LABOR AND LABOR PROBLEMS
_The purpose of this chapter is to describe the organization,
rights, claims, and problems of the American wage-earner._
[Sidenote: Hand-industry created no labor problem.]
=Labor in the Old and the New Industrial Order.=—So long as the system
of hand-industry was in existence there was no sharp division of
employers and laborers into two separate classes. The employer was
himself a workman at the loom, the bench, or the forge. He might have as
helpers a couple of apprentices who were learning the trade, and perhaps
a journeyman or two; but rarely were there more than a half dozen men or
women employed in a single establishment. The apprentices and
journeymen, moreover, expected in due course to set up in business for
themselves. There was no hard-and-fast labor class, and no labor problem
as we have it at the present day. The employer and his helpers worked
together, often lived together; no great gulf separated them in wealth,
education, or social position.
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[Illustration:
THE CROWNING OF LABOR. By John W. Alexander
_From a Thistle Print, copyright by the Detroit Publishing Company.
Reproduced by permission._
]
THE CROWNING OF LABOR
By John W. Alexander
This picture forms one of the panels in a series of
mural decorations, representing the achievements of
labor, at the head of the great staircase in the
Museum of the Carnegie Institute at Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh, a great industrial community, is
depicted as a knight in steel armor, emblematic of
strength and power. Labor having reached its highest
expression in the prosperous industrial community,
the city is being crowned with a laurel wreath and
heralded by the winged figures which have arisen out
of the smoke and steam. The whole picture is
symbolic of the immense energy which is guided by
labor into productive channels.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Sidenote: Labor problems came with the Industrial Revolution.]
The advent of steam power, factories, and clanging machinery changed all
this. The number of employers diminished; the number of employees
increased. Hundreds and even thousands of workmen were brought together
into great brick factories, working long hours, destined to be laborers
throughout their entire lives, with no hope of ever being anything else.
With this new organization of industry the relation of the employer to
his helpers was completely changed. The old personal relation
disappeared; the employer no longer possessed even a passing
acquaintance with his men.[178] The new relation was simply one of
dollars and cents. He gave them so much wages; they gave him so much
work. Being only one among a hundred, or one among several hundred, the
individual employee lost his industrial independence. Whether he liked
his work or not there was little for him to do but take the wages that
were offered; he could no longer leave his employer and set up in
business for himself as he could in the older days of hand-industry. The
Industrial Revolution thus brought into being a new labor class, new
conditions of labor, and a new labor problem.
=Why Labor Organizes.=—Organizations of workmen, now commonly known as
trade unions or labor unions, were not in existence prior to the
Industrial Revolution. There was no need for such associations then. But
when the workers found that as individuals they could not bargain with
their employers on terms of equality, they naturally sought to achieve
this position of equality by combining together into groups or unions.
The original purpose of a labor organization, therefore, was to enable
its members to act unitedly in the interest of the worker, making a
_collective_ bargain with the employers. [Sidenote: The aims of labor
organizations.] By this process of collective bargaining they aim to
secure fair wages, reasonable hours of work, sanitary conditions in
factories, and security against dismissal except for proper cause. In
addition to seeking these advantages the labor organizations try to
promote the social and intellectual interests of their own members.[179]
They have supported the policy of free, public, education and have urged
the prohibition of child labor in order that the children of the workers
may be kept at school. They have advocated wholesome forms of public
recreation, particularly the establishment of play-grounds. In a word
the policy of organized labor is to support every movement which aims to
make the worker self-respecting and independent while opposing
everything that tends to reduce him to the ranks of a mere cog in the
great industrial mechanism.[180]
[Sidenote: Unions and federations.]
=Organization Methods.=—Trade unions are composed of the wage-earners in
a particular trade or occupation.[181] A local union is formed among the
wage-earners of each city or town. These unions, usually called
“locals”, hold regular meetings, elect their own officers, and collect
small monthly dues from each member. In the earlier stages of the labor
movement these local unions were not federated into any national body,
but in 1866 the National Labor Union was formed by uniting many of the
local associations. This national organization became too much involved
in politics, however, and soon went to pieces. In its place arose
another national organization known as the Knights of Labor, which
gained considerable strength during the twenty years from 1870 to 1890.
The Knights of Labor did not attempt to federate the local unions but
took individual members directly into their own ranks. In the end the
organization became involved in several unsuccessful strikes and
gradually weakened, although even today it still maintains a nominal
existence. Since 1890 the most important national organization in labor
circles has been the American Federation of Labor. Meanwhile, however,
the unions in particular trades (such as garment workers, mine workers,
railroad trainmen, etc.) had begun to affiliate into individual national
unions of their own. State and city federations had also been formed,
made up of all the unions in a given state or city. All this made more
easy the rise of a giant national federation.
