vi ('tkv r6 -fe)ve A S~LOOSEVELT UNIVERSITYo LABOR EDUCATION DIVISIONd 430 South Michigan Avenue * Chicago, Illinois 60605 * WAbash 2-3580

... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(5

.,, THE AMERHClAN MLOMR McWEIENJT 1131 T SESE yuEzzTJI

This collection of five articles gives a picture of what is happening today in the American labor movement and what is likely to happen in the 1970's. The five authors are among the most perceptive and brilliant analysts writing about unions today. We feel that these reprints will be very useful to those who want to know about the U. S. labor movement currently and what is likely to happen during the next decade.

A BALANCE SHEET OF AMERICAN UNIONS )buff) ct^ Ben B. Seligman. SOME REFLECTIONS ON ORGANIZED LABOR AND THE NEW MILITANTS (ry) rbpPeter Henle-

UNION PROSPECTS AND PROGRAMS FOR THE 1970's (belge) ryb Albert A. Blum. PROPHETS: LEFT AND RIGHT (FROM THE LABOR REVOLUTION) (3 :bY1 Gus Tyler. THE U.S. WORKER IN THE SEVENTIES ow) rcki. Sam Zagoria.

Frank McCallister Director

INSTITUTE OF INDUSTrIAL FM:deh ~ RELATIONS LIBRARY opeiu-391 MAR 1 1976 2/12/70 UNIVERSITY OP CALIFORNIA B I R K I L E Y A Balance Sheet of American Unions

