Sylvester Petro

Sylvester Petro (1914-2007) was an American professor of law. He is known for his research about labor law from the libertarian point of view from 1950s, before this idea became normal in 1980s.

Petro was born in South Side, Chicago to an immigrant family. He took part in union activities as a member and organiser before he attended the University of Chicago. He experienced activities with steelworkers union and was sure that unions even with capacity for good had to be watched and subjected to the same laws and rules of conduct as others. After he received a Bachelor of Arts and a graduate-entry professional degree in law, he continued his studies at the University of Michigan and received his academic master's degree in law.

After that, Petro taught labor law, antitrust, and contracts at New York University School of Law. He continued to teach labor law at Wake Forest University Law School until 1978, after he moved to Winston Salem, North Carolina.

Petro published "The Labor Policy of the Free Society" in 1957.  It became his most important work. In it, he explains that the field of "labor economics" and the rest of economy has same principle, and "labor relations" is not unique category of human interaction under the legal rules developed over the common law.

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Category:1914 births
Category:2007 deaths
Category:American academics