WE NEED MORE, NOT LESS, INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACY
Wagner, Senator Robert F.
On the Route to Ruin? We Need More, Not Less, Industrial Democracy By Senator Robert F. Wagner ^"tONGRESS is currently engaged in reviewing I a our national labor policy. If this examination j~...
...Prohibition of tbe right to strike can be effective only in dictatorships under a system of industrial serfdom...
...If this examination j~ is lo be fruitful, we must guard against being storied into ihe swirling pooh of misleading propaganda which have surrounded so fundamental a ssrasnre as the...
...Depression ami recovery, war and peace, and the no less demanding tasks of reconversion have painted the canvass of this kaleidoscopic decade...
...That is the route In ruin, not only lor Ubor...
...The giave forebodings now so widely broadcast concerning die consequences, of foremen's collective bargaining are contradicted by actual situations where such bargaining docs exist, and will prove as gioundless against tbe experience of the next decado a- llie equally dire prophesies of a decade ago concerning the effect of collective bargaining generally...
...To apply the Anti-Trust Laws, however, lo break up unions would promote competition lo reduce wages and ibe purchasing power of tbe workers...
...National Labor Relations Ad...
...1 personally Indicve that as employers, union leaders and employees gain maturity in the process of collective bargaining, ihe unauthorized strike will have gone oul of existence irrespective of the presence or absence of sanctions in tbe trade agreement...
...The orderly w< ornniodaliou ol conflu-ling, interests is tlie peculiar genius .til democracy...
...But the year* since tin...
...There is no panacea for the solution of the strike problem within ihe framework of a democratic system...
...This is a simple lad...
...Willi this lull come an era of industrial pence and hai monious labor¦management relation...
...How then can il wilb ju-liir...
...With the end of win fatigue and the quieting of war nerves, uilh the dissijmtion of inflationary pressures by full production, and uilh llie bridging of the gulf be Incrn uages mid the cost of living, ue can expect more maturity in collective bargaining—if it is given a chance...
...We may begin with • single fail: Organized labor has grown in mem1m-t slti|> In.in about three million when the National Labor Relations Act was passed in luo"» lo about lifteen million in 1916...
...No Constitutional principle can support this, nor would i just labor relations policy result from it...
...The way to industrial peace is not through rendering unions impotent lo raise and protect the standard of living and the purchasing power of tbe moss of consumers...
...A decade in the life of a nation nun well l>e considered but a brief moment...
...but id rleinenlal significance...
...Industrial strife, chaos and ruin would follow the outlawing of Industry-wide bargaining...
...II the acceptance of collcclivc I>.<¦ gaining is not lip service, it is indeed warranted l>\ economic realities...
...To do so would be to Invite industrial strife and to undermine tbe already precarious economic position of an important sector of the middle class, one of the mainstays of a democratic society...
...ejiai im.-iit of the National Labor Relations Acl mi Jsly...
...i- u.i-tilnl .mil jiif rtn iciit ' iineriean management ami sciem c inn\l \hntc in the credit, bill the indnsliinl iiiumlr it huh tie lime accepted at a commonplace a mild mil hate hern passible had organized labor mil i imperilled lo llie fullest lonard increasing indnsliinl rir otlin licit y and el In irncy...
...is only natinai that this fe- so...
...The National Labor Relations Ail forms an integral pail ill this dynamic decade, both influencing ami being influenced by the fprces al home anil abroad...
...To apply llie Anti-Trust Laws to business encourages competition in prices which is economically desirable...
...Il i- nuclei collective bargaining that peacetime pioducliim...
...CnOl'LRATION between l.iboi and luauagcujrul lo promote industrial efficiency and employee security would be abruptly cut short by the incredible proposals to prohibit industry-wide bargaining...
...despite llie la-li of damaging strikes, i- icachiii<: iccniil heights...
...19.15...
...bui for business as well...