By SEN B. SELIGMAN

PlOOICMA.iY, and seemingly with self-sacrifice, power, altruism, virtue and increasing frequency, observers of corruption. The same unerven nixture the labor scen pronotunce the Ie-: exists in the rest of soiety, and when cay of trade unionism in America. Paul everyone places the bitch goddess of Jacbs, who at the age of 18 crawled Success on a pedestal, so do the unions on his belly across train tracks to set Yet we have always insisted that un- up a picket line, later declared that ions be like Caesar's wife-above sus- collective bargaining was dead; Solo- picion. But when Calpurnia's friends mon Barkin, a longtime leading figure are dubious characters, she, too, can in the Textile WVorkers Union, agrees be besnirched. Therein lies the trag- that unionism is moribund; and B. J. edy of the unions, for while they ought Widick, a refugee from the UAW, be- to be institutions of change, like Cal- moans the lack of zeal that unions used purnia's friends they prefr ancient to display when he was young. habits of behavior. On the other hand, Gus Tyler, As- Labor's probleTms are a compound sistant President of the International of issues and questions stemming not Ladies Garment Workers Union, sees only from bargaining, organizing, and nothing but a bright future for trade politics, but above all from the kind of unions as they move to fulfill the ap- perspective they have on socal mat- peals of white collar workers for or- ters, What indeed should labor unions ganization, press for advances in social be like? How should they behave in or- legislation, meet the job demands ot ganizing and reaching the unorganized? Negroes more than halfway, and con- What appeals on political matters tinue a long range thrust toward be- ought they be making? What social coming a genuine social movement views should they subscribe to? Which view is correct? I would sug- The late J. B. S. lardaman, once edti- gest that neither has a strangleholdi on tor for the Amalgamated Clothing the truth; in fact, a balanced analysis Workers Union and a man who at the of trade unions today must be placel age of 85 had a clearer insight into somewiere between the notions of a American labor than many a younger Jacobs at one end and a Tyler at the trade unionist, used to speak of limited other. The spectades of both are rath- versus indusive unioninus According er heavily tinted, one a dark gray, the to Hardman, a limited union was one other a cheerful pint, and neither pro- that conacrd itself with the wrker vides a clear view of the tradte union only during his eight-hour day in the movement. For like other American plant, ministering to hiu need for bet- institutions, the unions are in a sense ter wages, hours and working condi- faithful representations of the society tions and nothing more. An inclusive from which they spring: they are un- union casts its net much wider: it was even mixtures of pragmatism, idealismn, interested in the problems that affected cunnin& competence, sloth, energy, the worker where he lived, the way he 40 UNIONIUM UJ AEIucA 41 traveled to his job, the taxes he lhad to the margin can or will deal with issues pay, and what he bought at the super- that transcend the place of work. market-in short, an inclusive union Insofar as American unions con- was interested in the worker as a whole sciously pursue solutions to social and citizen. political problems, they do so without philosophy and without ideology. In U NVOrruNATLY, most union leaders the main, social issues are explored in today assume potures that dem- ad hoc fashion and then only when onstrate a sense of unease with the in- they press on occupational interests. clusive approach. Their achievements, Unions consequently become spokes- rather, have been in areas they know men for their own members and for no best--organizing and collective bargain- one else. Seldom have unions in the ing. And indeed, in these areas, few la- 20th century stepped outside the boun- bor leaders can be faulted. Over the daries of occuipation. It has remained years, they have evolved techniques for for reformers, radicals, academics, and attaining limited objectives in ways civil rights protagonists to take tup the that Professor Jack Barbash, of the IUni- cry of social change. In the main, un- * ersity of Wisconsin, has de.scribe(d as ions, despite the exception of the 1930's, quite rational: negotiations have been join the mainstream of reform only regularized, they are conducted at neui- after a good deal off prodding, particu- tral sites, and they are based on a kind larly by interested staff persons. Exam- of "common law." Moreover, the insti- ples are Solomon Barkin's work on tutional apparatus has been rational- area redevelopment and Nelson Cruiik- ized. utilizing a semi-professional staff .shank's interest in social security. of self-trained expxerts, spiced with Only after they had done the essential sprinklings of fully trained profession- spade work with legislators andl after als. All this has been imposed by the they had published the issues involvel, requirements of growth, for to contend did union leaders go along, oftentimes successfully with the bureaucracies of reluctantly. business, it has been necessary for the The roots of this condition, onie that unions to become bureaucracies, al-so. has led many observers to announce, Buit having reached this level of prematurelv I suspect, that tinions are development, limitedl unionism has moribund before their time, may be seeme(d to many labor leaders a com- traced far back into the industrial his- fortable enough haven. Why wrestle tory of our nation. Plaguted for decades with the problems of poverty, organiz- by a virtually illegal status, it was not ing white collar workers or making uintil the 1930's that unions began to room for Negro workers on uinion jobs, attain a measure of legality. Little when the safe and sane thing to do is wonder that the Notris-LaGuardia Act to worry solely about shop) matters? of 1932 (which outlawed the capricious Some trade unionists, particuilarly in use of injunctions) and Section 7A of the btuilding trades, have always re- the National Recovery Act, were bailed jected inclusive unionism, thereby turn- as Labor's Magna C.hartas. For once, -a r away from the one element that unionist could display his loyalties wouiJ convert tradke uinions into a la- openly and an organi2er did not have bor movement in the sense that there to look over his shoulder as he walkedl is a never-endioig concern with the to- (town Main Str-eet. tal qutality of daily experience. Ameri- Most organited workers up to that can labor organiiations comprise rather time belongedl to the AFL, which was a trade union movement that only at character'ized by an unshakeable at- 42 2 MInSMF.AM-JUNrE/JVU.Y, 1969 tachment to the excluisive virtues of only a third of the respondents. Abot collective bargaining and the use of a third thought that President John- economic power. Its outlook shaped by son was dIoing as well as he could, the cautiotus notions of a Samuiel (Gom- while another large group thought that pers, the AFL believe(d in self-help as the war in southeast Asia should be an article of atbsolute faith. Its experi- escalated. Accorditg to the polls, these ences with hostile governments im- views are also those of the imajority of pelled the AFL to reject any andi all the population. The portrait that forms of fedleral intervention in labor- emerges is solidly middle clavs. management affairs. Meanwhile, the Nothing that took place (luring the workers were acquiring a middle class Great Depression has- really altered la- outlook; they became entirely commit- bor's middle class perspective despite ted to the idea of private property antd the (Iramatic breakthroughi in the mass the viability of the capitalist order. production industries by th-e CU1). The They wanted to be respectable and ac- latter's effort, of cours, was crticial for cepted by the rest of society. Socialist growth and expansion. rhe tunwilling- ideas on how labor unions should func- ness of the AFL Exectutive CAouncil to Iioni were rejected. Class consciousness confront the (demand for organizing was not the American worker's metier workers in industries that hadl become and as a consequence he organized him. citadels of induistrial totaitarianismn self along consrvative trade lines. This has been often told: old timners never was true for both the AFL and the weary of relating hoow they carried the cld. water bucket in the Flint sit (town strike, and the UAW shows a well- F RADrw UNIONISTs express any i(leol- worn movie of its early history at vir- ogy at all. it is one identified with tually every convention. Otne can hard- at of the middle class. The AFL- ly blame them, for it was an heroic (10 recently conducted a poll of union effort. tnembers which providedl the following Further, the success of the CIO car- picture: 45 per cent of union families ried any ntimber of AFI. uinion.s in its are in the $7500 to, $15,000 a year in- wake. Between 1936, and 1941, the come grotup; 32 per cent asre in the Teamsters tripled their membership 1,'5000 to $7500 range; about half are and the staidI International Association under 40 years of age; a fourth, under of Macxhinists and the lnter national 30 years; almost half live in comforta- Brotherhood of Electrical Workers be- bN- stuburbs; only 17 per cent are Ne- gan to invade mass lproMluction indtu.s- gro, Mexican, or Oriental: 54 per cent try. (Competition became the life of Ive been uinion members a decade or union organization and by 194(0 the mu.- while a fourth have had their trade unionns hadl reachedl a total of membership for less than five years; 58 eight million members, over 14 pcr cent per cent call themselves Democrats, 16 of the work force. per cent, Reptublican, andl 26f per cent tilealisn and an interest in broad so- are either Indlependent or uinsire of -ial issues attracted an assotrlment of their political affiliation. reformers and intellectuals to work as The major problems tipperrnost in staff men andI organizers. particularly the minds of uinion members are suich in the CIO. So.me were leftists who be- economic issies as taxes and high lieved that the *uiinion movement coudI prices, The Vietnam war was identi- b)ecome the carrier of a New Society, fied as a major ctirtent problenm, but thou>gh this was cantriry to leftist dog- rivil rights was cited as an issue by ma, for the latter taught that only po- UNIONSM IN AmucA 43 litical action could bring about change. over the decades, they always had To be sure, the left was later absorbed hoped to become part of American so- into the ethos of the trade union move- cety. and now that they have arrived, ment or tossed aside. labor leaders are not apt to sacrifice The old line unionist might use left- affluence for philosophy. i.st energy and enthusiasm, as John L. Having clawed his way to the top, Lewis had used many Communists, tte union official is often uneasy in the but in the main he was apt to sneer at presence of intellectuals, though he has the "dogooder" and "intellectual" who come to learn that their skills as law- pased through his ornization. J. B. S. yem, educators, and researchers are es- Hardman used to tell of the days when sential. Often the latter feel so com- he worked with Lewis on loan from mitted to unionism that they willingly Sidney Hillman. "J. B.." as h_ was suffer the silent and sometimnes rot so known to everyone, wanted to mount silent barbs hurled in their direction an educational campaign for the Steel- by their principals. When a Teamster workers Organizing Committee and set staff man once carried through a par. up classes in reading and writing for ticular bit of negotistion. Hoffa's ap- the workers. Lewis' response was char- preciative reaction was a vulgar, "Edit" aceristic: the only way to reach the Yet moving the organization ahead workers, he told Hardman, was to "or- even a bit seemed to the staff man ganize, organize, organize," punr-'uat- worthwhile. ing each word with a thrust of his mas- If Gus Tyler chides "intellectuals" sive fist. for d anding that the unions under- take tasks for which thy are ill-fitted, THE TRDF. UNION IEADER iS a self- it is an admission that unions can only made man who express the same function wnthin the boundaries speci- sort of pride in his achievements that fied by the establishment and that trade one might have found in a successful unions are not vehicles for social businessman at the turn of the century. change. When Jack Conway, one of For him, too, the material values of the Reuther's chief lieutenants, charges larger society are meritorious enough that "intellectuals" pose the wrong to be coveted. As David Dubinsky once questions by asking why unions aren't exclaimed, "What's good enough for doing more about poverty, discrimina- the caj alist is good enough for the tion, automation and internal democ- workerl" 'T'hough he is an ardent advo- racy, it is an admission that unions are cate of public education for the chil- unable to respond to critical matters dren of his members, the trade union without a good deal of prodding. leader is apt to send his own offspring To be sure, the CIO experience dur, to the Harvard School of Business Ad- ing the 1930's served to widen the un- ministration. ions' horizons, but mainly to expand Men who have climbed out of the the meaning of Gompers' "More." nes, shops, railroadis and offices to Unions became concerned with job head large union organizations are not classification, seniority and fringe bene- predisposed to formuIlating a philoso- fits. All this was quite pr)per, for it phy. they function within a kind of signaled a deeper involvement in the general weltansrhauung that remains character and impact of work than was somewhat inchoate. Their experience. expressed by the pay envelope alone. perspective, and middle class expecta- Political activity was extended beyond tions reflect rather a sttubborn prag- the limits of the archaic aphorimn, matisn. Despite the narsh experiences "Punish your enemies; reward yourr 44 4M4TIwtAM-JUNZ/J/LY. 1969 friends." Vital domestic and interna- ET AFTr 1955, when merger was tional issues were pushing society ever consummated, old habits prevailed. cloer to the welbre state and there Momentum was lost and all too soon was a growing realization that many the unions abdicated their role as so- social problems could not be solved by cial catalysts. Walter Reuther himself the technique of collective bargaining. became more "business union" oriented Many in the ClO realized that pro- than he realized. For though the UAW gram-s rather than convention resolu- stands up effectively to the big com- tions had to comprise labor's agenda. panies, it has enormous dilficulties ex- It seemed for a while that the CIO tending the boundaries of its organiza- would indeed forge a new ideology. tion campaigns and it cannot fully The writers, speakers, researchers, edu- resolve problems at local shop levels, cators, lawyers, and organizen who and it is such matters, matters that are Rocked into the CIO had no fean that esentially "business," that remain cen- government would suppress the inde- tral to its concems. These issues have pendence of the woirkers Nor wer they a fint priority within the union. overwrought at the propect that a wel- One may single out the activities of fare state would undermine the loyalty the Industrial Union Department of of worker to their unions. There was the AFL-CO, once headed by Reuther, too much to be done during the 1930's as having been somewhat exceptional. and 1940s and it appeared that It did involve itself in community ac- achievement itself would create all te tivity, in fostering a paoa to defend loyalties that wee mdeI the consumer aginst attacks on his The CIO seemed to be heaven's an- podetbok, and has spearheaded co- swer to age old prayers for a New So- ordinated collective bargaining against ciety. With such expectations, it was such giants as Generl Electric; yet all harsh, abrasive disoery to lean that of this has not produced any strong the American worker was like every signs of a metamorphosis, any indica- that body else, that he could not be meta- tion that the trade unions are morphosed into Lenin's proletariat, much closer to becoming a labor move- that he was so middle class that one ment that is carrying on ativities that could find in him all the virtues and deal with broad social issues transcend- ing the job itself. Moreover, recent de- prejudices of that middle class. The Amercan worker could be heroic and velopments suggest that the IUD is en- self-sacrificing, yet he was also anti- tering a state of collapse. Catlot7c, anti-Negro, anti-Semitic, anti- What has happened inside the un- foreign. Once away from the plant, the ions parallels events outside-an inabil- American worker prefered to hunt, ity to match creed and deed. The creed read the comics, drink beer and listen is an excellent one. The last conven- to the soporifics of the radio. tion of the AFL-C10 provided a full range of resoutions on poverty, hous- Nevertheles, the AFL's outlook ing, rapid transit, youth employment, brogidened under the cumulative or- aid to education, consumer protection, ganizing pressures of the CIO; it even equal rights and an equitable tax sys- allowed some of its staff people to make tem. One can hardly quarrel with these occasional public pronouncements in-' statements, yet suich resolutions are re- stead of keeping them under lock and peated from convention to convention key. The conversion went far enough and their fulfillment often requires to make AFL and CIO so similar that much more effort than the unions are t.,&>r seemed inevitable. prepared to expend. UNIONISM IN AmcA4 45 Admi!tedly, a resolution is little isted previously, and there was an im- more than an expression of belief, but plicit quid pro quo as the administra- the "payoff," it is said, comes in the tion in Wasihington ground out reform legislative process. Yet the latter in this after reform. The CIO imbedded itself country is such that the unions must more deeply than ever in national and behave exactly like any other pressure local politics. Its Political Action Com- group. That is to say, unions must mittee became an intimate part of practice the art of the politically pos- Amenrcan political life (albeit increas- sible. 'They must be ready to compro- ingly wed to the Democratic party). but mise issues at stake in order to achieve not until 1947, with the threat of Taft- objectives; they must behave in the Hartley, did the AFL respond with its legislative arena exactly as they do own political arm, Labor's League for across the bargaining table. The resulu Political Education into the Committee are sometimes less than fully satisfac- On Political Education. Soon, as in tory. For example, in the extension of other activitie old AFL conceptions minimum wage coverage in 1966, the began to submerg whatev views had AFL-CIO had to accept exemptions stemmed from the CIO. The posibility from overtime regulation for two of poitical activity beyond mere pres- groups of retail workers in order to se- sure was lost, perhaps forever, and as a cure other coverage it wanted. For these consequence the uxions' influence has retail workers the compromise was remained limited. retrogreson. When an AFL-CiO lob- Perhaps this is the beat that oe can byist ws chkidd for scrifcing one hope foe in the American milieu, but group of workr to gain benfits for the risks are grave. In a political serne, others, he shrugged, ""One has to give the AFL-CI0 has become the captive to get." of the Democrtic party. Tfhough it Such concesons convert broad so- helps elect Democratic legislator, the cial pNSblemns into ad hoc legislative latter often feel that their constituency cowitests, each one of which can be re- comprises more than a COPI. Director lated only to the crisis of the moment. or a Central Trades and Labor Coun- it becomes impossible to elaborate a cil. Hence, on issues that the AFL-CIO c;Alesive social philosphy. The trade considers urgent, as the repeal of Sec- Lluion movement, having converted it- tion 14B of the Taft-Harley Law, un- velf int? a pressure group, cannot be- ionts meet only frustrationt. come a spokesman for a labor move The narrownes of the Uninms' po- mentL litical approach is exemplified by the Historically, the limits for union po- reversal of their attitudes toward for- litical action were drawn by Gompers' mer Senator Wayne Morse of Oregon, pragmatic perception of union per- for whom their support in the last elec- !ormance. For him. an overwhelming tion was lukewarn if not entireiy lack- concern with social action was an in- ing. Morse's decision in an arbitration vitation to doom. Unions were to focus case was interpreted by the AFtLIO on their main tasks-collective bargain- and particularly the Machinists' Untion, ing-and to eschew programs that were which was involved, as "anti-labor." Yet redolent of radicalism. there was no legislator who in recent years had done more for labor thai he. /rr THEo, involvement in P(>I- Nonetheless, the absence of strong un- V itics became more direct. TIhe tiOn support meant the loss of an out- New Deal had generated a dWiferent pcr standiing senator. litical atmosplhere from that which ex- A seond risk is an uncritical ac- 46 MIDSTRxnmsAM-J UNE/J UI.Y, 1969