[Sidenote: How the A. F. of L. is organized.]
=The American Federation of Labor.=—The American Federation was
organized in 1881 but at first its growth was slow. Today it claims a
membership of about four million workers. It is a federal organization
comprising various national unions in particular trades, state
federations of labor, city federations, and a large number of directly
affiliated unions. Directly or indirectly the American Federation of
Labor has brought into affiliation nearly thirty thousand local
organizations throughout the United States and Canada. Every year it
holds a convention made up of delegates from the component
organizations, and this convention determines the Federation’s policy.
The annual convention also elects the Federation’s general officers. The
Federation has no compulsory authority of its own but merely exercises
such powers as the organizations of which it is composed may concede to
it. Its chief function is to bring representatives of unions together
once a year for the discussion of common problems, to secure general
agreement upon a common program, to give the labor movement greater
strength through united action, and to represent the interests of labor
before the public authorities.
[Sidenote: The demands of “organized labor”.]
=The Federation’s Program.=—The Federation’s program comprises both
economic and political aspirations. Among the former are included the
demand for a rate of wages in all trades sufficient to enable the worker
to live and bring up his family in accordance with “American standards
of living”; the establishment of an eight-hour workday in all
occupations, with a half holiday on Saturdays; the prohibition of paid
labor by children under sixteen years of age; the more effective
inspection of workshops, factories, and mines in order that proper
sanitary conditions may be ensured and industrial accidents prevented;
and the establishment of a system of social insurance against sickness,
disability, accident, and old age. Among the political changes advocated
by the Federation are the nation-wide use of the initiative, referendum,
and recall; the election of a President by direct popular vote; the
restriction of the Supreme Court’s right to declare laws
unconstitutional; the prohibition of injunctions in labor disputes; and
the extension of government control over railroads. The Federation also
urges that greater attention be given to vocational training in the
schools. It should be understood that the foregoing program is not fixed
and inflexible; it may be changed by the annual convention at any time
and is being constantly modified.[182]
[Sidenote: The radical element in labor’s ranks.]
=Revolutionary Labor Organizations.=—In recent years it has become
apparent that the relatively moderate program and the strictly peaceful
methods of the American Federation do not satisfy the more radical
elements in its own ranks. Repeated attempts have been made at the
annual convention to displace Mr. Gompers, the head of the Federation,
in favor of some leader with more radical views, but thus far these
attempts have failed. In some of the labor organizations the radicals
have from time to time got out of hand and have gone on strike in
defiance of their leaders. Strikes of this sort are commonly known as
“outlaw strikes”.
[Sidenote: The I. W. W.—its history and aims.]
But more particularly the drift to radicalism in labor’s ranks has been
shown by the organization and progress of the Industrial Workers of the
World (the I. W. W.), which aims to supplant the American Federation of
Labor and to combine all the workers of the country into “one big
union”. The history of the I. W. W. goes back to 1898, but it gained
little strength as an organization until about 1910. Estimates as to the
extent of its present membership are uncertain. The program of the I. W.
W. includes the abolition of all capitalism, the control of all industry
by the workers, and the union of workers throughout the world. The I. W.
W. opposes the making of agreements with employers and is at war with
the whole existing economic system. It favors the overthrow of the
present system of government and the establishment of a proletarian
dictatorship.
[Sidenote: What “collective bargaining” means.]
=Methods and Policies of Labor: Collective Bargaining.=—The prime
purpose of the regular labor organizations, as has been said, is to
enable the workers to bargain with the employers upon equal terms. Where
the unions have acquired strength, therefore, they insist that all
agreements as to wages, hours, and conditions of labor shall be made by
the employer on the one hand and the officers of the unions on the
other. That is to say they insist that the members of the union shall
deal with the employers collectively, not individually, and that the
employers shall agree to this method of determining all labor questions.
The unions insist upon collective bargaining because they believe it to
be the only way in which the workers can be prevented from competing
among themselves and thus reducing the rate of wages below a reasonable
minimum. The labor of today cannot be sold tomorrow. If it is not sold
today, it perishes and brings the worker no return. This inexorable fact
places the workman in a position where, if left without protection, he
would have to accept whatever terms are offered him. Many large
employers of labor throughout the country have accepted the principle of
collective bargaining, but many others decline to do so on the ground
that it interferes with freedom of contract and restricts employment to
the members of labor unions. Collective bargains between employers and
workmen are made at joint conferences between the representatives of
both sides, and the matters agreed upon at these conferences are
embodied in trade agreements, which usually run for a term of months or
years.
