shop floor of the plant or one reason there never has been a suc- the mill and had a strong ideological cessful labor party in the .’I commitment. The new breed of union In this article we attempt to look at leader has more formal education and the new breed of labor leader. In doing fewer direct roots in the working class. so, we examine the old labor leader and The new labor leader may be less pugi- the changing role of unions in society. listic, less rough and ready, and more The emphasis is on international union sophisticated and accommodating. presidents, although there is also some One of the major changes in the discussion of lower-level officers and union presidency is the road to the top. union staff. We examine briefly the job Historically there was only one road, of a union president and union election and that was up from the rank and file. procedures. We then present case stu- Today there are three primary paths: the dies of presidential succession in three traditional rank-and-file road, the rise unions, followed by a look at the inroads from within the union bureaucracy, and that women and minorities have made the route of the outside professional into union leadership positions. Finally, who moves directly into union leader- we conclude with some thoughts about ship. Most of the old leaders provide the labor leader of the 1990s. Although examples of the first way. Lane Kirk- our comments apply generally to the land is one leader who used the second entire labor movement, they are most route, since his power came from &dquo;his applicable to the large industrial unions, mastery of the skills needed to run a and we thus focus most of our attention large organization and from his absorp- on those unions. tion in the details of labor relations and social policy.&dquo;2 Richard Trumka, the LABOR LEADERS newly elected president of the United YESTERDAY AND TODAY Mine Workers (UMW) represents the third route: the professional-here, a The great leaders have either died or lawyer-who moves to the presidency retired, and a new generation of labor on the basis of expertise, not all of which leader has come to power. The present- is gained directly from the labor move- day union leader is likely to carry a ment. briefcase, look like a business executive, One essential difference between the new and old guard in the labor move- 1. See for example, Michael J. Piore, "Can ment is of the American Labor Movement Survive Re-Gom- the position organized labor perization?" in Proceedings of the Thirty-fifth Annual Meeting of the Industrial Relations Re- search Association (Madison, WI: IRRA, 1983), 2. Joel Denker, Unions and Universities vol. 30. (Montclair, NJ: Allanheld, Osmun, 1981), p. 105. 66

in society. Many of the earlier leaders of their union, and the other members of were in power during the formative a national political elite. years of the labor movement in the Uni- Today’s union leader must also be a ted States. Harry Bridges began his term technocrat-with responsibilities for in 1937 and John L. Lewis in 1919; Wal- compliance with federal and state law ter Reuther was active in the United on union elections, pensions, equal em- Auto Workers in the 1930s. These were ployment, and occupational safety and years in which labor was fighting for health as well as to the numerous labor simple recognition. laws that have historically regulated the In the 1980s the threats to labor come organizing and collective bargaining from different directions, since unions activities of unions. The contemporary are now a fact of life in the United labor leader is also a manager, since States, protected by law. The modern union bureaucracies have grown very day threats come from firms that peddle large in the last 30 years. The union union-free environments; from the leader manages a large permanent staff changing demographic characteristics and must solve all the internal problems of the work force, which pose challenges that arise in supervising that staff, in- to unions’ organizing efforts; and from cluding, in recent years, even bargaining the changing industrial structure in the with staff unions that have been formed. United States. Leading a union in a There are other aspects of a union period when overall union growth has president’s job. The modern labor leader slowed and many traditional, smoke- is an important actor on the national stack industries are facing a long-run political scene. In addition, the union decline in employment requires a differ- president still serves for the most part as ent type of labor leader, one that is the chief bargainer for the union. In skilled in the technical aspects of unions short, the many demands on a contem- as well as the details of organizing. porary union leader may resemble those experienced by local union leaders that JOB OF THE Sayles and Strauss described nearly two UNION LEADER decades ago.3