Ceptalce of evet ythitlg the jsoinim able to solidify labor vYotes behindl adminitsration has dione, iinciluling its Detnocta:tic cantdidates (in the Eisein- behatvior itn fot eigni affairs. Witniess thie lhowec lanrdslide, utniont members went mainer in whichi opposition to the 3 to 2 for Stevenson, though their fam- Vietnam war was crushed at thie last ilies preferred Jke.) But in the maini, AFL-CIO conventiotn. Wlhenl the Na- tanioni political activity fits snugly into tionial Labor Leadership For Peace, a the two party traditioni. Organizing a group of dissident uniionists, presented labor party seems impossible; the coun1- a statement urging settlemient of thie try is too large. 'I here are many states Asian conflict, George Meany dismissedl in whiclt a third party cannot secure a it with contenmpt. "Do you know how place on the ballot; and the unions' many times," said Meaiiy, "President geographic concentration in the north- johnson in the last few years has in- east would minlitate against a truly na- dlicated his willingess to meet [North tional party. Vietnamn] at any time, arny J)lace withi- A symptom of union ills is theii pres- out reservations? Almiiost evet y day." enit difficulty in extetnding the boun- Meany's adulationi of Johnson was so dlaries of organization. I'o be sure, great, that he ranked LBJ above Frank- there are unions-mainly in white ccl- lin Roosevelt. lar fields-of whic;h suich a statement Libeial can(didates in the last ele- would be false. Some labor organi-a- tion who were critical of the Johnsons liotns lhave nmade greai advances in re- ;adnministration received little support cruiting memribers in these areas: The fromii the Conmmittee on Political Edu- American Federation of State, County cation, the AFL-CIO political arm. In and Municipal Employees, Americani O(hio, a dovish candidate for senator Federatiotn of Govei-nrrerit Employees was told to find other sources of money; and the Retail Clerks Interintional a Democratic senate candidate in il1i- Association have reccor(led notable nois who supported George McGover-n gains, the latter doublitg its miiember- for the presi(lency could locate few un- ship in about ten years. ion dollars; and in New York, Paul Somewhere aroujnd 1955, the nurnber O'Dwyer, also ruinning for- the Seniate, of whiite colar workers began to ex- was written off because he refused to ceed blute collar workers, reflecting fun- support H1umn)hrey. And now, it is (lamental changes in the economric sys. c-lear that the Nixon adiministration tein. Government employment expand- owes the AFL-CIO nothing, except a edl, particulatrly among teachers, who tetaliatory needle which may be ex- by 1960( numbered over 2.5 million, al- 1wessed by a change in the National La- most 2/3 more tha.n in the pteviots bor Relations Board as it already lhas dlecade. There are now more tech- been expressedi by the insta.llation oh a nicians, engineers, nurses and sales quite conservativc Secretary of Labor. clerks than in earlier decades. Gains Indeed, Mr. Nixon mnay very well move are bottnid to be made anmong thtese to,ward legislation seeking to ctirb thte white collar grotips, evcn if some prefet strength of the unions. to nmainitain their organi;uions ouitsitde ithe AFL-CIO. as with the nurses and E SPITE MEANY'S OS(iasional irritna- engineers. At an RCA plant in Cans- D tion at some opf the actions of (teii, engineerN iutictiOtS as a unioni, 1ne- Demnoratic adImniflistrationls, as ill thlt gotiitting with mnanagTnCtent, I)rcessing railroad hassle of 1963, he has nowhlere grievances, and( takin,g pairt in NLRK} else to turn-certainly niot it) the Re- electins, but thiey are not affliatediitO Ilmtlicans. 'I o be suxre, helt Ullions are the ouise of Labor(Jiro tith'- Stree in UINIONISM IN A\hE.kt(:CA 47

XV&Slttitgtott. Never-tht-lev., 1lctheir dttiv- I5 ell }Ito jitesti(ti(sl tIllitfll ItvtAidt s it) testifics to file growing (ci ltuent ttIlDit ) luiattt> l (Cadllau . iritlotig vdlite (o1.r workers. i)espite the o)p)orttilititk iltdt fi ese T t5%tSSi (4, itttCtal uIntioti tlL'liltk - dl opm)otltts oflet, the AFIL-(CIOd ihs rat has beel'duiscr*se(d ad;l llittlil. noot sil lu-cl its postlu C liol Altetred its Ex-laibor rit-nr like P;uid [ituol,s cxp)et stt(ittrc otr (iarilged its ttlitis to take :1 unkmOt to )e run somnewirat like a New a.dvaitltage of ilnceasinig d iscorIlel t in l'.nglaml town11 Iureceting, wh:t; to it m-t theIwlite collar fieldt. ''lierc is no white iott leadler, realaity requirus that it be collar departmtnwt itt the AFL-CiO to operated inure like al l on0 tratiiol ilt supioLrt organizing drives.i, and tIhe whidt tire stockhoiders .rre kepi cont- White Collar Council, Ieaded by teaited so loig ats diividends ate-c (de- Ch;ales C(ogeti of the AFT, hi.as beeni l.dlrdcl. Whlen union leadler caitntot "dte- receiving little 1l1o10W thanpiolitC lip liverithe goxold't thitt'C is grutnllliing and %crviceitotiii tol) edlonmis in ilhc AFL- (to)ket2I\the b{ttg.giilliJg bigrleefiltlers pain)- (3O. M.ost unllioln leaders, stennring ais frillyeI-e ileid aite ejeCtltted by rank and Ithey dio f'onlli ('Ol)stIttctioll atni IlllnlU- lile. Sorire lIlma nagetrlclnt people think farttuling industiry, well) soeil'wha;{t strs- that contract ratifai otitt otjght to Ib,L picious of the white collar Iini-it in- tabolishle iIl thle itltcrest ofhll,tvlltnious dleedi they arc tiot indiflerent to tihe labi in -latnagelihert i Claullnris 1)11 thte n.tltfcartion tradriitioni is too dlCplv '1111- I'llere is aso a growitig generational) bedded to be tupttouted withot ;l tevo- coiflict in tihe utliiois; cthe mtemiibership) ltttio0) or perhlaps a(*'1llp d'ett. is becoiminlg youngei (tlose mider 40 Sonlme l'belliotls ill th' mnlion&s ie lit- ioW comprise hall' tile total illeniber- tIc inone than} revolts 4 thile batlons, sllip) anl(d tlle leadership older. TI'le of- ixitltl like thec titantlitc P)xy strtuggle. inl ficer-s are re'luctaniit to surrendiCIe power CMrporations. In tlhc RUtail (C;jrks Uin. aittd tiley accuse yotiitg inemiibers of i(tl Severdai local potterltate% had to wait 'atiling to be "active," theic mean;lilitng of, is(itil Its PrIesadelt.tall;itmm0lIt tiis rie- wlhic-hi is limlited to attending mietings tirerlienit before dtni irg to u'usc i for At WhliCII thley listell to the leadership lx)w('t. 'lhcy thetli 'elIt s;iae il attacking linle. While the otitlook of the leadler tire mctigo(ilg adilltitnistiatitl dlespite irile fot uses on job) protection, tlie rank and falt that. membership mintder the old file meICmIber is apt to be conicernted withi r(giur went [it'lfl s5Otl 75,0(MiTr, 19+1 ottnlu1tlility Afritrs. College-traileld to over- 50,0000 iulay. Thlter Wd.S " peni1ts are joining uniions in laIIrger- mea.sure of irony in the Clerks' (oviliect; itkittlbers as a result of organizattion thle lLebels rttac ked a recorld of l'lliieilc y aitionig teatlilers, nurses, antI govetrn- atid uIusual (omupetenot-, rIflciltinig iienit workers. 'lhese developments will only LthCir (lesire to ox ctkl)y theo .(e.5 of generate iitlternal1 t-nsiotis itt thec can- the utmighty. All this ihluistraet! wimil is ions. real it unijon lite: int(-rnut! IH)hitis trot To be sure, tile AFL-CIO) is not the txo (lissinilila[front tile tow)) l touricil; a IStr Cto.the to tilt' (o, or- F'ederatlion of Saniuel George analogocllts formsl-t1 Gompjers. gatnliu/tionl to lb( If!tilnd e3sewl'h'e; utnud M1eny.ll n)tist niecessarily ilbel la stuppXrt l)lbtu it1Imtd(' to (. otit(-r htarc'lacratry. le-gislatioln. litlt l:tbor in Americat is li has ti ltisl e-xplains whfy cr itkica .o- part of the e-stabliishment. XI'hen -Vai- (n:;l t111t.ftet's .t- pI11otstd by t iv; rights tl RetRenth pAticeeed his owt) ',1otan"c mtallirittlt(c ir;Wlmli tItiolls ti ii tuf) juice at .t Miamnli (voixtetltiot, h1is peers tIlte (hi1rea. Wth 111mml brinln lp It'i(keted, but their .tamgc-r WitS al t)ts'ed tht rearu. 48 48 MI5TREAM-JL'Nr:/ Ul, 1969 The problemn ol Negro discrimin.l- D)tbinsky wet-c bIxth furious. 'ihe tion is a case in point. Although th;e I[X( %WU was a special t.rget of Hill1's AFL-CIO may declare its gtxod inten- veniomn, for its colstituttioni, whie dte- tioniis, in the locals, througlh whitch jobs sigtiel to exchlude C(oninoL1:ists, workdt ate actually securcl, Negroes still have eciqially well to kee) Negroes and(l Puet- theiir trooubles. Only recently the lDe- to Ricans otit of office. lespite over- partment of justice hias had( to file suit statement and mttch heat in lhis itidict- wid(ler the 1964 Civil Rights Act againist nient, many of Hlill's dhargcs rang too two locals-one in Indianapolis, the true to be dismnissed out of hand. other in Los Angeles-charging discriti A gooxl part of the problem stens ination against the employment of Ne- froom the bigotry of uniionl members groes. Both are building trades unions themselves; on this issue many union that have no Negro apprentices and(i tio) le-aders are like generals without an Negro menmbers. In fact in 1967 the,te army. They inay want to keep the was on the average one such suit per doors of opportunity olpn, buit ofteti mnonth. this is a niatter oni wlic h they c:au cx. Unfortunately, unlionIs in the past pelt little rank and file support. Ulniotn were quick to adopt tde dliscriminatioti miiembers are ordinauy Ami-er-icans and patterns of the Sotith. Oftentinmcs hios- they reflect tthe prejudiecs and anfl.nosi- tility between black aind whiite worket s ties that h-Ave been long implantted it was deliberately fosteretl by employe. lhe Amneii(tan eltos. using Negroes as strike breakers. Not lI-quality cii opportunity 1n1eds to lbt until the C0 came along were Negito enfotricd b) ait outside agencu(y sudh as workers giveni an alternative that did( the C(ivil Rights Comintmtisiorx; it needs not force.thetm to take scab johs. Yet to be enforced (cii ce tiy in the shiop. IThe even the Utnited Packinghouse WVorkers white batklash that freqluently take:s did not attempt to upset tradition in placc at thle hem-h mIu1.st be Coulntere;d southern plants. by a carefully cotnstructed canmpaign of When the Railroad TSrainmen and placement and eduGatioti, all supportet Firemen were adniittedl into tthe tergedl by the sanction of goveriunent. An at labor nmovement, Negro workers could temTipt l;y a local uinio; officer to alter not help but be dubious, for these un- the morus of his comnunity is ict- hiim ions had long practiced discriminationi. a; risky adveniture. Tshe Railway Cronductors and1 Lx:o- Yet often utnion leaders have beet motive Engineers dropped their lily amiibivalent in thiir attitudes toward white imembership claui-ses only when Ncegro dliscrimniniation. Wtlle Mealny forced to do so by the 1964 Civil Rights interverned in his home lcxal in New Act. The Landrum-Griffin Atct allows York to have tests given to Negro ajR Negroes to sue to abolish atuxiliary or plicaits, he asserted thiat tiniorn mler segregated locals. Despite a Civil Rights were right in refusing to "work with Committee in the AF-C.IO, it has re- nlon-union mnetn," ticutight the lattei-, of qttired the pressure of goverutnlzent to? (.-outse, were Negroes excjiulded by lotal achieve eveii nmo(lest restilts. utslioxi ru1les. On the oit)thti b.artd, in Waishitigotot, he thn eistm-mdt tot)rec mit O N CtlVtt RIGHTtS MA tiER5tliolltS itott-uItiion Negro wo'tkers it rl;.te MEtW have draggedl alonig widtlmarked lot al tontinuetid itn itc ihi-lal to 41tat' retlutctance. WVhen Itk-hert 1 hill of the Negic mrnti o ;s. N3.AAC.P motnted a vittriolic att;ak uii lie titm(nu1 mt)oVtt'ctIt r- ('onfr)oo;ttdl certain Itnions for tlhir disc imrtill;t-a. '. b)y o)theIr piroblerns as' 5Vc1: hts nImbihity pIactices, Geotge Mettmy ;td Dikvti(d or unvllinsgn.-'ss toi C(Itdg aitagitng UrfioNsM IN AMEIcA 49 leadership in the Executive Countcil ate im;aterial welfare of their members (only a public outcry moved Meany, (antd for that purpose there are few bet- himef well past 70 years of age, to ease ter instruments available) then it tb- out several ancient members of the comes necessary for other groups to be- Council); an inability to cast up viable come the torch bearen of change. solutions for problems generated by Unions perform very well witlhin their technology (at the moment, this does speified limits; if they did not exist not appear too serious, since unemploy- they would have to be invented, for ment rates are low); and its hypercau- there is no other way to protect the uon in extending the boundaries of or- job rights of workers. We may have to ganization (support for agricultural let the matter stand there. If we are workers in southern California came concerned with civil rights, Vietnam only after Carlos Chavez had achieved and reform, the burden of these issues some success)-all suggest that as organi- necessarily mutt fall on other shoulders zations, unions are very much like the rest of American society. PROFSSOR BEN B. SELIGMAN is Director one accepts as Yet if unions essential of the Lbor Relations and Restetch Cemter instruments for improving the immeda- ag the Univervity of Massclusetets

