1938: Trade Unions

Stability of Organized Labor Movement.

All important components of the American labor movement apparently continued during 1938 the advance which began in this country in 1933. In spite of the severe depression in business which prevailed the first half of the year and a level of employment which, throughout most of the year, was considerably below 1937, the unions appeared on this occasion able to resist the traditionally unfavorable effects of bad business. In fact, the three groups of unions, the A.F. OF L., the C.I.O., and independent railroad unions, which together comprise the organized labor movement, all claim to have increased their membership.

Growth in Membership.

How substantial the increase in membership was during the last year and what it was at the end of the year are difficult to determine with any degree of precision. The difficulty arises from the many ways in which membership is counted. The A.F. of L., for example, reports as members the number in whose behalf its constituent unions pay a per-capita tax. Federation membership consequently excludes a considerable number of unemployed members for whom no per-capita tax is paid. Thus in 1938, the A.F. of L. reported a total membership of 3,600,000. But according to William Green, president of the Federation, his organization had at the same time 1,400,000 idle members, making a total of 5,000,000. The C.I.O., on its part, does not distinguish between employed and unemployed, or between dues-paying and exempt members. The figure of 3,788,000 members which, not counting the International Ladies Garment Workers, the C.I.O. reports as its total membership in November 1938, probably includes both classes of members. Since it is known that the C.I.O. experienced much difficulty in collecting dues last year, it is not unlikely that a substantial proportion of its members failed to pay per-capita taxes. If we consider, also, the value for publicity and prestige of a large and rapidly increasing membership, it may be inferred that two organizations, competing for position and power, will both exaggerate their strength. On the other hand, it is a matter of record that the majority of agreements between employers and unions were renewed in 1938, and that a considerable number of new ones were made, thus bringing under union arrangements an increasing number of employees.

Accepting, then, the figures published by these organizations, the aggregate membership of A.F. of L., C.I.O., and independent unions would amount, at the end of 1938, to roughly 8,000,000 and would have increased during the year by possibly as much as 1,000,000. This amount is the highest ever reached by organized labor in the United States and exceeds the previous peak in 1920 by roughly 3,000,000. The number of organizable employees in the country may be estimated as around 35,000,000. In 1938, therefore, more than one-fifth of them were unionized.

Occupational and Regional Expansion.

Not only did trade unionism increase in numbers but it spread also into new occupations and regions. Both the C.I.O. and the A.F. of L. made substantial progress in organizing agricultural labor, hitherto successfully organized, and then only temporarily, by the I.W.W. There was a great expansion of unions among white-collar workers, with the result that relatively strong unions were established among newspaper reporters and editorial employees, clerks and salespeople, insurance agents, and architects. Unions, likewise, grew much stronger among many classes of service labor, notably in hotels and restaurants. Throughout the country many unions succeeded in winning recognition in small towns and rural areas, so that organized labor became not uncommon in the states of Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire. In the South the movement experienced a veritable revival. The contract made by the United States Steel Corporation with the union and the successes of the United Mine Workers led virtually to the unionization of the coal and steel industries of the South. Much the same situation prevailed in the few Southern automobile plants. In the textile industry, the largest industry of the South, the C.I.O. Textile Workers' Organizing Committee conducted an uninterrupted campaign and succeeded thereby in creating much more widespread and substantial organization than the South has ever seen.

Public Opinion and Trade-unionism.

The causes of this expansion are manifold. Fundamentally the post-depression revival of trade-unionism was due to a profound change in public opinion. Beginning with the policies of business recovery which this country adopted in 1933, majority opinion had become converted to the need for high rates of wages and the short work-week, as the means for absorbing our increasing army of unemployed and stabilizing our economy. Among the methods available for achieving these ends, only two, regulating wages and hours by law and fixing them through collective bargaining between strong unions and employers, seemed the most practical. The general public, therefore, accepted a policy aimed at furthering union organization and collective bargaining.

Effects of Administration Measures.

The new policy toward unions did not, however, stop with creating a climate favorable to organization. From the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 to the National Labor Relations (Wagner) Act of 1935, the national administration sought and employed various measures for the protection and encouragement of organized labor. The first effects were a rapid recovery in membership by the established unions. The formation of the C.I.O. in November 1935 proved an extraordinary stimulus, particularly to unionization in the mass-production industries, and to unions, like the Seamen, dissatisfied with the policies of the A.F. of L. But more potent, probably, than any of these factors were the Wagner Act and the activities carried on under its terms by the National Labor Relations Board.