International unions vary greatly in CHOOSING A LEADER their structure, their history, and their size, so it is difficult to make a single and Theoretically, union leaders are sel- universally applicable statement about ected democratically. The procedures the job of a union president. The mod- for selecting union leaders are regulated ern labor leader, as its top elected offi- by the government in the United States cial, must still represent the membership through the Landrum-Griffin or Labor- of the union. However, there are multi- ple constituencies for the contemporary labor leader, making a substantial 3. Leonard Sayles and George Strauss, The amount of role conflict inherent in the Local Union, Its Place in the Industrial Plant the office. These constituencies include (New York: Harper, 1953); and Martin Estey, The members of the union; other interna- Unions: Structure, Development and Manage- tional union leaders, such as the AFL- ment (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, CIO Executive Board; the staff members 1981). 67

Management Reporting and Disclosure was somewhat higher, at approximately Act of 1959.4 25 percent8 The methods that individual unions One implication of the relatively small of use to elect their presidents vary. A few turnover union presidents is that the tenure tends unions, such as the United Mine Workers in office to be quite long. and the , have direct For example, Harry Bridges was presi- dent of election of their presidents by the mem- the Longshoremen from 1937 to bership. One union, the International 1977; John L. Lewis headed the UMW for 41 Typographical Union, actually has a years; and the AFL has had only four from two-party system.5 The most common presidents 1886 to 1983.9 method of choosing a president is by convention. In most cases there is only PATHS TO THE PRESIDENCY one slate of candidates that is endorsed What follow are three case studies the executive board. That slate is by that illustrate various routes taken to almost always elected, although incum- union leadership. bents have been defeated on occasion.6 Turnover among union leaders tends to be rather low. Between 1948 and The United Mine Workers the turnover rate for union 1967, average The UMW is a good example of the presidents was approximately 20 per- trend of leadership change that has cent per year. Most of the turnover was developed in the labor movement. For due to retirement or failure to run for over 40 years the union was headed by reelection.7 Turnover from 1971 to 1979 John L. Lewis, who turned the UMW into a labor autocracy.10 Lewis did not really face an electoral challenge of any 4. For two excellent studies of the impact of substance after 1927. He ran the UMW Landrum-Griffin, see Doris McLaughlin and with an iron hand until his retirement at Anita L. Schoomaker, The Landrum-Griffin Act age eighty in 1960. and Union Democracy (Ann Arbor: University of the brief of Michigan Press, 1979), and Janice Bellace and Following presidency Alan Berkowitz, The Landrum-Griffin Act: 20 Tom Kennedy from 1960 to 1963, W. A. Years of Federal Protection of Union Members’ (&dquo;Tony&dquo;) Boyle became president. He Rights (Philadelphia: University of , 1978). 5. Derek C. Bok and John T. Dunlop, Labor 8. Of the 175 and the American Community (New York: Simon changes in union presidents over the period 1971-79, 52 (30 were due and Schuster, 1970), p. 494. percent) to 62 6. For example, Albert Shanker defeated retirement, (35 percent) due to resignation or failure to seek a David Seldon for the presidency of the American new term, and 18 (10 percent) due to death. or Federation of Teachers in 1974, and Walter Reu- Only 22, 12.5 percent, were due to election defeat. This information was ther wrested the presidency of the UAW at the 1946 gathered from U.S., Bureau of Labor Statistics, convention. For a description of the 1946 UAW Directory of National Unions and Associations convention, see Victor G. Reuther, The Brothers Employee (Washington, DC: of Reuther (: Houghton Mifflin, 1979), p. Department Labor, 1973, 258. 1975, 1977, 1979). 9. For the AFL this does not count the 7. Marvin Snowbarger, "Reply to Professor pre- of John McBride of the 1894-95. Koziara" (comment on "Landrum-Griffin and sidency UMW, 10. Paul F. Union President Turnover"), Industrial Relations, Clark, The Miners’ Fight for Democ- 11(1):120 (Feb. 1972). racy (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 1981), p. 5. 68 had been a vice-president of the union membership and halting the decline in and prior to that had been assistant to the union’s membership and power.lb the president for 12 years. He came The UMW provides an interesting through the union hierarchy, having case study of the different paths to lead- also been at one time the president of the ership. In the 23 years from 1960 to Montana coal miners. I I The administra- 1983, they have moved from the giant tion of Tony Boyle has been well docu- Lewis through the corrupt Boyle, the mented for its corruption, culminating rank-and-file reformer Miller, the union in the brutal murder of rival union can- bureaucrat Church, and the young, ur- didate Jock Yablonski, his wife, and bane lawyer Trumka. Part of the recent daughter in 1969.’2 This caused the for- trend could be due to the decline in mation of Miners for Democracy and membership from 450,000 in 1962 to the challenge of , who 245,000 in 1980.