[Sidenote: The theory and practice of strikes.]
=The Right to Strike.=—The chief weapon in the hands of organized labor
is the right to strike. A strike is a “concerted withdrawal from work by
a part or all of the employees in an establishment, or several
establishments, to enforce a demand on the part of the employees”.
Strikes are called by officials of the unions when it appears that the
demands of the workers cannot be enforced in any other way. This can be
done, as a rule, only after a vote of the members has been taken, and in
most cases the approval of the national officers of the union must also
be secured. While the men are “on strike” it is customary to grant them
a small daily allowance for the support of themselves and their
families. This is paid out of the treasury of the union where funds have
been accumulated from monthly membership fees paid by the men.
[Sidenote: Picketing] When a strike is called, “pickets” are stationed
near the factory or plant against which the strike is being conducted.
These pickets or watchers are furnished from among the strikers; their
purpose is to intercept “strike-breakers” or persons who may be going to
take the places of the strikers, and to persuade them against doing
this. So long as picketing is conducted peacefully and no intimidation
or violence is practiced, the laws do not, as a rule, interfere.
[Sidenote: Boycotts.]
In addition to picketing, the strikers often persuade members of other
unions to “boycott” the products of the establishment against which the
strike is being conducted, in other words to refuse to transport
materials for it or to buy from merchants any of its manufactures. It is
becoming the general practice of organized labor to buy no goods which
do not bear the “union label”, which is a sticker or tag certifying that
the merchandise was made by members of a union.
[Sidenote: How the employer strikes back.]
=Lockouts and Blacklists.=—But if the worker has his weapons, so has the
employer. When the employer believes the demands of his workmen to be
excessive he can shut down the establishment and lock the workers out.
Then, if he can find men and women to work for him on more favorable
terms, he takes them into his employ and starts up again. Lockouts are
not now as common as they used to be. Another weapon of the employer is
the blacklist, which contains the names of workmen who have been
prominent in fomenting labor troubles and who are, accordingly, regarded
by the employers as undesirable. This list is circulated by the
employers from one to another and no workman whose name is on it will be
given employment. When a worker’s name goes in the blacklist it means
that he has the greatest difficulty in finding employment in his own
trade anywhere.
[Sidenote: Labor and the courts.]
=The Use of Injunctions in Labor Disputes.=—A much-discussed question
affecting the interests of labor relates to the use of injunctions in
controversies between employers and workmen. An injunction is a writ or
order issued by a court of equity. It commands a person or a corporation
to do something, or not to do something. A court, for example, may by
the issue of an injunction order an employer to reinstate a workman who
has been wrongfully dismissed, or it may forbid the calling of a strike
by the officers of a union if such action involves the breach of an
agreement with the employer. [Sidenote: Contempt of court.] Anyone who
disobeys an injunction is guilty of “contempt of court” and in most
cases may be clapped into jail without formal trial by a jury. Members
of labor organizations feel that injunctions are frequently used in the
interest of the employers. The American Federation of Labor has strongly
opposed the use of injunctions in labor disputes so long as men are not
given a trial by a jury before being adjudged in contempt of court. The
Clayton Act of 1914 provided that, in the federal courts, alleged
violations of an injunction issued in connection with labor
controversies should be determined by a jury trial. In the courts of
most of the states, on the other hand, no such provision has yet been
made and there is strong opposition to making it. Many people believe
that labor is asking a special privilege in demanding that controversies
in which it is especially interested shall have an exemption from the
usual process of the courts.
=The Closed Shop and the Open Shop.=—The most hotly-debated question in
the whole range of labor problems today concerns the policy of the open
versus the closed shop. Shall all shops and factories be closed to those
who are not members of the union? Shall non-union men be virtually
required to join the union or be refused employment unless they do? Or
shall shops and factories be open to all competent workers no matter
whether they belong to the union or not? A closed shop, so-called, is a
factory or other industrial plant in which none but members of a labor
union are employed.[183] An open shop is one in which the employer makes
no distinction between those who are members of the union and those who
are not. The unions insist upon the closed shop as the only way of
maintaining the effectiveness of their organizations and of upholding
the principles of collective bargaining. They believe it to be
impracticable to have union men and non-union men working efficiently,
side by side, in the same establishment. Many employers, on the other
hand, maintain the open shop because they believe it is essential to
proper discipline and gives every workman an equal opportunity. They
believe that it is the inalienable right of every American to work for
whom he pleases, on such terms as he pleases, without the necessity of
joining any organization. Hence they have adopted the habit of calling
the open shop system the “American plan” of industrial organization. In
those trades where practically all the workers have become unionized the
controversy over the open or closed shop does not usually arise; it is
chiefly in those trades where a substantial proportion of the workers
are not organized.