cl n 0 0 0 all 00000000 D011131-3-OD0.00 CIOD Also N?Wmwwwe- -- 4ca6 .W" -1- - -- ;Zsal-.sooto Some reflections Is a traditional Instrument on organized labor of protest action Itself becoming and the a target of protest? new militants PETER HENLE

SEVI.AL. A1MzICAiN.?xsTrruT'oN8s among them uni- a new organizs4ion, calling itself Shipyard Work versities, business, church, and government, have era for Job Equality, was formed at the Sparrows been confronted by disruptive protest intended to Point, Md., plant of Bet.hlehem Steel (Co. by Steel- force changes in policies or procedures. Until re- workers' Union members who felt that the union cently, labor unions, which traditionally hiave been was not adequately concerned with the interests viewed as economic protest origanizations, have of Negro members. been spared as a target of such protest. Although These developments are not widespread but they expresions of strong and perhaps growing dissent represent an indication that the type of disruptive have been heard, these have t.ypically taken the action so prevalent on the campus may be spread- form of membership rejections of tentative con- ing to the industrial scene. Whether the goals of the trats or membership voting out of incumbent new groups are the traditional objectives of equal- union leaders. HIowever, a reec-t and more serious ity of treatment or more in line with the separatist form of dissent involves groups of Negro workers thrust of the New Left, there appears to be an in several indutstries who hbve been forming orga- impatience with, if not hostility to, established nizations that ope3rate outside normal uinion union leadership and normal collective bargaining channels. procedures. For example, DRTJM has provided the In some c.nes, the new unit is simply a 4black leadership for wildcat strikes in auto plants and caucus" within an established local or national has frankly expressed its goals as revolutionary. union such as that associated with the 1968 Steel- There is nothing new about individual union workers' convention.1 Generally, caucuses do not members adopting an antagonistic attitude toward take the separatist route but rather formulate their union, their employer, and to the established "black" demands to be presented to the union system for handling labor-management differ- leadership atnd rrPmbership. In other cages, as in ences. Individual union members or even informal the construction iadxistry, an independent black groups of members frequently contend that their union is operating in some iocaiitiw apart from the specific job grievances are not being pressed vigor- AFL-CIO organization. ously, their suggested contract. demands neglected, New groups, proclaiming more "revolutionary" atnd their candidates for office spuirned by the union aims that are.still unclear, are appearing, notably leadership. Such disaffection or hostility to estab- in the uuto industry. In Detroit, a new group com- lished union authority is often based on a com- prised of Auto Workers' members and calllYtttself munity of interest around a specific aspect of the the Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement job (specific skill or type of work) or permnal (DRUM), has declared itself the "vaniguard of the characteristics of the group (race, religion or black revolution." And in it Maliwah, N.J., dispute, ethnic origin). Dissenters of this typ~are typically a wildcat strike, led by the United Black Brothers part and parcel of any mass membership of Ford-Mahwah and given vocal support by organization. local members of the Students for a Democratic Whether a new type of dissent, more militant Society, closed the Ford assembly plant for two in tone and more separatist in philosophy, will find nights last April. Without revolutionary rhetoric, widespread support among the union membership depends partly on certain observable factors such Peter Hlenl Is the Chief Deoomlst of the Bureau Of as union structure, policies, and procedurt, and labor Statists partly on personal attitudes and values which, in 20 LABOR ANDANt) THE MILITANTb" MILITANTS21 21I today's world, often defy meastrement and predic Moreover, the ranking of the top 5 or 10 uinions tion. The nasment that follows is focused chiefly keeps changing. Three of the top 10 tinions in 1948 on some observable factors and, hIence, can be con- are no longer in this category (Miners, Textile sidered only a tentative approach to awn extremely Workers, and the Amalgamated Clothing Work- complex issue. It seeks to explore the implications ers). Taking their place are the Electrical Workers of the present structure of unions and collective (IBEW), the Retail Cler)s, atnd the Laborers. bdargaining, the opport1nities for changing union In large measure, this decntralization is carried policies, gnd the roie played by govemment down into the structure of the individual union and Finally, some comments are mnde on the possible further.is reflected in the collective bargaining reation of union members and leaders to the new process. There are unioni, of coturse, where the dissenters. national officers wield grt personal power, but Structure of unions and bargaining more typically the center of decisionmaking is at the local, district, or regionral level. In most First, consider the structuire of the labor unions tunions, local autonomy is highly prized with the and the collective bargaining system. Are these so national leadership reluctant to interfere in local organized tha4 the average union member can par- affairs. This provides the setting for a closer rela- ticipate in the decisionmaking process that affects tion between the union member and his organi- his conditions of employment? zation. A key element in this picture is the decentraliza- Despite the headlines which emphasize industry- tion of power in the U.S. labor movement. Nearly wide labor disputes, muc}h of today's bargaining 50 national unions now have 100,000 members or is concerned with local poblems. In many situa. more. Only three of these have cver I million. tions, the industrywide or comparnywide bargain- The U.S. labor movement is not do-minated by one ing focuse on a few major issues; local supple- or a few unions. The largest U.S. union-the ments covering local issues are regarded equally Teamsters-has 9 percent of total U.S. union rem- as important as the wage increase -issues settled bership. In England about 15 pernt of union npatlonally. In fact, in some cases, strikes over local members belong to the Transport and General issues have become far more common than any Workers Union, while in West Germany close to stoppage over any nationalfy bargained quesctions. 25 percent are members of the Metal Workers In the auto industry, a new nattional agreement, UJnion. sometimes reached only after a strike at one of the Nor is there any discemible trend toward in- major companies seems to be almost invari'ably creasing concentration. At the turn of the cen- followed by plant strikes over provisions in the tury, the United Mine Workers could be local supplementary contract. said to dominate the labor movement (at least It is true that in recent years unions in certain statistically) since thleir membership was 13 industries (chemicals is one example) have been i(yc-ent of the total. The share of the largest pr,ssing for companywide bargaining in situa- iou unions, comprising almost 35 percent of total tions where plantwide bargaining exists today. In anion membership in 190, dropped to about 25 other situations, some form of coalition bargaining percent in 1939, has been rising slowly since, and has developed, in which several unions holding has now reached over 30 percent, still below what plantwide agreements with a single company join it was in 1900. In England, the five largest unions together to pool their bargaininig strength. Al- ,omprise 40 percent of the total, and in West Ger- tlhough from the unions' point. of view more effec- nany, the comparable figure is 60 percent. tive bargaining has been achieved in a number of Although there have been mergers of smaller ssuch cases, the change. in collective bargaining inions, there is still no labor counterpart to the patterns as a whole have been relatively minor. ecent growth of business "conglomerates" which Bureau of Labor Statistics data, for example, indi- seemingly can absorb within one corporae shell all cate practically no chanep between 1956 and 1966 nanner of diverse activities.2 One IT.S. union that in the number of urnion nembers covered by. the night have been called a conglomerate, the Miners, average union agreement. as lost its conglomerrte character with the expul- Additioonal evidence on the decentralized stmru- ion of its Dietrict 50. ture of bargaining coms from the statistics on 22 MONTHLY LABOR(ABOR REVIUA',REVIEW. JULY 1969 strikes. Most strikes involvo relatively few workers by any uinion to entice a local of another union to although, of cours, the larger ones get the head- shift its allegianc, but so long as such unions as lines and cause the m6st disruption to the public. the Teamsters, and now the Automobile Workers, Fully half the strikes involve fewer than a hundred are outside the AFL-CIO, there are alternative workers, and oJ^ly 8 percent as many as 1,000 wurk- homes to which individual locals or groups of ers. Twenty years ago the figures were almost locals can turn. In recent years, the most dramatic identical so there has not been any major shift move to independence lhas been the formation of toward larger strikes over the postwar period. the independent. Association of Western Pulp and This decentralized structure-in union organi- Paper Workers from west coast locals of the two zat.ion and in collective bargaining-inrease well-established international unions in the pulp the likelihood that union activities will not stray and paper field. far from the expressed interes of the individual Another opportunity for union members to union member. expresi their dissatisfaction with their leadership ariss when they are asked to pass on a tentative Opportunily for change bargaiining agreement reached by union and com- pany negotiators. a few While the degree of democracy within some Beginning years ago, the unions is still subject to debate, the terms of the director of the Federal Mediation and Concili- ation Service began publicizing the fact that a controversy appear to have narrowed, especially larger'proportion of in the light of recent legislative enactments.8 the agreements were being There seemns to be greater consensus that, for the rejected by the union membership. In a 1968 ar- most union union ticle, the director indicated that from 194 to part, constitutions and opera- 1967, the nuimber of cas in which un'ion members tions recognize majority rule, rights of minori- tentative ties, and safeguards to asure fair elections. UTnion rejected agreements rose steadily until members regularly vote union oficials out of in 1967 it reached over a thousand rejections office representing more than 14 percent of the cases in not orily at the local level but increasingly at the which national level as well. In recent years, an incum- the mnediation agency was involved. There bent president ha Leen defeated in se.veral has been A slight drop in 1968, but, the figures re- unions, includ'ing the United Steelworkers, the In- main at a relatively higl level.4 ternational Union of Electrical Workers, the Finally, unicn members disatisfied with thi State, County, and Municipal Workers Union, representation tbey are receiving may not only and work to change their union affiliation, butt may the Insurance Workers UJnion. Strong oppo- also adopt another sition has been a factor in a president's retiring route open to thein bv work. or failing to sW nd for relection in other unirns, ing to decertify their bargaining representative including the Teachers, and the Oil, Chemical, It is interesting to note, however, that although and Atomic WVorkers. Presidents had to battle the trend seems to be towards more frequent con- strong opposition before winning elections in the tests for uinion leadership, the number of decerti- Government Workers, Textile Workers, Mine fication cases filed over the past 5 years and th Workers, and most recently, the Steelworkers. number of such elections held have been fairl Of a total of 186 nationatl unions listed in both constant. Only aboutt 5 percent of all representa- the 1965 and 1967 editions of the Bureau of Labor tion cases coming before the NIRUB involve de. Statistics Directory of National and Interna- certification petitions. On this evidenc, one might tional Unions, 40-or 22 percent-changed presi- conclude that dissatisfied uinion members are more dents between the 2 years. Between.1963 and 1965, inclined tco try to change leadership than to rejed 32 unions changed presidents and the figure was uinionism completely. 