~~ It appears that in defeated Boyle in the election of 1972. order to reestablish the UMW as a Miller was a rank-and-file reformer major union in the face of a growing with little experience in union adminis- nonunion sector, a slumping economy, tration. III health forced his resignation and increased mechanization, the union in 1979 amidst general disenchantment turned to a professional who could of the union staff over his efforts.’3 speak for the union from a position of Miller was succeeded by Sam Church. expertise-someone who could deal with Church had been a local president, a government and management on their field representative, an international level. Whether this trend continues will representative, and finally UMW vice- of course depend on the success of the president in 1977.14 He was in many presidency of Richard Trumka. ways an example of the union bureau- crat coming to the top, although he cer- The United Auto Workers tainly did have rank-and-file credentials. The in the of In 1982 he was challenged by Richard change type leadership of the UMW can be contrasted with the Trumka, a 33-year-old lawyer and former member of the UMW legal staff stability in the United Auto Workers to the who was at the time a member of the (UAW). From 1946 1983, UAW International Executive Board from has had four presidents. All of them UMW District Four, which is western reflect the same path: from the rank and Pennsylvania.15 Church had become file, to the union bureaucracy, to the unpopular during the strike of 1981, and presidency. is consid- like a of the labor there was the general feeling that the ered, Lewis, giant movement. He came from a UMW was in decline. By a two-to-one working- class attended some col- margin, Trumka was elected as the new background, UMW president. He had campaigned lege, and had a social reformer’s politi- cal He rose from the vigorously on the theme of increasing pro gram . 1 position 16. Geroge Ruben, "Collective Bargaining in 11. Ibid., p. 19. 1982: Results Dictated by Economy," Monthly 12. Ibid., p. 26. Labor Review, 106(1):36 (Jan. 1983). 13. Ibid., pp. 27, 136. 17. Courtney D. Gifford, ed., Directory of 14. Ibid., p. 137. U.S. Labor Organizations, 1982-83 (Washington, 15. "A Militant Miner Worries Industry," DC: Bureau of National Affairs, 1982), p. 70. Business Week, 13 Sept. 1982. 18. Reuther, The Brothers Reuther, pp. 44-70. 69 of vice-president in charge of the General his predecessors. At the time of his elec- Motors department to become presi- tion he was vice-president and head of dent of the union in 1946. Reuther was a the General Motors department. He was very charismatic leader who, through elected president in a very close three- sheer force of personality, often was way race by a slim majority of the execu- able to carry the entire union with him. tive board. He will have to lead the After the death of Reuther in 1970, UAW in a very uncertain period, when Leonard Woodcock became president membership is falling and employment and served until 1977. Woodcock rose in the automobile industry is not grow- to his position from the vice-presidency ing. In addition, he will have the chal- in charge of the General Motors de- lenging task of negotiating the successor partment, the same springboard used by contract to the concession agreements. Reuther. Woodcock had attended col- The UAW case contrasts somewhat lege, and he too was active in the forma- with the UMW, since the former has not tive years of the UAW. He spent a long had as abrupt a switch in types of leader. time in the UAW bureaucracy and is an All of the leaders of the UAW have example of a union bureaucrat making come up through the union bureau- it to the top. 19 cracy. Bieber was 52 years old when When Woodcock had to retire upon elected president, not of the same gener- reaching the mandatory retirement age ation as the UMW’s 33-year-old Trumka. of 65, he was succeeded by Douglas The membership of the UAW seems Fraser, who at the time headed the content to stay with leaders drawn di- General Motors department of the rectly from the union hierarchy. UAW. He had been in the union bureaucracy since shortly after World The AFL-CI4 War II. He narrowly lost the presidency The final case is the most dramatic in 1970 and was the unanimous choice in of a in that 1977. He was a charismatic leader more example change leadership, of the in the AFL-CIO’s in the Reuther mold than in the Wood- change presid- ency from George Meany to Lane Kirk- cock mold. Even though the union was land. As already indicated, Kirkland is losing members and he had to preside the typical union bureaucrat. He is a over a series of concession agreements, with run- Fraser kept his personal popularity. He college graduate, experience ning a large organization. He had been was acclaimed by leaders of labor and of the AFL-CIO for business alike as a statesman.zo secretary-treasurer ten years and was hand-picked by Meany The retirement of Fraser upon reach- to be his successor.21 Meany, on the ing age 65 makes the break with the other hand, was one of the real founders Reuther generation of leadership. How- of the American labor movement, a ever, the new president, , leader in the Gompers tradition . 