The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project Labor Series
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The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project Labor Series MORRIS WEIS Interviewed by: Melbourne Spector Initial interview date: July 30, 1990 Copyright 1998 ADST TABLE OF CONTENTS Bac ground Education at City College, NY Cler , Census Bureau National Labor Relations Board 1937-19,8 Da.e Saposs Role, organi/ation, major players of 0PB Duties at Radio and Radar Di.ision After 1ar, 1hy many mo.ed into international 1or Abolition of Economic Research Di.ision Saposs as head of Labor Stats Labor Ad.isory Committee Organi/ation of BLS under Clague Saposs as general ad.isor, director of Labor Office 2arshall Plan European Head3uarters, Paris Bureau of Labor Statistics 19,8-1952 Recommendation from Saposs to replace him at BLS Duties as Labor Ad.isory Committee Head Initial interest in international labor Lectures on domestic labor issues Philip 7aiser Labor attach8 conference, Ha.ana, Cuba Stay in Paris 0riting speech for 7issinger Lo.e for city Tal 1ith Saposs 9eneral Ad.isor to Director of Labor Office, Paris 1952-1957 In.itation to Saposs Paris :ob Call from 7aiser to go to 9ene.a 1 :oe Heath as Labor Di.ision Director Vie1 of producti.ity di.ision Organi/ation of 2arshall Plan teams at missions Labor unions affiliations Conflicts on ho1 to di.ide benefits from producti.ity Increases Vie1 from management side Communist unions CIO Ri.alries Victor Reuther, CIO rep. Ir.ing Bro1n, AFL rep. Role of both Labor attaches at American Embassies :ob at Paris office Root of conflict bet1een AFL and CIO Bac ground of the Reuther family Father Three brothers in auto industry :ay Lo.estone Remo.al from 9eneral Secretary, Communist Party US Head of CPO Secretary of Free Trade Union Committee Efforts against Stalinists Ir.ing Bro1n as real po1er behind Detroit>s anti-Communist cause Struggle for union control Accusation of Reuther caucus not being anti-communist Brea -up of UA0-CIO; formation of UAQ-AFL Vie1 of role of labor officer 2arshall Plan Office, Paris 1952-1957 Election of Eisenho1er as President Temporary head of labor di.ision Taylor as head of labor staff 0or ing relationship 1ith Taylor Taylor>s entry into Foreign Ser.ice T1ofold problem During 1ar, 1or ing 1ith Communist labor unions CIO .ie1 AFL .ie1 Coal of 0FTU Composition of 0FTU CIO president Philip 2urray Reason for CIO split 2 Original 2arshall Plan proposal Split-up of 0FTU Disillusionment by 2asary and So.iets Brief political history of So.iet Union Criticism of Ir.ing Bro1n Vie1 of ho1 to 1rite about this period Con.ersation 1ith Reuther about 2urray>s donation Benefits from AFL-CIO competition Competition bet1een labor attaches and aid mission chiefs Austria Person in charge of 2arshall Plan Office Ir1in Tobin, labor attach8 2ay Day parade Austrian .ie1 of people in aid office 2any former labor personnel becoming leaders in their countries Financing training Object of 2arshall PlanA free flo1 of 3 2>s Ho1 re3uests for aid 1ere eBamined Stassen>s cut of personnel Discharge of Da.id Christian, manpo1er eBpert Tal 1ith Stassen 0ish to not be di.ision head; .oluntary do1ngrade Conclusion Possibility of becoming labor attach8 to Brussels Offer made by Oli.er Peterson, departing attach8 and friend Opposition from :ay Lo.estone Refusal of offer to go to Austria Postscript on the loyalty program INTERVIEW QA Morris Weis%, if not the dean, is certainly one of the deans of the international labor relations service of the United States Foreign Service. Mr. Weis% has been active in many, many parts of the world, as well as in the United States. In fact, I had the pleasure of serving with Mr. Weis% for a time in the American Embassy in New Delhi, India. Today we will be concentrating largely on his participation in the Marshall Plan, both in his positions here in Washington and out in the field, and his participation in its immediate successor agencies. 0EISCA In connection 1ith my o1n history, I am preparing a series of tapes for the 0alter Reuther Archi.es in 0ayne State Uni.ersity. 