...And out of this era of travail, America has emerged victorious Hit tlie leading power on earth, strengthened in its (democracy, enriched in its freedoms, anil enjoying imprercilciitcd economic prosperity...
...Stabilization of business practices and tbe elimination of sweatshop wages and workisg conditions in the needle trades ami nlhei industries have gone hand in hand with the establishment of industrywide bargaining...
...Tin- talk of "restoring fire speech lo tbe employer" is a polite way of reintroducing employ el interference, economic retaliation, ami other intidious means of discouraging union membership ami Union activity, and thus greatly diminishing and restricting the exercise of free speech and free choice by the working men and women of America...
...This type of bargaining, as in Britain and Sweden, has characterized maturity in laboi relations in ihe I niled Slates...
...In a democracy where the ultimate sanction of any public policy depends upon public acceptance, an inlorrned public opinion is of crucial importance...
...Ultimate reliance in industrial democracy, as in its political counter pari, must be placed not on suppression, but on the willingness of the parties involved to resolve their differences by mutual accord...
...Jul filling the, obfei tii.es nf lln:^ let of which" I ton very proud to fie the author...
...I therelore consider a* an attempt to turn tlie^Adorl l«ack, |ny proposal which would completely eliminate any |fonp of American workers from the protection of Ibe Arts whether by contracting the coverage of tbn 111 al ule or by excluding foremen and supervisors, ilia industrial "middle class" should not be denied tf»e protected right to organise which has been excreted by Irolh rank-and-file workers and their embers...
...I am not among those who are I lightened by the stresses and strains incident to ihe adjustment of conflicting interests...
...Moreover, all llie propaganda to ihe contrary notwithstanding, the phenomenal growth of labor oiganiiatiou has taken place without any diminulioii ol I be employers' constitutional right to free speech in labor relations...
...since iIn- National pabor Relations Act deals in such a fundamental way one of die basic problems of our society—labor relations whose c*preslioii and ramifications are economic, social and political...
...1 npiecedented growth in oi^ani/ed I.dun lias gone band in band with unprecedented l>iisine-s profits and prosperity...
...Labor's increasing interest in the operation ami intuitu...
...This it einlrnccil by contract provisions lo llml effect and by day to day industrial teliilinns...
...It is under collective bargaining that our industrial machine was expanded In bee.....e the arsenal nl democracy and one of the innsl important factors in the victory of tbe Allies...
...labormnnngement cooperation lo increase cllnicn, i, reduce tunic and improve pi oil lit I \ ^rous npmc...
...It shows that as soon as ibe obstacles in the form of employer inlerleieme wete remove*!, American workers have eagerly sought lo exercise their rights of self-organization...
...The National Labor Relations Board under the supervision •f the courts (whose chief duty is to uphold I bo Constitution) should continue to accommodate the jriglit of the workers to organize and tbe employers' right to free speech in the context of tbe dr«-iim« #t»nce« of specific cases...
...like its political pio|o|vpe...
...Is collective Ixtrgaining gum > in ninluiil...
...t)igani-ed labor realize* that its share ol the indnsliinl tin mac depends iillinnilily upon industrial piotlutlit tl...
...I • * m OrcANI/ATION is the spirit of the limes...
...have been among tbe ino-l laleful in tlie history of this nation, and indeed of tin- world...
...of industry curries with il responsibility im results...
...It would bring back ihe cycle of wage and price-cutting which was characteristic of the coal industry and other industries in the twenties and early thirtees, precisely because there was no nationwide organization and collective bargaining...
...be asserted that the National I.ifbor -H<l.ilm.h- \ct has redressed the economic imbalance I'j'iMpi i apilal and labor In the injury and disadvantage of'llie foimci ? And v* bill lias happened to tbe claim lli.il indn-li nil demoeracv...
...Compulsory arbitration has not been successful in eliminating strikes where it has been tried in democratic countries, such as Australia and New Zealand...
Vol. 30 • March 1947 • No. 11