22 He followed the same path to leadership as 21. Gifford, Directory of U.S. Labor Organi- 19. Doris McLaughlin, "A Conversation with zations, 1982-83, p. 6. Leonard Woodcock," Michigan Quarterly Review, 22. Gus Tyler, "Leadership Training for the 21(4):531 (Fall 1982). Future," in Trade Unionism in the United States: 20. Ralph Orr and Billy Bowles, "The Making A Symposium in Honor of Jack Barbash, ed. of Doug Fraser," Detroit Free Press, Detroit James L. Stern and Barbara D. Dennis (Madison: Magazine, 3 Apr. 1983. University of Wisconsin, 1981), p. 123. 70 was not a technocrat by any means; he over 25 percent, thus giving a total for was more of the old school: the rough the entire labor movement of 10.7 per- and ready leader who fought to put the cent who are female officers.25 As of labor movement in a position of power 1981 there were no women presidents of and keep it there against old and new AFL-CIO-affiliated unions.26 There were enemies. His style and philosophy did some women presidents of independent not please everyone in the labor move- unions, most of which were quite small ment and led to a break on strict ideo- There is slightly better representation logical grounds with Walter Reuther of women on executive boards of unions: and the UAW in 1968. The transition of 7.2 percent of all union board members AFL-CIO leadership has been truly that are women. Associations were once again of the old guard to the union bureaucrat. higher, with 35.3 percent of their board members being women. There are some THE ROLE OF WOMEN unions with high representation of AND MINORITIES women on their executive boards-such as the Attendants, whose board Women and minorities are better Flight has 56 women out of 61 the represented in union leadership posi- members; and Textile tions than in the past, but still in lesser Amalgamated Clothing Workers Union with 6 out numbers than their proportion in the (ACTWU), of the American Federation of labor movement or in the work force. 47; Teachers with 8 out of 31; and the Women form an integral part of the National Education Association, whose labor market, comprising 43 percent of board is almost 50 percent female. the labor force. Almost 63 percent of all Nearly all of the 50 state AFL-CIO executive women between the ages of 18 and 64 boards have at least one female are in the labor forced The proportion member.28 there were 9 of women members in unions has been However, only out of 173 officers of state AFL-CIOs increasing, from 16.6 percent in 1954 to who were women. 24.2 percent in 1978. When we include On the 35-member AFL-CIO execu- both unions and associations, the pro- tive board, there are currently two portion of women members rises to 28.1I women: Joyce Miller .of the ACTWU percent in 1978 and 30.1 percent in It 980.24 25. Officers include In 1978 there were only three AFL- president, vice-presidents, and secretary-treasurer. The source is Directory of CIO unions with as many as two female National Unions and Employee Associations, officers. Of the 1026 officers of AFL- 1979. CIO and unaffiliated unions, 67, or 6.6 26. The Association of Flight Attendants, percent, were female. The percentage which is a division of the Air Line Pilots Associa- had a woman as in 1981. for employee associations was slightly. tion, president 27. The exceptions were some school employee associations. The largest unions headed by women 23. U.S., Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employ- were the Ohio Association of Classified School with and the Ohio ment and Earnings, 30(1):142 (Jan. 1983). Employees, 28,373 members, 24. Directory of National Unions and Em- Civil Service Employees Association, with 17,260 members. The source is the ployee Associations, 1979, p. 62; and Directory of Directory of National Unions and Associations, 1979. U.S. Labor Organizations, 1982-83, p. 3. Women Employee 28. National Unions and Em- members accounted for 60 percent of total em- Directory of ployee association membership. ployee Associations, 1979, p. 95. 