The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1950-09-14
THE MENACE WITHIN
By ALEXANDER S. LIPSETT
COIectiyism-- i'm u. S. A.
Installment |

Daniel, did you ever get lost in
the woods?" a neighbor asked
Daniel Boone. mo" said Daniel,
"but for a spell 1 was quite puz-
zled."
Throughout their roaring history
Americans have often asked them
selves whether they were puzzled
or lost. Today, this national trait
Iof self-questioning is more pro-
nounced than ever before. In COM
mon with other segments of oui
people, the trade union movement
might well wonder whether in its
search for achievement it is not
lost in the wilderness of contempor-
airy affairs.
| American labor has grown enor-
mouslyf in the past five decades
1t has become a power in it's own
right, a force in the formulation of
national policies. However, there
has been no comparable under
standing of its public responsible
lities, little awareness on the whole
of the need for restraint.
This two-pronged development
has been responsible for the emer-
gence of our so-called labor pro-
blem, the burgeoning of labor leg
islation, and the hectic public de-
bate around these issues. But if
lunion advances since 1888 have
been due primarily to state inter-
est and support, then we must in
quire into the effects on labor pro-
per.
First, the hot-house treatment
has placed labor in an ambiguous
position. Second, it has stymied eff
forts to redefine and clarity labor's
aims. Last, state soicitude for the
workers welfare has prevented
union leadership from evaluating
abor's true status in the New
Fair Deal society and from develop
ling a philosophy capable of guild
ing labor and guarding its indie
lpendence.
The advance of state capitalism
has had as its corollary a strong
union impact on the structure and
operations of the national economy.
Collective bargaining has become
a normal, everyday feature. A pat
tern for employment, working con-
ditions, ETC., has been set and en-
bodied in the fabric of collective
agreements that blankets the ma
tion.
Parallel to this, union interest in
the managerial function has be-
come increasingly manifest. This
has resulted in the whiting down
of the foremen's authority and the
beclouding of their status as part
of management. In other ways, too,
labor has scored new gains. Man
agement prerogative clauses in
union contracts have in many in
stances been weakened through in
depreciation and arbitration. In
short, labor has acquired an addi-
tional foothold in management
through indireetion and the use of
obscure, and often unrelated, con
tract provisions.
= \ x
1t would be unjust to question.
the constructive attitude Of some
unions toward business. However,
we need to understand their mo-
,tives and gauge their economic
power-a power which enables
them to impose their concept of
industrial relations. upon employ
.ers.
Much of this cooperation has
grown out of the need to establish
and maintain industrial stability,
and TO a degree it has served the
purpose. But here again, each union
advance has been marked by a cor
responding. decline of managerial
authority. So far, this one-sided re-
lationship has made no headway in
the basic industries. Still, to ignore
the union resolve to secure a firm
grip on these bastions is to fly in
the face of evidence. Moreover,
JAW president Walter Reuther
and others have repeatedly propos-