38 between 1961 and 196. Sometimes dissatisfaction with union leader- Government's role ship has led to a change in affiliation of individ- In the protection of union members' rights nal local unions or groups of unions, or a move government plays a rencial role. Until a decade to outright independence. The AFL-CIO "no- ago, union buisines was considered solely the corw raiding agreement' is designed to outlaw efforts cmrn of the union; there was no basis, except as LASORUtOOR AND THE MILITANTS 23 uncertain court procedure, for intervening in such ment of individual employees under the collective internal unioni affairs as the conduct of elections, bargaining proces Yet under current union pro- eligibility for membership, or methods of account- cedures, adequate opportunity would sm to be ing for funids. Congrsional investigations into available for dissidents to plac their ca before union affairs, with attendant publicity to various the union membership. unsavory situations, led to the 1959 passag of the LAndrum-Griffith amendments to the basic Rol of the strike labor relations law. rAter, a sfeguard against discrimination based on race, religion, national The historical role of the union has been one origin, or sex in the treatment of applicants for of protest-against low wages, long hotrs, oppres- union membership was included in Title VII of sive working conditions. The traditional instm- the Civil Rights Act of 1984. ment for protest has been the.strike. The result has been a change in the public atti- As unions became more, established, often as a tude about internal un'ion affairs. No longer is the result of strike action, collective bargaining pre- union considered a private club where intenal vailed and the use of the strike became more se- affairs are the business only of the membership; lective, at times when bargaining failed or when instead, the union's fuinctions are considered so im- agreement could not be reached on the terms of a portant to the proper funct.ioning of the economy new contract. that the public has the right to make certain that Several years ago, observers were speculating the unions' busines is conducted - without dis- thiat the UTnited States might be witnessing a long- criminat.ion, honestly, Lnd with adequate safe- run decline in the use of the strike." They thought guirds for the democrtic process. they discrned some indication that unions were Whether this new legislation is achieving its resorting less to the strike to achieve their objec- objectives and whether it hundicaps unions in per- tives and that bargaining agreements would be forming their responsibilities in collective bar- reached more and more without strike action. gaining is a cont.inuing matter for debate.. To While it may be true that, over the years, collec- some extent, the limited number of election com- tive bargaining has reached a certain maturity, plaints under Landrum-Griffin (fewer than 150 particularly in situations where the parties have annually in an estimated 18,000 elections of union become more familiar with each other's point of officers) may testify to the basic democratic proc- view, it has not followed that the incidence of ess previously prevailing. To some extent, it also strikes has declined. In fact, strike loss during reflects changes made in union constitutions as a 1968, although comprising only 0.27 percent of resilt of the law and its interpretations by the total working time, were the highest. since 1959. courts. There can be little doubt that the law has Moreover, fully one-third of these strikes occur had an impact on uinion procedures, particularly during the life of the bargaining agreement and in the conduct. of union elections, the manage- do not involve the negotiation of any subsequent ment of finances, and the imposition of trustee- contract. It is true that most of such stoppage ships over local unions. The most notable election involve a relatively small number of employees cases involve the 1964 election for the president of and, further, that they are of short duration. the Initernational Union of Electrical Workers Nevertlheless, the number of such strikes is sur- and the recent election of the National Maritime prising considering the c.urrent and widespread Union's officers. use of voluntary arbitration as a grievance settle- Despite these improvements and despite most ment device. Although any strike is a protest unions' basic adherence to democratic principles, action, it becomes more dramatic when it takes instancs of undemocratic procedures or ques- place at a time when an agreement with appro- tionable interpretations of constitutional provi- priate procedures is in effect to deal with whatever siom an provide the basis for grievance by conditions gave rise to the protet Data are not dinters ginst the unioti "establishment." Simi- available to indicate what proportion ofthese stop- lar an Aim ovwr po-ible arbitary tret- pages are in violation of a no-trike provision of MONTHLY 24 MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW.RIEVIEW, JULY 1969 the contract, btut many undotubtedly fall into this strong support to governmental efforts in this category. The fact that these occur in such num-; same direction., bers indicates the extent to which the current The black separatists respond that the gains "established" system of labor-management rela- have been nminimal and that unionists who have tions already has fn cope with insurgent unauthor- sanctioned past injustice will not correct it. As ized protest actions. Presumably, efforts by one advocate summarizes the current situation, militant groups to nssert union leadership would "The raci4l intransigence and insensitivity of be tecomparnied by an increasing number of "wild- many lahtboi unions to the interests of the black cat" or unauthorized strikes. No indication of such community and to the increasing radicalizttion of an increase io evident in the data for recent years. Negro deh ands suggest sharp confrontatios in the near future."@ Attitude of union members The uMertain future There is no reason to expect that expressions of dissatisfaction with union leadership nnd poli- The outcome of this debate is uncertain. The cies will shortly come to an end, ecially in view factorh in the background discussed earlier-the of the prevariling mood of frustration throughout decentralized uinion structure, the opportunities many levels of American society. The most serious for chianging union leadership, and the entially lheightening of tension, of course, has occurred in democrp.tic union procedures-all seem to indicate the area of race relations as Negro groups strive that dissert can be expressed constructively within for greater recognition and equality. the prmsent framework. Yet in some eyes, the union A key question is whether, to the typical Negro hias outlived its usefulness as an instrument of unionist, the possibility of gaining economic ad- protest-to become itself a target of protest. As vrancement appears more appealing through a new recent events have demonstrated, the rise of new, militancy or through traditional union methods. more disruptive groups of dissidents in various On the one liand, like all workers, Negroes vary arenas of American life does not always follow in their loyalty to the union. For many of them, predictedl paths. uinion membership springs more from the exist- Wlhethexr Negro unionists wvill heed the call of ence of a union shop contract requiring member- the new groups remains to be seen. Up to mid-lt), ship a a condition of employment. Moreover, they the separtlist black groups do not sem to have normally hay a not inconsiderable sum ($50-$70 attracted muclh sulpport. It may be worth noting annually) for the services the union is render- that despite many white Southerners' distaste for ing. WhJen to this is added the uiphill fight for union civil righits and political efforts in 1+;S recognit.ion and equality that most Negro workers relatively few have deserted thieir uinion. Will the liave faced, it wot Id be surprising indeed if manv Negro unionists retain their affiliation despite of them couild not be encouraged to join a more their disappointment w*ith other union policies! militant organization. If action is taken to establish separate identities On the othier hand, union leaders point out that, the reaction by the white union members and thl utilizing traditional union methods, Negro work- union leaders!Lip is likely to be quite sharp. Ir ers have been able to achieve substantial gains, Detroit, for example, the PAW counterattack& both in terms of economic improvements and ad- against DRUM by circulating a letter to all area vances to positions of greater responsibility within unionists cillinig attention to the actions of DRLY the union ranks. Additionally, they contend that including "knifings and physical assaullts." Fur union attitudes toward the Negro minority lhave thermore, according to the union, "fires have beer forcefully changed during the past decade. Action started inside the plant which, had they not beer lhas been taken to eliminate barriers to admission, brought under control, could hiave meant the los abolish discrimination in, hiring' practices, and of workers' lives and the loms of jobs." The unior negotiate changes in seniority arrangements which letter stated that the UAW "will not protect work liad been blocking Negro advances to higher pay- ers who reort to violence and intimidation witl ing jobs. At the same time, unions have given the conscious purpose of dividing their union alone LABORft"OR AND- THE MLTMILITANTSS2 25 racial lines-" Undoubtedly other unions faceed with lege level. More trcent-ly this group has been mov- the same challenge would respod with equal ing into more permanent jobs in the labor force. vigor. Ten year ago, 37 percent of all men age 20644 were Looking to the future, the union may find its under 35 years of age. Today the proportion has task of representing its members and channeling risen to 39 percent; by 1975 it will be over 44 per- their feelings into constructive relations with cent. In other words, almost half the group from management may become even more difflicult. It which the active union members dramwn will be may be worth noting that today's unres on the under 35. This is bound to have a major effect on campus coincides with the presence there of those union goals, strategy, and organization. Unions, youngsters born during the baby boom immedi- which until recently have been more heavily ately following World War II. Perhaps it can weighted with older workers, will find that a be argued that this cohort of youngsters was younger group will moe and more be knocking at bound to cause difficulties as it grew dp, simply by the gates of leadership. As this occurs, the present virtue of its numbers. During the past 20 years, labor relations system, which up to now has been these numbers have overwhelmed shool falcilities able to channel protest constructively, will be put at the elementary, secondary, and now at the col. to an even sterner test, FormoTsTE-_ 'Sfee MonthIV Labor R¢evie, November 18, pp. 16- "Flee Frank M. KIleller, 4The Impact of Titles I-VI of 17. For a report on similar problems at the 1988 conven. the 1-n4rm-Griftn Act," Gcorgia L,w R-evefw, Winter tion of the American Federation of Government Employ- 1989. ees, see the Rceew, November 198, pp. 22-23. ' Benjamin Aaron, "Individual Employee Rights and 'reent newpaPer storrY termed the newly formed Union Democracy," a paper prewnted before the winter Aliance for Labor Action (ALA) the "labor movement's meeting of the Industrial Relations Research Assolation, first conglomerate." However, this journallstic characteri- December 1968. satlon was based on the vriety of organizing, political, Ro and ocial action programs the new group propowd to ' Arthur M. and Paul T. Hartman, Changf#g Pat- undertake jointly. Te ALA, fomed by the United Auto. terns of Indoetriu2 Conflict (New York, John Wiley and mobile Workers and the Teamsters, i not a merger of the Sons, Inc., 1960). two unions and there Is nw jurisdiction over members in "Fora good summary of the union view on minority the two unions (See WaUI gtreot Journal, May 14, 1969.) rights, see the address by AFL-CIO President George "Wbile the extent of union democracy became a major Meany at a lanquet honoring A. Philip RaIdolph, May 6, public policy issue during the 195r's during a period of 1969. For a Negro union leader's view of black separatists, several Congresional Investigations and debate over pend- see comments by A. Philip Randolph In Proedhiag, AFL- Ing legislation, relatively little. has been written on the CIO Convention, 1967, vol. 1, page 335. For more detailed sbct since. See Alice H. Cook, Union Democracy: prac- awsessments of the isues se, F. Ray Mar sall, The Negro 11CC and Meal (Ithaca, N.Y., Cornell University Press, and Organied Labor (New York, John Wlley and Bos, 1963); William U. Leiserson, American Tnde Union Inc., 1905); Herbert Hill, 'The Racial Practic of Orgs- Democracy (New York, Cetumbia Univerity Pres 1969); nixed Labor-Tbe Age of Gompers and After"; and John and Seymour M. Lipset and other, Union Demcrcy: the . Hutchinson, "The AFL-CIO and the Negro"; In Arthur InScrRal Polltle of theb Intcnationa rTporaphlie Unio AL Ross and Herbert Hill Employment, Raoe, and Pov- (Glencoe, I11L, Fre Pres, 198). rty (New York, Haowrt, Brace, and World, 1967). 4Williami IL Sakin, '"Rfusals to Ratify Oontrcts," Herbert Hill, "Black Protest and the Sulte for I"duerilslad Ltbor Relatioe JteAe, July 199 p Union Demoenrcy" heeveetn Iaietr soiety, Vl L 5184540. NO. ,1069. UNION PROSPECTS AND PROGRIAiS FOR THE 1970'S by Albert A. Blum *