71 and president of the Coalition of Labor the case, there have been a number of Union Women (CLUW), and Barbara active women’s groups formed recently, Hutchinson of the American Federation such as Women Employed, which have of Government Employees (AFGE). launched successful organizing drives, These women were appointed to the coupled with litigation on behalf of executive board in 1980 and 1981, female workers in the clerical and bank- respectively. Prior to 1980 the board ing industries.3° Women still tend to be was all male. concentrated in nonmanufacturing in Although these figures suggest that general, where they make up 46.4 per- the proportion of women in leadership cent of all workers, and services in par- is far from approaching that of women ticular, where they are almost 60 percent in membership, this discrepancy may of the work force. This is the area in not be that much greater than exists which overall union growth has oc- between the rank and file and the politi- curred. In manufacturing only 32.3 per- cal elite of other groups in society. For cent of employees are women.31 Given instance, the discrepancy between the this, it is expected that the proportion of proportion female in the population- female union members will continue to 51 percent-and the proportion of grow. women in the U.S. Congress-less than Further, there have been some recent 5 percent-is striking also. events suggesting that the status of Even though the percentage of female women in leadership positions in unions union membership is growing, Rattner may be changing. First, there is the for- and Cook argue that this increase is not mation of CLUW, founded in 1974, due to a concerted effort on the part of which currently has 18,000 members. It labor to organize women, but to the fact has among its goals to organize unor- that newly organized industries are dis- ganized women, to increase participa- proportionately female.29 Even if this is tion of women within their unions, and to lobby for political action and legisla- 29. Ronnie Steinberg Rattner and Alice Cook, tion beneficial to women. Women, Unions and Equal Employment Oppor- There is evidence to suggest that for tunity, Working Paper 3, (Albany, NY: Center CLUW is making great changes as a Women in Government, 1981), p. 1. For a discus- sion of women and trade unions see, Barbara Wer- theimer, We Were There (New York: Pantheon (Madison, WI: IRRA, 1980); Karen Koziara and Press, 1977); Barbara Wertheimer and Anne Nel- David Pierson, "Barriers to Women Becoming son, Women (New York: Praeger, Union Leaders," in "Proceedings of the Thirty- 1975); Michele Hoyman, "Labor Unions and Civil third Annual Meeting of the Industrial Relations Rights Compliance" (Ph.D. diss. University of Research Association (Madison, WI: IRRA, Michigan, 1978); Alice Cook, "Women and Amer- 1981), pp. 48-54; and Alice Cook, The Trade ican Unions," The Annals of the American Acad- Union Movement and Working Women (Paper emy of Political and Social Science, 124 (Jan. presented for the World Congress of Sociology, 1968); Virginia Bergquist, "Women’s Participa- Uppsala, Sweden, Aug. 1978). tion in Labor Organizations," Monthly Labor 30. See Elyse Glassberg, Naomi Baden, and Review, 10:97, 3 (Oct. 1974); Michele Hoyman, Karin Gerstel, Absentfrom the Agenda: A Report "Leadership Responsiveness in Local Unions and on the Role of Women in American Unions (New Title VII Compliance: Does Democracy Mean York: Coalition of Labor Union Women, Center More Representation for Blacks and Women?" in for Education and Research, 1980). Proceedings of the Thirty-second Annual Meeting 31. U.S., Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employ- of the Industrial Relations Research Association ment and Earnings, 1:30, 165 (Jan. 1983). 72 result of its advocacy role. Lane Kirk- tion, voting for union office is at-large, land recently appointed Joyce Miller, in and minorities cannot be sure of electing her capacity as head of CLUW, to the someone to any leadership position be- AFL-CIO executive board. In addition, cause in most cases they are also a there have been a number of drives minority in the union. In some unions it launched by CLUW in order to educate took strong downward pressure from and lobby on women’s issues.32 Women the leaders on the members to elect the are making gains in the union move- first black officer.36 ment, but they are mainly at the second Although this article concentrates on level of power.33 The following quota- blacks because they are the largest single tion from Joyce Miller describes the minority, there are other important mi- prospects for increases in women’s lead- norities critical to the future of the ership : American labor movement and particu- to the of the labor The 80s is the decade of women advancing to larly leadership such as Chicanos. The Uni- leadership on the local levels. We see more movement, Farm Workers is a union that has and more women elected as local presidents, ted central labor council presidents, state federa- been described in its organizing efforts tion secretary-treasurer, etc. As women swell as almost synonymous with the expres- the ranks of union membership on the rank sion of an ethnic movement. This is the and file level and begin to move even further case because of the overwhelming pro- on the local we will see the level, possibility portion of migrant workers who are of a woman union president, women state Chicano and because the leadership is federation presidents, etc. By 1990 we should Chicano. 31 be better situated in terms of national leader- ship.34

