1939: Labor Arbitration

The largest strikes of 1939 were settled by informal mediation and conciliation and without the intervention of formal arbitration. Since no machinery similar to that provided for the railroad industry by the Railway Labor Act is afforded to the remainder of American industry, it must rely for the settling or averting of disputes either upon direct negotiations between employers and employees or upon the intervention of public and private mediators. It was through a combination of these two methods that the strikes of coal miners and the employees of the General Motors and Chrysler Corporations were terminated.

In spite of the existence of a largely expanded Federal mediation and conciliation service and many local boards and agencies serving a similar purpose, the settlement or prevention of particularly stubborn strikes has required the intervention of public personages, who were able to bring to bear upon the dispute the prestige of their office and personality. Thus the way was paved for the settlement of the coal strike by conferences between representatives of the United Mine Works and the coal operators and the President of the United States. The present Mayor of New York City has often performed the same service and a layman, like Edward F. McGrady, former Assistant Secretary of Labor, who has shown great skill in mediating industrial disputes, has been drafted as a conciliator or arbitrator on many occasions. See also STRIKES.

Local Agencies.

With the spread of collective bargaining agreements in American industry, there have been set up numerous local and industry arbitration boards, similar to those which have for a long time existed in the men's and women's clothing industries and in the anthracite coal industry. These agencies, because of their continuity and familiarity with the specific situations with which they deal, succeed in reducing the number of strikes. But they have often found it impossible to avert or settle major and critical issues, out of which the most serious and prolonged industrial conflicts usually grow.

Federal Agencies.

Aside from the National Mediation Board, whose jurisdiction is restricted to transportation, the leading Federal agencies for the settlement of labor disputes are the Conciliation Service of the United States Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board. Of the two the Conciliation Service is, for this purpose, by far the more important and it plays some part in handling the majority of serious disputes. The mediation and arbitration activities of the Labor Relations Board are performed as a by-product of its function in enforcing the Wagner Act.

During the last year there has been some discussion of the need for a stronger Federal mediation and arbitration machinery and even of new legislation which would, like the Railway Labor Act, provide for the postponement of strike action. But these ideas have not yet passed beyond the stage of discussion. See also UNITED STATES: Supreme Court Decisions.