George Orwell once wrote that, "How right the working classes are. *.to realize that the belly comes before the soul not in the scale of values but in point of time." Orwell was indeed perceptive insofar as the American labor movement was concerned. The AFL during the first 50 years of its existence steadily rejected the intellectuals' vague reforms and the Marxist's millenium and instead chose to seek more -- more wages, shorter hours, and better working conditions. By doing so, they firmly fixed the labor movement as a permanent and pronmnent part of the American landscape while those unions that followed other pied pipers disappeared from the scene. Moreover, inadvertentlys the AFL helped alter the American economic scene surely more than those unions which had taken different routes. No matter what the AFL said about how it supported the free enterprise system, it was, in fact, through collective bargaining altering the system by preventing wages from being determined in the market place, by restricting the law of supply and demand as it affected workers, and so forth. And these restrictions on laissez faire economics readied America for the mixed economy of the 1930's and after. Then in the 1930's, the labor movement expanded its definition of Itmore" to include support for a host of social welfare legislation (still. mainly

* Professor, School of Labor and Industrial Relations and James Madison College, Michigan State University. concerned withl th belly). Iur:irg tihat dCcae, it reached i.t- peak of effect iveness since labor' s goals andi those of nonworki-ng clas : liberals coincided.

IThey both sGought to help the poor wid the unemployed -- to deal manrlly with the issue oi7 quantity. In fact, one reason why liberals supported. the W.gner Act was that they believed that if more workers could be unionized this wouad raise the standard of living not only of those organized but of those not yet members of unions. For one brief shining moment, labor and liberals saw eye- to-eye and together pushed through the major changes which we have labelled the New Deal. By the end of this period, both groups together had forged certain basic changes in American life: one, they had wounded laissez-faire economics and replaced it with a mixed economy; two, they had changed a group? of small, select trade unions into a mass, labor movement; and., three, they had destroyed the Marxist drean of using the working class's increasing poverty as the motivating force for a revolution by lessening poverty and misery among the organized workers. The worker's belly was finally becoming full, and the union movement, helped by middle class reformers, had helped to fill it.

But Orwell only believed that labor's genius was in recognizing that the belly should come first, not that it was m-ore important thani the soul. knd it is this changing order of priorities which I believe is one of the keys to labor's prospects and goals in the 1970's. Will it continuie to deal mainly with the problems of the belly or those of quantity as it has up to now, or will it shift some of its focus to the problems of the sould or to those of quality?

"Trade unionism in the United States,"t in the words of one of its greatest historians, Philip Taft, "is a means of protecting the individual against arbitrasry rule n-ud ratk-sing- his standiard of living.. .arati d-crve- hih score" for its successes there. Will it now be ready to deal more with qualitative needs which are more difficult to determine than hunger and more difficuLlt to solve than unemployment? "Hunger calls for food to eat," commients a French member of the New Left. "But what does emptiness, boredom, dlissatisfaction w-ith life and with the world call for?" The New Left claims it has an answer to this question and so wants to replace the old world with a new one. The labor movement, however, generally ignores the issue. It forgets that, as was true in the past, for it to progress best, it has to secure the support of other groups in Ame-rica. It cannot say in response to the following objective of the Alliance for Labor Action: "To develop policies and carry out programs that will enable the American labor movement to repair the alienation of the liberal-intellectual and academic community," what Ge-orge Meaniy said; "Well, I couldn't care less about that one. Th3lihe AFL-CIO should care more, for an understanding of what concerns liberals and others in America may help unions grow and better serve their members, as well as bring needed changes to kaiericaa life. It is aot as if the discontent with the qualit.ative aspects of American life is only felt by the New Left. If this were soAit would be only a rela- tively unimportant matter, for whatever the loud noises from the New Left, it

1 Philip Taft, "Theories of the Labor Movement." in industrial Relations Research Association, I etin the Labo-Moverrient, December 1952, p. 38. 2 Andre Gorz, Stratem. for Labor: A Radical Proposal, i3oston, Beacon Press, 1968, p. X. For a brief sunmary of the point of vriew of Gorz and his associates, see Sidney Aronowitz, "New Working Class, Old Labor Movement," New Politics, Vol. VII, No. 3, pp. 58-67. 3 AFL-CIO, Proceed,ings Eighth Constitutional Convention, 3.969, p. 63. nunmbers only a ftw. And it i,; not as i f only int;eilectual.,> (in3conced in academic communities, bedat their breasts concerning iborts faults. Acadermiic3 generally are not particularly interested in the labor movenment, anci ever those in such an organization as this one, the Induntrial Te Lations Researcl Association, are less and less concerned withthe problemls of organized Iabor.

We do not even have a radical caucus -- which perhaps reflects on our irrele- vance and the fact tihat young radicals, who once used to study labor problems, do not bother any more. Not only the New Left and intellectuals, whatever their relative importance, are troubled by issues of quality or soul, but also large numbers of others

(how many, it is impossible to tell) and one such group, as we shall see, is organized labor. But first, there are the liberails. Tnis group, once so sympathetic to organized labor, no longer cares very much about what happens to unions. They could not care less when the plumbers in Southern California try to raise their hourly wages to $11.61; they could not care less when a union talks about the need to protect apprenticeship programrs while it is using them as an euphemism for keeping segregation; and they could not care less whether or not a union secures a shorter work week (they recognize that this really often means more pay not more time off). Tnese reformers care about unions when labor takes a position on foreign policy or on civil rights (arid for wrong or right reasons liberals are critical of unions in both areas). Tney only become sympathetic to unions when labor is t;rying to organize the really disadvantaged, such as farm workers or hospital employees. At other times, thnese once Ioyal supporters of labor are either disinterested or hostile to organizZed labor. And the rea0bon,.; for this los-s of sup;)ort wLre not the result of the almost paranoid attacks upon intellectualo by AirL leaIesr but be'Caus the reIormer

is becoming more concerned with style, soul, or (uality and Cless arnd les

with what the union movement continues most concerned -- namely, quantity, or

more. For example, George Meany cannot understand wny so many intellectuals

and middle-class reformers supported a Kennedy or a McCarthy over a in'unphrey or a Johnson and given his terms of reference, he is, of course, correct. But his terms of reference are no longer that of large segments of American society which once loyally worked with unions. (The liberals are surely not always correct in their disenchantment with latbor, for the 1nions correctly have helped lead the recent fight for tax reform and continue Justifiably

troubled that inflation should not cause the workers' real wages to decline

and that the price to be paid for deflation should not be a high rate of unemployment.)