[Sidenote: The amicable settlement of labor disputes.]
=Conciliation and Arbitration.=—The frequency of strikes and lockouts
has been diminished in recent years by an increasing resort to the
settlement of industrial disputes by conciliation and arbitration. By
conciliation is meant the action of some public authority, usually a
state board, in tendering its assistance to smooth out the difficulty
and effect a settlement. This assistance both sides often accept,
although they are under no obligation to do so. By arbitration is meant
an agreement to submit the dispute to some one man or group of men, and
to abide by whatever decision may be rendered. An arbitration board is
commonly made up of three members, one chosen by the employers, one by
the workers, and a third mutually agreed upon as neutral. Some states
maintain official boards of arbitration to which industrial disputes may
be referred at any time by consent of the disputants. Even in cases
where they are not called upon to arbitrate disputes these boards
usually have the right to investigate the questions at issue and to make
known their findings for the information of the public.
[Sidenote: Industrial courts.]
=Compulsory Arbitration—The Kansas Plan.=—Although the compulsory
arbitration of industrial disputes has existed for some years in a few
other countries[184] it has not been looked upon with favor by labor
leaders in the United States. These leaders feel that compulsory
arbitration would take from the worker his most effective weapon—the
right to strike at an opportune time. In 1919, however, the legislature
of Kansas passed a law establishing in that state an Industrial Court,
with judges appointed by the governor.[185] This court is empowered to
fix rules, regulations, and practices for the operation of essential
industries.[186] All industrial disputes, of whatever sort in these
essential industries, must be submitted to it, and its decisions are
binding upon employers and employees alike. If either side declines to
accept the award, the state government is empowered to take over the
industry and operate it until the controversy is settled. The Kansas law
substitutes adjudication before a state tribunal for the usual method of
redress by strikes and lockouts. It is based upon the doctrine that
neither capital nor labor has the right to carry on industrial warfare
at the expense of the public and that essential industries must be kept
in operation because the whole community depends on them. The law has
been held to be constitutional, but it is still bitterly opposed by the
leaders of organized labor.
[Sidenote: Are the laws unfriendly to labor?]
=Labor and the Law.=—It is often alleged that the laws of the land are
largely on the side of the employer. This may have been true of the
common law which grew up in the days of hand-industry, but the statutes
passed by Congress and by the state legislatures during recent years
have done a great deal to ensure the just and humane treatment of the
American worker. These laws have been concerned with such matters as the
prevention of industrial accidents and the establishment of workmen’s
compensation, the limitation of the hours of labor for women, the
prohibition of child labor, and the establishment of minimum wages in
certain industries. In addition the laws have made provision for proper
sanitary conditions in shops and factories, and have eliminated many of
the abuses which grew up in the earlier days of the factory system. The
general tendency of American legislation during the past twenty-five
years has been in the direction of protecting the workman in all cases
where he cannot be counted upon to protect himself.
[Sidenote: The old plan of dealing with injured workmen.]
=Industrial Accidents and Employers’ Liability.=—The use of high-powered
and complicated machinery in modern times has greatly increased the
danger of accident to the workers. By the terms of the common law an
employer was obliged to grant compensation to any workman who met with
an accident because of defects in the machinery or because of any other
negligence on the employer’s part. But he was not obliged to grant
compensation when the accident was due to the employee’s own negligence
or to the negligence of a fellow-employee. In any event the only way in
which an injured workman could get compensation, in case the employer
declined to give it, was by bringing a suit in the courts, an expensive
and uncertain method. This meant that large numbers of the workers who
were disabled every year by accidents were left without any means of
support for themselves and their families. It availed very little to say
that they were themselves to blame for their plight, or that some
fellow-employee was to blame. Placing the blame did not save the worker
or his family from starvation. A great amount of hardship and suffering
was caused in past generations by putting so much of the burden upon the
hapless employee.
[Sidenote: Why we have changed it.]