The year 1938 was the first full year since its creation that the Board was comparatively free of the fear of having its decisions reversed and its jurisdiction radically limited by the United States Supreme Court. It is during the last year, consequently, that the influence of the law and the policies of the Board on American trade unionism can be most clearly discerned. While it is no doubt true that the mere existence of a statute like the Wagner Act and a board to enforce its provisions would have improved the standing of unions in this country, it is the interpretation of the law and the policies of the Board that have most profoundly affected the position of organized labor.

Decisions by National Labor Relations Board.

Among the many decisions made by the Board during the last year, those affecting the status of strikers, the issue of the labor contract, and the position of 'employer-dominated' unions have been by all odds the most influential. In a number of decisions involving the right of strikers who participated in sit-down strikes, or who struck in violation of an agreement not to strike, the Board ordered the men reinstated in their jobs. The theory accepted by the Board in these cases was that strikes caused in the first instance by unfair practices on the part of the employer absolved striking employees of at least part of their guilt. The effect of these decisions was to strengthen the unions immeasurably, since the latitude enjoyed by unions in calling strikes and in the methods of conducting them was substantially widened while the chances of an employer's ever winning a strike were thereby radically reduced.

In a decision issued November 1938, the Board, following precedents of earlier decisions, held that the Inland Steel Company must bargain collectively with the Steel Workers' Organizing Committee and must make an agreement, in writing, with that organization. This decision was a landmark in the fight for recognition by unions in the unorganized parts of the iron and steel industry. In this industry the independent steel companies had indicated their willingness to bargain with the union and had claimed, indeed, to be doing so. But they refused to sign agreements, because, they held, the union was not responsible and could not be forced to live up to its terms and because a signed agreement, by adding to the prestige of the union, would lead many employees to believe that the union was sanctioned by the employer and thus impel them to join. If the decision is enforced, there can be little doubt but that it will be followed by a considerable increase in membership in the mills of this company.

Those decisions of the Board probably most vitally affecting union organization were made in cases involving the status of company unions. Here the Board has uniformly ordered the disestablishment of unions which it has found to be under employer domination, and has not permitted the names of such organizations to appear on the ballots in representation elections. Since organizations of this type have long been a formidable obstacle in the path of trade unions, the attitude of the Board toward them has proved most beneficial to the labor movement in general.

In addition to the effects of these particular rulings, the general activities of the Board, devoted as they are to investigating complaints against employers, holding elections, and reinstating discharged workers, have strongly encouraged the spread of labor organization. During the 12 months ended June 30, 1938, the regional offices of the Board received more than 10,000 charges and petitions, involving more than 2,000,000 workers. In the same period, 1,152 representation elections involving close to 400,000 eligible voters were held under the Board's auspices.

Other Influences and Encouragements.

An influence, much the same as that exerted by the Wagner Act, has been wielded by the so-called little Wagner Acts, notably in New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, and on the railroads by the National Mediation Board, acting under the terms of the Railway Labor Act, as amended in 1934. Limited in their jurisdiction to intra-state employments, the few state labor relations boards did much, like their Federal counterpart, to assist unions of hotel, retail store, and insurance employees in organizing and in achieving recognition from employers. On the railroads, likewise, the law and the Board have stimulated union growth, limited only by the long-time downward trend in railroad employment.

Contributing to a more sympathetic public attitude toward organized labor, were the reports of the President's Commission, appointed to study labor relations and the conditions of industrial peace in Great Britain and Sweden. This commission, composed of an equal number of representatives of employers, unions, and the public, was appointed in the summer of 1938. It proceeded to England and Sweden and in those countries made a survey of conditions, interviewing public officials, representatives of unions and employers' associations, and inquiring into historical developments. While the Commission's reports, published in the fall of the year, dealt with a variety of questions, their principal conclusion was that the prevalence in these countries of national collective agreements, negotiated by national unions and employers' associations, were the most effective guarantee of industrial peace and the stability of labor relations. The persuasive tone of these reports and their brevity and simplicity did much to win for them a favorable public opinion and for unions and collective bargaining much wider support than they had had before.