The second group that talks about recognizing the need for quality oL

life includes some segments of management, and surely many of the intellectuals serving management. Industrial executives, unlike so many union officials,

rather than fearing the nation's inteelligentsia ha.ve uised it -- and at times even listened to it. And one of the messages these intellectuals have carried is the need for satisfaction at work -- that the worker is not only concerned with his belly but also is concerned with other things; that, irn fact, the belly is at the lowest level of workers' needs, and that once it is reasonably filled, the worker desires other satisfaction, be they social, ego satisfying, or developmental. As a result, some firms have become concerned that workers be given some role in decision-making concerning his job, that the work it.:10i1' I)CC111t ItiOl'C VYL'i('ld :Lfl(I. CrC-'LtiV0, ;ali I1-htt ti1e work:r havc ir.ore responlsiLility concerning Wik:Lt fie doe"s. Ao r reoult of the work o-f schol;oars and propagandists for participative management, a number of firms fire 10ooking over tleir work situations and altering them. As a result, for this reason among others, unions have not been able to organize such firms as Texas Instruments, and such workers as white collar employees. The thi.rd group increasingly concerned with qualit;y or sty-le are the workers. For example, there are many signs which indicate th( txi ;re of workers for participation in decision-making. They are reJecting negotiated settlements. They have voted against their union officials causing increased turnover of union officers, often for apparently no real ideological reason (just as the rejection of the settlements do not normially result in any marked- changes in the eventually accepted agreement). Botah acts reflect at least the feeling that the workers want to be heard -- even ju2t to have the pleasure of saying "no." iThe pressure on the part of workers i.n local plants or of certain categories of workers, such as skilled workers, to have a voice in decisions affecting their futures is another manifestation of t.he push for participation. And then there are the Lew black caucuses demanding to be heard, and the inereasing number of young workers, tired of tales about the thirties, who want to help decide their future in the seventies. Moreover, the current attack upon Boulwareism is not merely a fight over the terms of

Arthur A. Thompson and Irwin Weinstock, "Facing the Crisis i4n Collective Bargaining," V EL e ?ocs, Sunumer 1968, pp. 3744; Fred K. Foulkes, Cet-InErVOlnreWork, American Management Association, 1969, passim. S bL in . r, i); roic '; have determining COlittaLCt, bit, 1r i.t ovter t,jic worker.-s sh;ould what s:hould go in-to thut contract.5 Thi3 worker discontenwt is not only over bub-st'antive issues but often reflects a concern withi the style in which things are being hanUled -- a desire to have a voice. One misreads this protest if one attempts to an"-wcr it by saying that since unions have become more der.ocratic, provide more opportunities for change and are more decentralized, that "dissent can be expressed constructively within the present framework." in thLeoy, I agree with my associate, Peter Hienle, when he made that judgment but people do not always act that sagely. It is like saying that blacks ought to protest; only through the present channels since they hiave made much progress. But it is because of the progress, and it is because m,any of them do not believe that they can secure what they want through the "present Jralnework ," that they protest outside of it. Similarly the workers, having -made much progress, having seen their quantitative needs becoming more satisfied, may indeed become more restless (as they have) and may even look outside of the uniions for answers to such questions as, "What does emptiness, boredom, dissatisfaction with life and with the world call for?" Lhe dissatisfaction may cause hiim to feel threatened and to think abouLt voting Lor George Wallace or feel frustrated, as many of our ethnic white groups in their urban enclaves do and bloname the

5 For example, see Peter B3orrrnmarito's (the heaut of the Rubber Wor;ers) views on youth and labor as reported in Ji July 19, 1969, and compare it with the platitudes offered by Wa,lter G . Davis, the AFL-CIO's Director of Education, in the October 1969 issue of the Anieri.can Federationist. 6 Peter Henle, "Some Ref.Alections on Organized labor and the New MI'Lilitants," Monthly Labor Review, July 1969, pp. 20-25. blaclks for ix.t Th Iund;LInQrit:LA CLUC" 01 itl I. thi Ur leUUne;.U accoeirirj to Arcilibtaldi Cox, imay, hiowever, run, "a good (deal deeper. rt 1; pcrt of ti-e sanme ferment that produces the civil rights maovement, the draft-ca_.r burriingos, and the student denmonstrations in Berkeley. Today everybody wants more of everything." An1 :is right. The workers not only wanit miore money, but they want more of everything. 7

This does not mean that George Meany is not correct when he declares that

a union leader cannot stop asking for more money. "I' he does," .Meany declared, "he isn't going to be the head of that union very long." And another union leader agrees: "I've never felt as much pressure from rank and file for more money."8 Obviously, this will continue to be true. No one expects a worker to be satisfied with what he is making. The very fact tha:t, he is making m.ore will prompt increased demands, not less. But why do these demands continue to

focus mainly on issues of quantity? It is because orgalni zed. labor nas rarely tried to satisfy other needs of its members. No wonder workers never think of going to their leaders with other requests. Organized l1abor has -left Ato management the problem of increasing satisfaction at work. It has leflt to society the problem of increasing satisfactions oul;sidle of work. Laoor has

focused instead on the gut issues of money and job security, thne prerequisites but not the only requisites of a good job. But unions in the 1970's must look

Cited in Foulkes, op. cit., p. 30. 8 New York Times, December 1, 1.969. to Prob'),i111{. o l (lluiLl i ty. IN, m-(eL; to (do t,i ;"i j i itt to a ,row,X,"soITI manat,crs alec concerne I witii isGue, thereby ; -;irtihgAt more u.i f'Liciltfor labor to attract aff'Se-ted employees into unions",. It rneu!6;- to i it1 i:3 tO service the growing necds and demands, even if not fully art,icuiatud, of. it, members. It needs to as part of an increasing American concern with qual`ty of life. What are the specific needs to which I amn referring? 'Insofar as orgarniz labor's demands in collecti've bargaining, union leaders might begin by readine what management spolesmen have been saying, and so-,e of' them are doing, to make work more meaningful. One start mright be to stop only hiring economists as staff employees (reflective of the belly syndrome already mentioned), and hire some sociologiests, psychologists, and organizatCional behavior types. Union leaders trying to organize clerks, for exalnple,, bemoan lthe- witi"ie collar employees' identification with management, but continue to use mainly economic techniques to organize them -- with a steady lack of success. A new ttype of staff employee might be able to offer the prounion advice to counter the cant- union advice management is securing from its staff. Moreover, these s-aff members might be able to develop or identify worker demands so t,.hat t.e-- securing of job satisfaction will be the resilt of real worker participattion through unions in collective bargaining, not as a resuAlt of manageenterfi aes . And what might some of these demands be? Tihe right of the workers to have more discretionary power over their jobs (sonme t.ruck drivers have fougt for the privilege -to take alternative routes than the orne ranagement desig- nated), Job rotation, and job enrichment are some expar.les- Other-s cani be discovered at the work place, ,lust as new economic demands have been (iscovere( by the luni oni; Me i vLn io; sL4:t l.e o; ; 'y 1`A-I1for'Ir. (1V( a voice in decision-makin over thh mnz-ny m.aittcrs now ir.1c(` .:1n p1 a.( union agreement. Th is indeed was a revolut;i on.xy chtar,gn in Arrir-riwcalrn:-.-carria life; now it has to broaden this involvement s,o workerrs hNave the right to participate with management inr making a host of othier deci-ions: involvirln first limited then broader aspects of production, pl axnning, promotion, produc- tivity, personnel, and priorities.9 Beyond these collectively bargained goals, unions will hnve to deai with the frustrations of the workers outside the job -- urban bl.ieght, transportatior bottlenecks, polluted air, excessive costs of inadequate medical care, old age. troubled schools, safety, status, leisure time alternatives, race relations, pervasive poverty, and foreign policy. Tne supposed failure of unions in not having fought hard enough to solve thiese proolemzs has helpe(d cause the split between liberals and labor discussed earlier. It has cau-seo-) e-ven those as sympathetic to trade unions as Professor Ben Scli0nan to areue tnat: 10

"If one accept;s u.inions aso essential instruments for irmtroving thALTh(.Ci.Lte material welfare of their members (and for that_ pUrpose there ar e few bettLer instruments available) then it becom-es necessary for other g,roups to beco-Le the torchbearers of change. Unions perform very well within tneir specified limits.... We may have to let the matter stand tbere. If we are con.cerned with civil rights, Vietnam and reform, the burden of these issues necessarily must fall on other shoulders. "

But as the uniorn movement once exparided its horizons from just the materia well-being of its members to the material well-being of the broader society

See Adolf F. Sturmthal, "Workers' ikLrt ioat- on in Manl;ea:ont; A Review of United States- Experience," in wte,rn:tional Institute for Labour Studies, Bulletin 6, June 1969, pp. 1h9-1d6; 0.^"oles1), .0W, pp. 3-33.

1 Ben B. Seligman, "A Balance Sheet of Ameri cean Unions," '!iLI June-July 1969, p. 49. 1.1 and lhelped change the nature of our economic system (movin( from collective bargaining to political action and thus wisely rejecting the reverse order recommended by Marxists and intellectuals), so, I wouild arEue that once labor, through collectivle bargaining, recognizes that there is more to the joG than money, and more to time-off than just hours, then labor may well expand its political horizons again. Once labor recognizes more fully that it rnow can afford to worry about the soul and, with the belly, make it a part of tne labor body, a meaningful cooperation between liberals rand labor may again be forthcoming. And such a goal for the 1970's is needed if the prospect.s for both labor and society for that decade are to be more pleasant than the decade through which we have just lived. PROPHETS: LEFT AND RIGHT

(Reprinted from "The Labor Revolution" by Gus Tyler for classroom use only)

American labor is in the midst of a deep and quiet revolution. Unions are organizing new kinds of workers in new industries. In the past, most union dues payers wore blue collars and worked for wages; in the future, legions of new members wearing white collars and work- ing for salaries will pour in. From 1935 to 1965, the labor movement grew most rapidly in the great basic industries: automobile, rubber, electronics, aircraft, transport, maritime, chemical, atomic, steel; at present, unions are growing most rapidly in the service trades, especially among employees of government at the local and state level. Until recently, professional people looked upon their "societies" as the retort to unions; today professionals are converting their guilds and associations into unions or are forming and joining unions outright. As a result of these trends, total labor-union membership is climbing rapidly toward a new plateau: the doubling of membership experienced in the 1930s and 1940s promises to be repeated.