When machines break down the employer has to pay the cost of replacing
or repairing them. He, in turn, adds this expense to his cost of
production and in this way passes it to the public which buys his
product. But men break down as well as machines. Every great industry
has many human accidents each year. No matter how well the machinery is
guarded or how careful the workmen may be, accidents are inevitable. An
enormous amount of attention has been given to making railroad-operation
safe by means of automatic couplers, air-brakes, electric signals,
interlocking switches, and so on, yet it is said that one railroad
employee is killed or injured each year for every mile of trackage
operated. Why not, therefore, require the employer, and through him, the
consumers of the finished products, to pay for what is an inevitable
item in the cost of transportation and manufacture? The answer to this
question is that it should be done, and in most of the states it is now
being done, through the medium of workmen’s compensation laws.
[Sidenote: The new plan.]
=Workmen’s Compensation.=—The usual arrangement established by workmen’s
compensation laws is as follows: Every injured worker is entitled to
compensation, according to the extent of his injury, no matter how the
accident may have been caused. If the accident results in the death of
the workman, his dependents are entitled to compensation. The amount of
the compensation is either fixed by law, or adjusted to the amount of
wages which the employee has been receiving, or determined by a state
board. It is paid in installments, so much per week for a set period of
time. In addition, an injured workman receives medical attention without
any expense to himself. The employer usually arranges with a liability
insurance company or with the state insurance department to pay this
compensation in return for an annual premium which he remits to the
company or to the insurance department as the case may be. The cost of
the insurance, in other words the amount of the annual premium, becomes
one of the regular expenses of conducting business, like taxes, fire
insurance, or interest. If the employer does not arrange for
liability-insurance, he must pay the compensation from his own pocket.
These workmen’s compensation laws have been of incalculable service to
the employees; at the same time the cost to the public, in the way of
higher prices, has been so small as to be almost unnoticeable.
[Sidenote: The need for special laws to regulate the employment of
women.]
=Limitations on the Working Hours of Women in Industry.=—The various
industries of the United States now employ several million women, and
the special protection of the laws has been extended to them in various
directions. The reason for this is that women cannot work long hours
without detriment to their physical welfare, and any break-down in the
physical well-being of several million women would result in a serious
injury to the physique of the whole race. Women in industry, moreover,
are not as well able to protect their own interest as men are and for
that reason also the laws have intervened in their behalf. Most of these
laws have been directed towards limiting the hours of labor for women to
a certain maximum per week, forbidding work at night, and improving the
conditions under which women are employed. Factories, for example, have
been required in some states to provide rest rooms, and stores are under
obligation to furnish seats for the use of saleswomen whenever they are
not busy at the counters. It may be urged that women, like men, should
have the right to work as many hours as they please; but the general
welfare of society is paramount to the rights of any class, whether of
men or women. It is the duty of society to protect itself against
anything that tends to break down its physical or moral well-being.
[Sidenote: The old iniquities of child labor.]
=Child Labor.=—In the early days of the factory system children of
twelve, ten, or even seven years were put to work for long hours under
frightful conditions. Underpaid and underfed, deprived of schooling,
they grew up to be physically and intellectually unfit and developed
into inferior citizens.[187] Child labor was thought to be cheap, and
from the employer’s point of view it was; but in the long run society
found it to be incalculably expensive. Unrestricted child labor
increased the number of illiterates, promoted the spread of disease and
crime, augmented poverty, and bred discontent. The child is the father
of the man; and as our children are cared for so will the future manhood
and womanhood of the nation be. No fewer than two million persons under
fifteen years of age are engaged in some form of wage-earning occupation
in the United States today. Since they are unable to protect themselves
against overwork and underpayment, the state must see to it that they
are treated by their employers with consideration and humanity.
[Sidenote: Child labor laws of today.]
The laws relating to child labor differ considerably in the various
states; in some the provisions are much stricter than in others. In
general the tendency is to prohibit the regular employment of children
under fourteen years of age. Many of the states forbid the employment of
persons under sixteen years of age in night work or in certain dangerous
occupations, such as mining. The hours of labor for persons under
sixteen are also limited in some states to not exceeding eight per day.
Many other provisions restricting child labor are now in force, and year
by year new limitations are being added.[188] In 1916 Congress undertook
to place a general restriction on child labor throughout the entire
country by passing a law which forbade the transportation and sale in
interstate commerce of any goods made in whole or in part by children
under a designated age-limit. The Supreme Court of the United States
held this law to be unconstitutional, however, declaring that the
authority to regulate commerce among the states does not empower
Congress to control the conditions of industry within the state
boundaries. Congress has since placed a ban upon child labor in another
way, namely, by providing that the profits of these industries which
employ children shall be taxed more heavily than the profits of those
concerns which do not.[189]
[Sidenote: The arguments for minimum wage laws.]
