Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1949-12-23
Collective Bargaining And Economic Welfare


by the Supreme Court, however only in such
comparatively recent decisions as the verdict
in the Jones Laughlin case in 1896. Con-
gress was justified, 1t was asserted by the
court, in protecting employees in their right
to organize and select their own representa-
tives for collective bargaining or for other
purposes without restraint coercion by
their employees. This fundamental right" it
was affirmed rose from the helplessness Of
the individual employee; from his dependence
on his daily wage and his resulting inability
separately to leave his job and resist treat
ment he views as arbitrary and unfair; and
from his dependence on his union for equality
in dealing with his employer.
The original and basic reason for collective
bargaining as a defense of the individual
worker in his relations with his employer has
been supplemented by broader concepts of the
role of unions and the bargaining process. 1t
was recognized that employers themselves are
under the compulsion of competitive and mar
ket forces and that some employers which are
willing to recognize unions and deal collect
lively with them are at disadvantage rela-
tive to others who would put the main burden
of minimizing costs on their workers. Unions
may, therefore, be said to have the role of
protecting employers themselves by putting
employers on the same general level of labor
costs and by stimulating efficiency as means
of reducing costs.
More recently, still broader concepts Of
collective bargaining have gained widespread
acceptance in recognition of the nature OF
the entire economic process. Problems of wage
and labor costs have come to be viewed in re-
lation to industrial efficiency and to maximum
production and employment as affected by
the appropriate flow of income on the one
hand to investment and on the other hand to
demand and consumption.
There is still another phase Of unionism
and collective bargaining that has been less
emphasized and that perhaps has been less
consciously influential 1t arises out of deep
personal need of the individual worker to
maintain his sense of belonging" to and par.
ticipating In his group, his plant. his industry,
and his community. The gratifying OF this
need has too often been denied or in serious
degree thwarted by specialization and by the
minute, mechaniZed, and routiniZed nature
of the individual job The car bumper at
mine the dough mixer I'm bakery or sand
mixer in foundry, the "hand" In a gang, has
naturally depended more and more on his
union not merely for determining his wages
and hours but also for vOcing his ideas as to
broader policies and for gratifying his need
for partnership and participation in the COM
mon processes OF working and living.
All this is primarily beyond the range OF
governmental functions, except that the spirit
of collective action on basis of equality is at
the heart of the democratic process. That pro-
cess itself however, should be free to make
use of government in its protective role OF
maintaining the conditions necessary for free
association and successful collective bargain
ing. democratic society must be free also to
make vital and positive contributions to the
meeting of social needs, and especially those
of low-income groups.