0hat I 1ould li e to do today, 3 unless you object to it, is co.er a little bit more than you may ha.e planned about the 2arshall Plan labor aspects, and then as you to gi.e me a copy of the inter.ie1, 1hich I 1ill then arrange to ha.e placed 1ith the 0ayne State material. This 1ill ser.e both our purposes. D See note at end of inter.ie1. QA That would be fine. That would be a pleasure. Morrie, tell me a little bit of your bac.ground before you got into the Marshall Plan. This is the first time in this series we/re tal.ing about the labor component of the Marshall Plan. 0EISCA I 1ant to encourage you to tal to other people, also, about the labor component of the 2arshall Plan, because I only came into it directly in E52, and there 1as much that 1as done before I came. First, there 1as Boris Shish in, of course, 1ho has died; he 1as the special assistant to FA.erellG Harriman at the beginning of the 2arshall Plan, and you really ha.e to get some stuff from his files. His 1ido1, has recently retired from the State Department; and there are other people around, li e Alan Strachan. He has already recorded some recollections 1hich ha.e been described to me as being not critical enough on some of the issues that he co.ered. And, .ery important, Paul Porter, 1ho 1as a mission chief at .arious places, and 1as, in the beginning, 1hen I first came to Paris in E52, one of the four ambassadors at the Paris 2arshall Plan Head3uarters. Of the four, one co.ered economic acti.ities or European economic acti.ities, and Paul 1as that ambassador. He came from the trade union mo.ement, also. IEll gi.e you the names of people on the labor side, 1ho 1ould be more no1ledgeable than I on this subject. As I said, I came into it fairly late. 2y personal bac ground, 1hich 1ill be co.ered in greater detail in the other tapes that IEm producing for 0ayne State, is that I came to 0ashington in 1935, out of the trade union mo.ement in Ne1 Yor , after graduation from the City College there. You no1 the bac ground of many of such indi.iduals. I came into the labor mo.ement as a young, acti.e radical, a strongly anti-communist socialist; the big issue 1ithin political circles at the College 1as the battle among the .arious radical groups. Then, 1ith my engineering degree in hand, I 1ent to 1or for the trade union mo.ement, largely because I couldnEt get a job as an engineer 1hen I got out of college. QA 0our degree was in engineering1 0EISCA Yes, I ha.e an engineering degree, but, eBcept for a brief period during the 0ar, I ne.er 1as employed in any capacity that used my engineering education. On the other hand, I ne.er too a course in economics, although I ha.e taught the subject, as a professor of economics. But, I suppose I should confess that I am 1hat is called a labor economist, and somebody once said that putting the 1ord HlaborH in front of HeconomistH 4 is li e putting HhorseH in front of Hdoctor.H IEm a labor economist by practice and eBperience, I guess, rather than by education. In 1935, 1hen I 1as organi/ing, editing a journal, and doing general educational 1or for one of the locals of the LadiesE 9arment 0or ersE Union, I 1as offered a clerical job here in 0ashington, as a result of ha.ing ta en a Ci.il Serious eBamination. A combination of factors led to my coming to 0ashingtonA the significant increase in earnings in.ol.ed II 1as getting $12 or $15 dollars a 1ee -- 1hile negotiating agreements paying the members $19 1ee lyK -- and 1ould earn $27 as a cler in the Census BureauL; the prospect for ne1 ad.enture; and the fact that I could then afford to be married. In 1937, a month after the 0agner Act 1as declared constitutional, I began 1or ing for the NLRB FNational Labor Relations BoardG. So anBious 1as I to 1or for a labor agency that I ga.e up a permanent clerical job at Census, ser.ing in a capacity 1hich I had been promised 1ould lead to fast-trac promotion to professional 1or ; I accepted a 90-day temporary position, 1ith no increase in salary, to come to the NLRB. There, ho1e.er, I had friends 1ho promised permanent status in this ne1 agency. 0ithin t1o years, under the training of friends and the leadership of the BoardEs Chief Economist, Da.id :. Saposs, I 1as 3ualified as a professional economist. I stayed at the NLRB, eBcept for the 1ar years spent at the 0ar Production Board, until 19,8. ItEs rele.ant to point out that Da.e Saposs, one of the famous labor historians and labor economists of that time, became my mentor and career guide. He 1as born in 188N, and li e many of the leaders among labor economists, had been educated at the Uni.ersity of 0isconsin, under Professor :ohn R. Commons. From that group came many of the Ne1 Deal economists 1ho later found themsel.es in the Department of Labor, Social Security, NLRB, Department of Agriculture, Railroad Retirement, National 2ediation Board, and a host of other ne1, and ne1ly-oriented agencies.