=Minimum Wage Laws.=—Investigations into the subject made some years ago
disclosed the fact that not only were women and children frequently
overworked in industries but that they were often underpaid as well. One
reason for this underpayment was that many of the women and children
workers lived at home and did not need to be entirely self-supporting.
They merely contributed to the general family earnings. They were thus
in a position to work for smaller wages than if they were entirely
self-dependent. But there were also many thousands of women and children
who had to support themselves entirely from their own earnings and to
these the low rate of wages meant hardship and suffering. It meant
undernourishment, physical break-down, and premature old age. It led to
pauperism and immorality. So the laws have once more intervened to
protect the well-being of the race against the fruits of industrial
injustice by providing that the wages of women and children in industry
shall not fall below a certain minimum.
[Sidenote: Nature of these laws.]
Many of the states have put these minimum wage laws upon their statute
books. Sometimes the minimum rate of wages is fixed in the law; more
often it is determined in the case of each industry by a state board
after an investigation. The minimum rate is set at such a point as will
enable the wage-earner to be self-supporting. Here, again, the basic
principle is that the actual cost of production, including the cost of
protecting society against things detrimental to it, should be paid by
the public which buys the goods. [Sidenote: Some practical
difficulties.] One practical difficulty connected with the minimum wage
plan is that it tends to throw the less efficient employees out of work
altogether. The employer who is forced by law to pay a fixed minimum in
wages, no matter how unskillful the worker may be, will promptly dismiss
all those who do not give him, in work, the worth of their wages. If a
minimum wage is established in all industries, where will the least
skillful find employment?
[Sidenote: Causes of unemployment.]
=The Problem of Unemployment.=—The greatest of all economic wastes today
is that which results from unemployment. The ideal condition would be to
have everybody employed all the time. If that could be accomplished we
could produce a great deal more each year at lower cost. Unemployment
means that idle men must use what other workers are producing. But it is
not possible to do away with unemployment altogether. Some trades are
seasonal in character, that is to say, busy at one period of the year
and slack during others. In northern regions the building trades,
bricklaying, outdoor carpentry, and so on, are in this category. The
larger part of the unemployment, however, is due to other than seasonal
causes. It is due rather to trade depressions which from time to time
cause the shutting down of industrial establishments and it is caused in
some degree by the lack of careful planning on the part of the employer.
The number of unemployed workers throughout the country varies greatly
from time to time. It may be as low as five per cent or as high as forty
per cent of the entire number.
[Sidenote: Some suggested remedies.]
Various plans for lessening the evils of unemployment have been
suggested, but they all present some practical difficulties. Better
vocational training would reduce the number of unskilled workers; and it
is the unskilled who contribute most largely to the ranks of the
unemployed. The establishment of public employment offices has done
something to bring workers into touch with available jobs. It is
proposed that we have a more careful planning of state and municipal
improvements so that the heaviest demand for labor on public works would
come at times when unemployment is most prevalent—this, it is urged,
would help alleviate the trouble even though it might not go very far in
solving the whole problem. Much would be accomplished by the better
organization of industrial production and by some scheme of co-operation
among employers which would enable workers to be transferred from one
industry to another. Great practical obstacles are in the way of doing
this on a large scale.
[Sidenote: How progress toward a solution of the problem is being made.]
Some large concerns have already adopted the plan of setting aside each
week a certain percentage of the total pay roll as an unemployment
reserve. Then, whenever workers are temporarily out of employment
through the slackening of business and not through any fault of their
own, a certain weekly wage is paid to them from this reserve. Something
will also be accomplished in the way of reducing unemployment by better
vocational guidance, for young men and women often go into employments
which afford no chance of promotion and which they subsequently find to
be unsuited to their tastes. Many large industries now bestow great care
upon the selection of new employees. All applicants are dealt with
through a special official known as the employment manager, whose
function it is to make reasonably sure that the applicant is fitted for
the position. Foremen and bosses are not allowed to discharge employees
at will. The complaints must first be referred for investigation to the
employment manager’s office. This plan will also help alleviate
unemployment if it becomes general.
[Sidenote: Unemployment insurance.]
Unemployment insurance has been tried in a few European countries and
has been advocated in America. This plan contemplates that each employer
shall contribute to a fund from which a stated wage scale shall be paid
to those who remain out of work through no fault of their own, or that
the government shall provide such a fund from the proceeds of taxes. It
is easy to see that a scheme of this sort might be seriously abused, yet
so long as the problem of unemployment remains serious we must strive to
find some way of solving it.