The literature on blacks and minori- Black Workers in White Unions: Job Discrimina- ties in unions by such authors as Hill tion in the U.S. (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University and Gould indicates that there may have Press, 1977). For more on the subject see Ray been substantial underrepresentation of Marshall, Employment of Blacks in the South: A Perspective on the 1960s (Austin: University of blacks and minorities in unions, on both Texas Press, 1978); Ray Marshall, Employment local and international due to levels, Discrimination: The Impact of Legal Administra- barriers to their participation.35 In addi- tive Remedies (New York: Praeger, 1978); and Herbert Hill, "The AFL-CIO and The Black 32. For a description of these issues see Glass- Worker: Twenty-five Years After the Merger," berg, Baden, and Gerstel, Absentfrom the Agenda. Journal of Intergroup Relations, 10(1):5 (Spring, 33. Some examples are the American Federa- 1982). tion of Teachers, the Communication Workers of 36. Ralph Orr, "Equality at the Union Halls America, the International Ladies Garment Work- Didn’t Come Without a Fight," Detroit Free ers Union, and the Service Employees. The source Press, 2 Dec. 1980. is the Directory of National Unions and Employee 37. See Karen Koziara, "Agriculture," in Col- Associations, 1979. lective Bargaining: Contemporary American Ex- 34. Miller to Michele M. Hoyman, June 1983. perience, ed. Gerald G. Somers (Madison, WI: 35. The principle of exclusivity means that Industrial Relations Research Association, 1980), there is an exclusive bargaining agent for all pp. 263-314; Karen Koziara, "Agricultural Labor employees. There are no provisions made to Relations in Four States—A Comparison," Month- represent minorities. See Herbert Hill, Black ly Labor Review, 100(5):14 (May 1977); and Labor and the American Legal System: Race, Michael Dempsey, "Si Se Puede: An Examination Work and the Law (Washington, DC: Bureau of of Agricultural Collective Bargaining in Califor- National Affairs, 1977) and William B. Gould, nia. An Assessment of the California Agricultural 73

In 1980 the category &dquo;black and oth- (CBTU) in 1972 has served as a focal ers&dquo; accounted for 12.4 percent of the point for blacks who want to move up in total civilian labor force. Of this classifi- the labor movement. Like CLUW, it is cation, 81.3 percent were black.38 Of all not a separatist movement, but one that organized workers, 14.9 percent were in is pledged to work within the framework the black-and-others category. The per- of the trade union movement.41 It is centage of black workers who were probable that gains in the union move- union members-29 percent-was high- ment by blacks at the staff level will er than that for whites-22.2 percent.’9 continue and the number of second-tier The information on blacks in leader- leadership positions will continue to ship roles is not as complete as that for grow. A key question is whether a black women. There are two blacks currently will be elected president of a large indus- serving on the executive board of the trial union in the near future. Recent AFL-CIO: Frederick O’Neal-president presidential openings in two unions, the of the Associated Actors and Artists of UAW and AFSCME, had potential America, which is the only union with a black candidates-Stepp and Lucy, black president-and Barbara Hutchin- respectively-but neither was chosen. It son-director of Women’s Activities for may be some time before there is a black the AFGE. There are other high ranking or a woman as president of a large black officers, such as William Lucy, industrial union in the United States. secretary-treasurer of American Feder- ation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and Roosevelt THE LABOR LEADER Watt, secretary-treasurer of the Trans- OF THE 1990s port Workers Union. There are also The image of the labor leader is many black vice-presidents throughout clearly changing, but in many ways it is organized labor, such as Marc Stepp of just a reflection of the of the UAW and Leon Lynch of the United changing image the labor movement. Before the Steel Workers. As of 1979, 7 of the 34 passage of the Act, the labor leader had vice-presidents of the American Federa- Wagner a because there was tion of Teachers were black.4o precarious position, no for the of the number of black union legal protection process Although unionization and for the union itself if it presidents is very low and the represen- was not the tation of blacks at the second tier of recognized by employer. The major organizing occurred in the leadership is not high either, the num- 1930s and was often quite turbulent. bers are growing. The creation of the This a leader who could both Coalition of Black Trade Unionists required command the attention of the workers and stand up to the tactics of manage- Labor Relations Act, Implications for National ment. Thus the legendary union leaders Legislation" (M.A. tutorial, University of Illinois, were born. 1980). As the labor union became a more 38. U.S., Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employ- of the American econ- ment and Earnings, 1:28, 164 (Jan. 1981). accepted part 39. Gifford, Directory of U.S. Labor Organi- zations, 1982-83, p. 51. 