She proposes that the only truly effective labor policy lies in a tripartite cooperation of business, labor and government. To delineate this point, she examines in great detail the progression from Keynesianism in the 1930s to labor market policies in the 1970s, and the two defeats suffered by full employment legislation, in 1945 and 1976. Tripartite Cooperation Weir introduces her book with the intention of showing the patterns of employment policy in America throughout the middle of the twentieth century. She aims to show how the lack of cooperation among government, labor, and business defeated or weakened nearly all employment legislation. Each of these factors has the ability to block or alter legislation to the point that it does not accomplish its objective.
Government can veto employment legislation.
Labor and business, as special interest groups, lobby to prevent certain legislation. Labor works for favorable employer-employee relations. Business, however, pushes for legislation that will allow the greatest profit, or no legislation at all. Without the cooperation of the two interests in conjunction with federal approval, no effective employment policy can be derived. In the early 1930s, America sank deeply into the Depression.