As the size and composition of the labor movement change, the locale of action shifts. In the past, the scene was industrial and urban America. Now the industrial and political battleground moves to the suburbs' In the past, the geographic base of unionism was almost en- tirely in the North and West and Midwest. Now the focus shifts to the South and the Southwe st.

Among the older and established unions, automation poses challenges that compel fresh responses. At the bargaining table, unions seek new types of security for the mechanically dispossessed, the workers who are automated out. In the shops, unions must start al- most from the beginning shaping wage policy as new production methods wipe out old job definitions and create new and hitherto un- evaluated work categories. At the polls, labor voters turn out to vote for programs that will guarantee full employment and continuing income despite the threats of automation, computerization, cybernation. Con- sequently, even among the settled unions there is a mood of unrest that expresses itself through new contract clauses and a heightened interest in politics. -2-

As the old order changes, so does the old guard. A generation of top leaders exits, with about one-third of the high command in the AFL-CIO Executive Council stepping out at one convention (1965); a younger generation steps in; and, in the wings, a generation still younger impatiently awaits its cue.

This new labor movement-changing in composition and in character-is coming into being in response to the personal and collective needs and attitudes of the new labor force that has been growing since mid-century. Yet, self-centered as these groups necessarily are, they find that they cannot go it alone. They seek allies out of necessity and compassion. Increasingly the labor move- ment seeks ententes with civil rights groups, with social planners wrestling with megalopolis,with ecomomic programmers seeking full employment, with warriors against poverty, with internationalists crusading for a world of peace with freedom. Consequently, the massive impress of the labor movement in a great liberal coalition is changing the face of the nation.

This quiet revolution has been progressing without public notice. It has proceeded largely unnoted because, first, the process is in its early stages; second, unions are habitually neither introspective nor image-minded; third, the current change-unlike the earlier one in the mid-1930s---was not dramatically launched with a split in the ranks and the formation of a new federation; fourth, many intellec- tual commentators on the labor movement have either grown so far away from the unions as to have lost sensitive contact with current developments or are so immersed in recording and reinterpreting the past as to have lost interest inthe future. Hence, a great phe- nomenon in the making may go unhearlded until it overwhelms both the se-.rs and the doers, the intellectuals and the trade unionists.

bg 9 / 25/67 opeiu- 391 THE U. S. WORKER IN THE SEVENTIES EMARKS OF SAM ZAGORIA UMBER, NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Inexorably, not unlike death and taxes, time marches on. In the bubbling, bursting cities, the pace often sems like double time, but even here in the peace end tranquility of a hail of learming in a beautihl rustic setting, time does move along. In less than three months we will be entering the new decade ot the Seventies. What will the next ten years bring by way of labor challenges, problems, and hopdully, soluions? What have we learned fro the Sixties and before that we can start applying in order to lessen the impact of the problems and enhance the prospect of the solutions? Even if I were presumptuous enough to attempt to answer these questions in the midst of this array of manpower experts and daily practitioners in the art of industrial peace, I fear there would not be time enough to deal with many aspects. Let me concentrate instead on a few. During the Seventies America's work force is expected to grow from about 85 million to 100 million. Despite this anticipated growth some manpower experts, Including your fellow Pennsylvania, Dr. Seymour Wolfbein of Temple University, are warning of possible shortages in filling jobs, and they may be right if we do not see the needs early enough and adjust our course accordingly. But one thing is certain with a work force of this size, bigness is bound to be a dominant characteristic of our labor-management institutions. Fortune magazine each year does an analysis of the nation's 500 largest firms. This year, the average siz of these firms was about 28,000 employees, and each year the size keeps growing. The ties which bind together company management and company employees have to include a lot of stretching elastic. The probability of an individual worker knowing the president of the corporation, or, for that matter, the president of his international union, if he belongs to one, is realisti- cally quite small. And as the work force grows, the possibility practically dis appears. John Diebold, the noted computer exprt, in his new book, "Man and the Computer," declares that, "America has entered this era (of automation) with a legacy of concepts developed to meet the needs of the unskilled worker. The re- sults of labor-management relatkin to date might be summarized as the guar- antee of equal treatment and the expectation of average performance. These concepts are already recognized as archaic in dealing with creative personnel. What must be encouraged is exceptional performance, and what may well be needed is Individual treatment." Whether or not this is the era of automation, as Mr. Diebold states, there is no doubt that employees, from the lowest paid employee to the highest execu- tive, are seeking attention to their plea that "I want to be me,", not just someone represented by a badge and a payroll number. Top-flight executives, for example, have frequently been known to put aside promises of extra Income and

- 19- benefits, opting instead for greater responsibility and independence in managing. Already, some personnel wise men, while accommodating to corporate growth, have been emphasizing a growing need for decentralization of authority, for greater responsibility for more people. Understandably every worker wants to be heard and respected, As firms grow larger, employees tend to feel smaller and this creates a need for manage- ment ingenwty and imagination in finding ways to deal with individual problems. The techniques of the suggestion box, gripe sessions, the grievance system and, more recently, the ombudsman, have been used to improvise new links connect- ing company leadership and rank and file employees. Some of these have been implemented formally through labor-management contracts, but in the coming decade we will need more and better ways of overcoming the problems posed by Industrial growth and change. The bigness problem facing us in the Seventies is immense, for it is not work alone that frustrates the worker of the Sixties and the Seventies. It is also the sheer bigness of the society in which he lives-his lost letter is hardly unique among 82 billion pieces handled by the Post Office Department this year; his car is in steady competition-and often collision-with growing millions of vehicles vying for space on the road; indeed his daily life is constantly pummeled by the congestion, noise and fumes resulting from 70 percent of the country's population packed on 1 percent of the nation's land. By the time the workman gets to work, he may be a beaten and bitter man, and relations on the job-which takes up a half or more of his waking day-may suffer from the strain. The growth of local issues in contract negotiations may reflect job frustra- tions end demonstration of individual independencee. The growth in rejection of contract settlements reached by union committees and in the development of intra.union groups formed along skill or racial lines indicate an insistence that "I want to be heard. I want to be dealt with." Individualism will be registered in other ways, too. The Seventies will be marked by increasing worker mobility and by radical change in the composition of the work force. The Labor Department has already warned, "No longer can a boy or girl expect just one occupation to cover a lifetime of work. Even today, -A 20-year-old man could be expected to change jobs 6 or 7 times during his work lii... expectancy of 43 years." These young people, mobile and independent, will dominate the work fome-by now half our entire population is in the 30 years of age or under bracket. In the next decade the 25 to 34 year-old worker group is expected to expand by 40 percent. A steadily increasing percentage will be college-trained, and during the Seventies the number of technical and professional workers is expected for the first time to exceed the total number of skilled crafts- men in the work force. These are significant changes tht are bound to leave their imprint on labor relations of the Seventies. Dealing with a younger work force, one untouched by the Depression, one more educated and therefore more confident of its own abilities, will be a new experience for industrial chieftains and labor union leaders. With this group, too, there will be less reluctance to switch jobs, switch locatios. At present, one of every five Americans moves each year and the main reason is a better job else- where. Many young professionals, particularly, are finding that job-jumping is a faster way to climb the executive ladder than staying In one place. -20- Another major factor in the Seventies: the work force will have a larger proportion of women on the job. Almost 30 million women are now at work-more than a third of the work force-and as the demand grows from the service indus- tries, government, technical fields, they will find opportunity ever widening, for here brains and not brawn are usually the criteria. To illustrate: by 1975, it is expected that almost 1 of every 2 people will be a white collar worker, 1 out of every 5 will be earing a litving by buying and sell- ing, 1 out of 6 will be engaged by a govemment enterprise (mostly state and local) and I out of 7 will be a professional or technical worker. Many of these, you may be sure, will be women. Black workers, male and female, will have a more substantial role in the work force both in terms of numbers and level of rqsponsibility. This is easily said but will not come about easily, as the demonstrations in the big cities con- stantly remind us. Resolving the difficult probemns involved in job training, test- ing, referral and seniority will demand much of all of us. But in a society where there are so many unmet needs and where equality of opportunity is preached from childhood, job doors must be opened to all. If we are to do the many things which an urban society requires, there are more than enough jobs for all. It will take leadership and courage to find the ways to get them started and convince white and black workers that one must not suffer in order for the other to achieve. If we can lick the problems of finance, there is enough pent-up demand for construction that this one industry alone could tnrple or quadruple its man- power with full-time work for all who can learn the trades. Another aspect of the Seventies: Automation. Adjustment to automation will require patience and ingenuity for it continues to grow, spurred by the tremen- dous potential of the computer. In 1970, American industry plans to spend $14.5 billion for automation, almost a fourth of industry's total planned capital invest- ment. The pioneering of the Armour Automation Committee, the Kaiser Long Range Sharing Plan, and the West Coast Longshoremen's Mechanization Fund is a lesson for all of us, and similar labor-management statesmanship is certain to come. Another factor of the Seventies: Government at all levelis is expected to experience growth in numbers accompanied by a growth in collective bargaining efforts. A growth in government employment as a whole is anticipated on the order of 40 percent. Goveremment unionization has been spurting, too, with the claim rmade of an average enrollment of 1000 new members every working day. States and municipalities who fail to recognize this growth lose the valuable chance to channel employee efforts into smooth and peaceful relationships. In short, the Seventies present us with a steady push toward the milestone of 100 million workers. This tremendous growth will be accompanied by sub. stantial changes in the composition, stability and educational preparation of workers. We shall all have to do more thinking about finding ways to bridge the distance between the big employer and the individual worker, exploring ways of making jobs more satisfying. Many of the present techniques will succeed, but there may be value in some innovations, for white collar workers particularly- for example, job transfers to provide change and challenge, periodic mind- stretching sessions wnth outside experts, occasional sabbaticals or exchanges with government units, and generally greater participation in professional organiza- -21-