=Old-Age Pensions.=—Most wage-earners do not save enough to provide for
themselves in old age. The result is that after long years of toil they
are dependent upon their children, or must eke out a precarious
existence by doing odd jobs, or must be supported by the public
poor-relief funds. [Sidenote: The experience of Great Britain and
Germany.] This is not a desirable state of affairs and in some European
countries, notably in Great Britain and in Germany, systems of old-age
pensions for workers have been established. In Germany the worker pays a
small amount each week into the fund; the employer pays an equal amount
and the government pays the rest. In Great Britain the employers and the
government pay it all. Every wage-earner, on reaching old age, receives
a small weekly allowance for the rest of his days.[190] The cost of an
old-age pension system is enormous, but in the long run it is likely to
represent real economy. Sooner or later the system will probably be
established in this country; the only question is whether, when it
comes, the wage-earner should be required to pay a regular contribution
during the years in which he is able to do full work.
[Sidenote: The patriotism of American labor.]
=American Labor and the War.=—Among the various factors which helped to
win the World War the loyalty and enthusiasm of American labor should be
accorded a high place. War always creates a great shortage of workers,
partly because so many able-bodied men are taken into the army and
partly because of the tremendous need for workers in munition plants and
other war industries. During war, therefore, the labor organizations are
always in a position to make demands which cannot well be refused. It is
quite true that American labor took advantage of its opportunities
during the World War; but so did the employers. The wages of labor rose
everywhere, as did the profits of industry. Nevertheless it can fairly
be said that labor co-operated with the government at all the essential
points and produced the uninterrupted flow of materials which was needed
to ensure victory. Certain it is that without this co-operation on the
part of labor the United States could not have figured so prominently in
deciding the ultimate issue of the great conflict.
General References
ISAAC LIPPINCOTT, _Economic Development of the United States_, pp.
491-511;
R. T. ELY, _The Labor Movement in America_, pp. 34-91 (Growth and
Present Conditions of Labor Organizations);
T. S. ADAMS and H. L. SUMNER, _Labor Problems_, pp. 461-501 (Labor
Laws);
F. T. CARLTON, _Organized Labor in American History_, pp. 11-44 (Epochs
in the History of Organized Labor); pp. 169-197 (Labor Parties); pp.
198-225 (Ideals of the Wage Earner);
R. F. HOXIE, _Trade Unionism in the United States_, pp. 254-275
(Collective Bargaining);
JOHN R. COMMONS and J. B. ANDREWS, _Principles of American Labor
Legislation_, pp. 35-90 (Individual Bargaining);
SAMUEL GOMPERS, _American Labor and the War_, _passim_.
Group Problems
=1. The origin, growth, and aims of labor organizations.= The
organization of industry before the Industrial Revolution. Rise of the
factory system. Creation of a labor class. Early conditions of factory
employment. Beginnings of labor organizations. Early attitude of the law
and the courts. Growth of labor organizations during the past half
century. Central organizations and national bodies. Present-day aims of
labor organizations—economic, social, and political. Specific features
of organized labor’s program. Labor as a factor in politics. The
movements for industrial democracy. =References=: T.S. ADAMS and H.L.
SUMNER, _Labor Problems_, pp. 214-279; SIDNEY WEBB, _History of Trade
Unionism_, pp. 1-56; 431-541; MARY BEARD, _Short History of the American
Labor Movement_, pp. 47-79; F. T. CARLTON, _Organized Labor in American
History_, pp. 11-44; 198-225; R. F. HOXIE, _History of Trade Unionism in
the United States_, pp. 211-252 (The Law in Relation to Labor); JOHN R.
COMMONS (editor), _History of Labor in the United States_, _passim_; R.
T. ELY, _The Labor Movement in America_, pp. 34-91; P. F. BRISSENDEN,
_History of the I. W. W._, pp. 83-112 (The I. W. W. _vs._ the A. F. of
L.).
=2. The American Federation of Labor: its history, aims, and
achievements.= =References=: SAMUEL GOMPERS, _American Labor and the
War_, pp. 186-196; JOHN MITCHELL, _Organized Labor_, pp. 397-406; F. T.
CARLTON, _History and Problems of Organized Labor_, pp. 75-82; MARY R.
BEARD, _Short History of the American Labor Movement_, pp. 86-149; G. G.
GROAT, _Organized Labor in America_, pp. 82-99; HELEN MAROT, _American
Labor Unions_, pp. 11-28.
=3. The arbitration of industrial disputes.= =References=: T. S. ADAMS
and HELEN SUMNER, _Labor Problems_, pp. 295-332; SIDNEY WEBB,
_Industrial Democracy_, pp. 222-246; N. P. GILMAN, _Methods of
Industrial Peace_, pp. 301-345; R. T. ELY, _The Evolution of Industrial
Society_, pp. 374-397; JOHN MITCHELL, _Organized Labor_, pp. 337-346; F.
