Ronald W. Schatz
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780252043628
- eISBN:
- 9780252052507
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252043628.003.0008
- Subject:
- Sociology, Occupations, Professions, and Work
In the 1970s President Richard M. Nixon and President Gerald Ford appointed John Dunlop and David Cole to new posts to try to handle the stagflation and wave of strikes that were plaguing the U.S. ...
More
In the 1970s President Richard M. Nixon and President Gerald Ford appointed John Dunlop and David Cole to new posts to try to handle the stagflation and wave of strikes that were plaguing the U.S. economy. Their attempts to implement corporatist-style solutions failed. Secretary of Labor Dunlop’s resignation in early 1976 marked a turning point in relations between unions and corporations in the United States. Yet rather than retiring, Labor Board vets began resolving conflicts in other sectors of the economy—beginning with Major League Baseball and other professional sports.Less
In the 1970s President Richard M. Nixon and President Gerald Ford appointed John Dunlop and David Cole to new posts to try to handle the stagflation and wave of strikes that were plaguing the U.S. economy. Their attempts to implement corporatist-style solutions failed. Secretary of Labor Dunlop’s resignation in early 1976 marked a turning point in relations between unions and corporations in the United States. Yet rather than retiring, Labor Board vets began resolving conflicts in other sectors of the economy—beginning with Major League Baseball and other professional sports.
Ronald W. Schatz
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780252043628
- eISBN:
- 9780252052507
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252043628.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Occupations, Professions, and Work
In January 1942, President Roosevelt set up the National War Labor Board to reduce strikes, control wage inflation, develop national policies for union-management relations, and resolve disputes ...
More
In January 1942, President Roosevelt set up the National War Labor Board to reduce strikes, control wage inflation, develop national policies for union-management relations, and resolve disputes between labor and companies for the duration for the war. This chapter explains the dire situation facing the United States and its allies in the winter of 1941-42, how the NWLB came into being, the board’s members, and the backgrounds and outlook of the young economists and attorneys who did the bulk of the board’s work. Philip Murray, the president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations and the Steelworkers union, called the staffers “the Labor Board boys.”Less
In January 1942, President Roosevelt set up the National War Labor Board to reduce strikes, control wage inflation, develop national policies for union-management relations, and resolve disputes between labor and companies for the duration for the war. This chapter explains the dire situation facing the United States and its allies in the winter of 1941-42, how the NWLB came into being, the board’s members, and the backgrounds and outlook of the young economists and attorneys who did the bulk of the board’s work. Philip Murray, the president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations and the Steelworkers union, called the staffers “the Labor Board boys.”
Ronald W. Schatz
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780252043628
- eISBN:
- 9780252052507
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252043628.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Occupations, Professions, and Work
Ronald W. Schatz tells the story of the team of young economists and lawyers recruited to the National War Labor Board to resolve union-management conflicts during the Second World War. The crew ...
More
Ronald W. Schatz tells the story of the team of young economists and lawyers recruited to the National War Labor Board to resolve union-management conflicts during the Second World War. The crew (including Clark Kerr, John Dunlop, Jean McKelvey, and Marvin Miller) exerted broad influence on the U.S. economy and society for the next forty years. They handled thousands of grievances and strikes. They founded academic industrial relations programs. When the 1960s student movement erupted, universities appointed them as top administrators charged with quelling the conflicts. In the 1970s, they developed systems that advanced public sector unionization and revolutionized employment conditions in Major League Baseball.
Schatz argues that the Labor Board vets, who saw themselves as disinterested technocrats, were in truth utopian reformers aiming to transform the world. Beginning in the 1970s stagflation era, they faced unforeseen opposition, and the cooperative relationships they had fostered withered. Yet their protégé George Shultz used mediation techniques learned from his mentors to assist in the integration of Southern public schools, institute affirmative action in industry, and conduct Cold War negotiations with Mikhail Gorbachev.Less
Ronald W. Schatz tells the story of the team of young economists and lawyers recruited to the National War Labor Board to resolve union-management conflicts during the Second World War. The crew (including Clark Kerr, John Dunlop, Jean McKelvey, and Marvin Miller) exerted broad influence on the U.S. economy and society for the next forty years. They handled thousands of grievances and strikes. They founded academic industrial relations programs. When the 1960s student movement erupted, universities appointed them as top administrators charged with quelling the conflicts. In the 1970s, they developed systems that advanced public sector unionization and revolutionized employment conditions in Major League Baseball.
Schatz argues that the Labor Board vets, who saw themselves as disinterested technocrats, were in truth utopian reformers aiming to transform the world. Beginning in the 1970s stagflation era, they faced unforeseen opposition, and the cooperative relationships they had fostered withered. Yet their protégé George Shultz used mediation techniques learned from his mentors to assist in the integration of Southern public schools, institute affirmative action in industry, and conduct Cold War negotiations with Mikhail Gorbachev.
