Problems in American Democracy

by Thames Williamson

187. METHODS OF INDUSTRIAL WARFARE.—Both capital and labor back up their demands by a powerful organization using a variety of weapons. The trade union generally attempts to enforce its demands by threat of, or use of, the strike. A strike is a concerted stoppage of work initiated by the workmen as a group. Sometimes accompanying the strike is the boycott, which may be defined as a concerted avoidance of business relations with one or more employers, or with those who sympathize with those employers. The strike is generally accompanied by the practice of picketing, by which is meant the posting of union agents whose duty it is to attempt to persuade non-union workmen not to fill the places of the striking workmen. Pickets may also attempt to persuade customers not to patronize the employer against whom a strike has been launched. Sometimes picketing leads to intimidation and violence on the part of either strikers or representatives of the employers.

In turn, the employer may employ a variety of weapons against workmen with whom he cannot agree. An employer may make use of the lockout, that is, he may refuse to allow his labor force to continue at work. Many employers also use the blacklist, i.e. the circulation of information among employers for the purpose of forewarning one another against the employment of certain designated workmen. The employer may also attempt to end a strike by persuading non-union men to fill the places vacated by the strikers. Such men as accept are known as strike-breakers. On the plea that the strike may result in the destruction of his property, the employer may resort to the injunction. This is an order secured from a court, and restraining certain laborers in the employer's interest.

188. THE COST OF INDUSTRIAL WARFARE.—The struggles of labor against capital constitute a species of warfare which involves the general public. Regardless of whether a particular dispute ends in favor of the laborers or the employer, every strike, lockout, or other interference with industrial co÷peration lessens the amount of consumable goods in existence. Thus aside from the fact that industrial warfare encourages class antagonisms, it is an important cause of the relative scarcity of goods, and the resulting tendency of prices to rise. Often great injury results from a dispute which originally was of small proportions. In 1902, for example, the anthracite coal strike cost the country more than $100,000,000, though the strike had been initiated because of a local dispute over recognition of the union. In 1919, when we were suffering from a general scarcity of goods, there occurred in this country more than three thousand strikes, involving a loss of more than $2,000,000,000 in decreased production.

189. NECESSITY OF INDUSTRIAL PEACE.—Industrial warfare very often results in the correction of abuses, but in many cases it seems to bring little or no benefit to either labor or capital. In any case, it is a costly method, and one which constitutes a menace to the peace of the community. American democracy demands that in the settlement of disputes between labor and capital, industrial warfare be replaced by some method less costly, less violent, and more in harmony with the principles of justice and civilized behavior. Responsibility for the present extent of industrial warfare cannot definitely be placed upon either capital or labor, but at least both sides should be obliged to recognize that the public is a third party to every industrial dispute. We should insist upon fair play for both capital and labor, but we should likewise insist that the interests of the public be safeguarded.

190. SOME METHODS OF INDUSTRIAL PEACE.—As has already been pointed out, profit sharing is not of great importance in lessening industrial unrest. Various systems of bonuses and pensions have temporarily improved the position of some groups of workmen, but experience has proven both bonuses and pensions to be limited in scope. Employers are often unwilling to adopt such devices as these, while the laborers frequently regard them as paternalistic measures which at best are a poor substitute for the higher wages to which they consider themselves entitled. Existing evils are often lessened by welfare work, which includes such measures as the establishment of schools, libraries, and playgrounds for the laborers. But in many cases welfare work is initiated by the employer for the purpose of diverting the attention of the workmen from their fundamental grievances, and for this reason it is often opposed by the workmen. All of the measures enumerated in this section are of more or less value, but as methods of combating industrial warfare, they have proved to be palliative, rather than remedial or preventive.

191. THE TRADE AGREEMENT.—In some industries there is a growing tendency for employers not only to recognize the union, but also to make a collective contract, or trade agreement, with the unionized workmen. The trade agreement may lead to the formation of councils in which representatives of both workmen and employer attempt to reach a friendly agreement upon disputed matters. The trade agreement has been particularly successful in many industries in England. In this country it is best known in the soft coal mining industry in eastern United States, and in the needle trades of New York City. On the whole, the trade agreement has not been markedly successful in the United States. Although it smoothes out minor differences, the unions still prefer to back their more important demands by use of the strike.

192. VOLUNTARY ARBITRATION.—Since 1898 the several states have been giving an increasing amount of attention to the creation of boards of industrial conciliation, mediation, and arbitration. [Footnote: The words conciliation, mediation, and arbitration are variously used, but the following distinction may be of use. Mediation is an attempt to get the disputants to come together for the purpose of discussing their grievances. Conciliation is aid extended to the disputants in the actual settlement of the dispute. Arbitration implies that a third party settles the dispute and renders a decision.] Most states now have some provision for a board whose duty it is to attempt to eliminate industrial warfare. The powers and duties of these boards vary from state to state. In some states the board may investigate labor disputes on its own initiative, but it is not obliged to make an investigation. In other states the investigation of industrial disputes is compulsory.

Boards of the type discussed in this section have no power to compel the disputants to arbitrate their troubles, though they may persuade the parties involved to resort to arbitration. When the disputants agree to allow the state board to arbitrate the dispute, and when also they previously promise to abide by the decision of the board, the award of the state board is binding upon both sides. When the parties to the dispute have not previously agreed to abide by the award, the board cannot force an acceptance of its decision, but can only rely upon public sentiment to help effect a just settlement.

193. COMPULSORY ARBITRATION IN NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTRALIA.—The frequent refusal of labor and capital willingly to submit their differences to arbitration has led to the development of the principle of compulsory arbitration.

In New Zealand, compulsory arbitration was adopted as early as 1894. In that country the arbitrating body is known as the court of arbitration, the decisions of which are absolute and binding. At the discretion of the court, the awards handed down may be extended to embrace other employees or employers in the same trade, or in the same locality, or in the whole country. Violations of the award, either by labor or by capital, are punishable by heavy fines. An even more drastic form of compulsory arbitration has been adopted in Australia.