W. TAUSSIG, _Principles of Economics_, Vol. II, pp. 303-322.
=4. The general principles of labor legislation.= =References=: W. S.
JEVONS, _The State in Relation to Labor_, pp. 1-32; F. W. TAUSSIG,
_Principles of Economics_, Vol. II, pp. 285-302; JOHN R. COMMONS and J.
B. ANDREWS, _Principles of Labor Legislation_, pp. 1-34; H. S. PERSON,
_Labor Laws and Their Enforcement_, _passim_.
Short Studies
1. =The four epochs in the history of organized labor.= F. T. CARLTON,
_Organized Labor in American History_, pp. 11-44.
2. =Labor and politics.= F. T. CARLTON, _History and Problems of
Organized Labor_, pp. 169-197.
3. =The Knights of Labor: why they failed.= MARY R. BEARD, _Short
History of the American Labor Movement_, pp. 116-126.
4. =The right to strike.= JOHN MITCHELL, _Organized Labor_, pp. 299-323.
5. =Collective bargaining.= _Final Report of the U. S. Industrial
Commission_, pp. 843-847.
6. =The use of injunctions in labor disputes.= G. L. BOLEN, _Getting a
Living_, pp. 548-580; J. R. COMMONS, _Trade Unionism and Labor
Problems_, pp. 156-163.
7. =The Kansas plan.= H. J. ALLEN, _The Party of the Third Part_, pp.
16-91.
8. =Workmen’s compensation.= JOHN R. COMMONS and J. B. ANDREWS,
_Principles of American Labor Legislation_, pp. 356-385. See also the
publications on this subject issued by the National Industrial
Conference Board.
9. =Women and children in industry.= T. S. ADAMS and H. L. SUMNER,
_Labor Problems_, pp. 19-67.
10. =The problem of unemployment.= E. T. TOWNE, _Social Problems_, pp.
140-159; W. H. BEVERIDGE, _Unemployment_, 3d ed., pp. 1-15 (Great
Britain).
11. =Profit sharing as a solution of industrial problems.= T. S. ADAMS
and H. L. SUMNER, _Labor Problems_, pp. 333-378.
12. =Old age pensions.= W. H. DAWSON, _Social Insurance_, pp. 128-165;
F. W. LEWIS, _State Insurance_, pp. 148-170.
Questions
1. Explain why labor organizations came into existence during the
nineteenth century. On the whole have they been a benefit to industry or
not? Give your reasons.
2. Give some reasons for expecting trade unions to be stronger in
certain employments than in others. In which of the following
employments would you expect the unions to be strong, and in which would
you expect them to be weak: (_a_) railroading; (_b_) domestic service;
(_c_) school teaching; (_d_) farming; (_e_) mining; (_f_) steel-making?
Give reasons for your expectations in each case.
3. With what points in the program of the American Federation of Labor
do you agree and with what ones do you disagree?
4. The closed shop is sometimes criticised as being “un-American” and
the open shop has been called the “American plan”. What does this mean?
5. Are there any employments, public or private, in which strikes should
not be permitted?
6. Why should the consumer pay the costs of all industrial accidents?
Explain how he does so where workmen’s compensation acts have been
passed.
7. In your opinion would the legislature be justified in limiting to
eight hours per day the labor of (_a_) women in candy factories; (_b_)
men who work on farms; (_c_) men who work in coal mines; (_d_)
physicians; (_e_) waitresses in hotels; (_f_) female servants; (_g_)
members of the fire-protection service in cities; (_h_) motormen on
street cars? Give your reasons in each case.
8. Give your views as to the minimum age at which any person should be
permitted to engage in regular employment for wages. At what age should
employment in night work be permitted? Should persons under fourteen
years of age be allowed to work for wages after school hours, on
Saturdays, and during vacations?
9. A girl of sixteen has graduated from grammar school and could obtain
a position as clerk in a millinery store at eight dollars a week. She is
living at home and does not have to support herself. But the minimum
wage for clerks in stores happens to be ten dollars per week and the
owner will not pay so much. Is there any injustice here?
10. How can the evil of unemployment be reduced? What abuses might arise
in connection with unemployment insurance? Who pays the cost of
unemployment now? Argue whether we should or should not place industrial
unemployment on the same basis as industrial accidents.
Topics for Debate
1. The demand for collective bargaining is (or is not) justified.
2. A plan of old-age pensions, like that now maintained in Great
Britain, should be established in the United States.