41. Gil Green, What’s Happening to Labor? 40. This is taken from information provided (New York: International Publishers, 1976), p. by the AFL-CIO Department of Civil Rights. 229. 74 omy, the attributes of a labor leader The probability of a union leader began to change out of necessity. It was being a woman or a member of a minor- still necessary to command the attention ity is still small. For a variety of reasons of the workers, but not in the same way previously discussed, no major Ameri- as was needed to convince them to join can union is currently headed by a black the union in the first place. Modern or a woman. They are making some labor leaders must be able to understand progress on the second level of power- and utilize the new and sometimes com- the union vice-presidencies and execu- plex labor laws that have arisen since the tive boards-but the union presidents 1930s. With the growth of major unions club is still a white male bastion for the into bureaucracies, it is now important most part. that the leader be able to run a large What will the labor leader of the organization. Thus the profile for a 1990s look like? He will most probably union leader today is quite different still be a white male. He will have more from the one that was necessary to form education than his earlier predecessors the union originally. The position re- and he will be an administrator. The quires an administrator rather than an union bureaucrat will probably still organizer. Thus we are seeing the union dominate the union presidencies. This is bureaucrat rise to the top more fre- due to the fact that unions have also quently. been reluctant to turn to anyone other In the 1980s there has been much than an insider who knows the ropes. 41 debate about the changing role of unions The qualifications will require more of and collective bargaining in the United an understanding of the legal aspects of States. One can argue about whether trade unionism as well as an understand- collective bargaining is at a crossroads ing of how unions fit into the American or whether concession bargaining is economy of the 1990s. The one area in here to stay. One thing that is clear is which an outside professional might that some major unions are in industries move into a union presidency would be that have been suddenly faced with in the case of a union with declining increased competition, either from membership that has direct election of abroad or domestically, over which the officers. In this case, the rank and file union has no control. This poses a new could turn to the professional-for ex- threat to unions, one that requires a new ample, Trumka-to save them from type of strategy. As we move into the their situation. 1980s the labor leader is more likely to We are witnessing a new generation be a professional who can deal with the of labor leaders as a result of the chang- new set of circumstances. ing role of unions in society. The mod- However, professionalism is not ern union leader has to be more skilled enough to get someone elected to the union presidency. There is still a consti- tuency to be served and a power base to 42. Derek C. Bok and John T. Labor be built. Since most union are Dunlop, presidents and the American Community (New York: Simon elected at it is to conventions, necessary and Schuster, 1970), p. 174; and Lois Gray, build a power base within the existing "Unions Implementing Managerial Techniques," leadership in order to move up. Monthly Labor Review, 104(6):3 (June 1981). 75 in dealing with the media than in the in order to organize; in the 1990s the past. It may be that the union member enemy could be foreign competition, or knows more about the union leader the nonunion sector, or a hostile govern- from the evening news than from direct ment, or a slick consulting firm guaran- contact. The labor leader of the 1990s teeing a union-free environment. The has to be a great deal more flexible than health of the union movement in the the labor leader of the 1930s, because 1990s will in many ways depend on how threats to the union now come in more well the union leaders of the 1990s are subtle forms. In the 1930s the employer prepared for their jobs and how well was the enemy that had to be overcome they perform in office.