state commerce not now covered and to apply to employment in interstate agriculture during school hours." Industrial Relations The conference recommended cooperation by management and labor groups to provide special training for their representatives, the State labor departments to provide leadership in such programs. Establishment of industrial training courses and workers' educational services through State universities and other publicly supported institutions was commended, in the belief that such activities promote development of genuine collective bargaining without recourse to State agencies. Provision of facilities by the States for peaceful settlement of labor disputes by mediation, conciliation, and voluntary arbitration was favored. It was urged that duplication and overlapping of the functions of Federal and State agencies be eliminated and that activities be more closely coordinated. The United States Department of Labor was requested to prepare drafts suggesting the language to be used for State legislation to abolish the use of injunctions in labor disputes. Repeal of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 and of all State legislation detrimental to the rights of organized workers was recommended. Enactment of new Federal legislation was endorsed, however, "under which employees shall have the right to selforganization, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in concerted activities, for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection as provided for in the Wagner Act. Whenever there is a conflict between Federal and State legislation concerning this right, then the Federal legislation shall prevail." It was recommended that the Territories and possessions of the United States be accorded equal treatment under Federal labor laws, and that discrimination against the rights of labor in the Territories and possessions be abolished. State Programs of Labor Statistics The conference, in its current affirmation, reiterated the reasons stated by the Fourteenth Conference for recommending the establishment of State programs of labor statistics. It also made additional recommendations outlining the methods to be used to obtain needed enabling legislation, the need for continued cooperation with the United States Department of Labor, the kind of statistical data to be provided by the State agencies, and the informational and educational activities that should be promoted. Workmen's Compensation The conference adopted provisions for a rounded plan of State workmen's compensation, spelling out in detail a variety of recommended standards among them compulsory, comprehensive coverage; inclusion of occupational diseases; more adequate benefits; unlimited medical and hospital care; a second-injury fund to facilitate employment of the handicapped; and at least double compensation for minors injured while illegally employed. The conference also advocated an exclusive State insurance fund, and the administration of workmen's compensation by a commission. Compulsory coverage is proposed for all employment, without regard to size of establishment or the nonhazardous character of an industry. In addition, the laws should cover State and municipal employees and extraterritorial workers. Elective coverage is recommended for agricultural and domestic-service workers. It was advocated that all employees excluded from State laws because of Federal jurisdiction should be protected by a Federal workmen's compensation law. The conference suggested that occupational diseases should be covered by general or "blanket" designation rather than by enumeration or schedule of diseases. Reporting of all disabling injuries and occupational diseases should be compulsory. In fatal cases, it recommended, a widow should receive a minimum benefit of 35 percent of the weekly wage of the deceased, with 15 percent additional for each child, "the total not to exceed the percentage for permanent total disability." Benefits for permanent total disability, it was suggested, should be paid for life; for permanent partial disability, compensation should be calculated as a percentage of permanent total disability, and should be in addition to compensation for the healing period; for temporary total dis ability, payments should cover the disability period. A waiting period of 3 to 7 days was recommended, benefits to be paid from the date of injury, if the disability continues as long as 14 days. Injured workers should not be allowed to waive compensation. Payments should be made in installments, lump-sum payments to be acceptable only for good cause and when safeguarded. Safety and Health To bring about prompt and effective action to meet the national safety problem, the conference recommended: Federal enactment of provision for grants-in-aid to States, Territories, and possessions of the United States that wish such help for their understaffed labor departments, in order that they may foster welfare and safety of wage earners; provision by the United States Department of Labor to States, upon request, of training courses for factory inspectors, including special instruction needed. for investigation of major accidents; sufficient expansion of such courses to enable State departments to invite representatives of management to the classes; a goal of full industrial coverage by safety codes (special attention being called to the urgent need in some States for development of an adequate boiler and pressure code); better salaries for State safety inspectors, and provision of employment security for such personnel through merit or civil service systems; establishment of methods for obtaining adequate accident data, including cause data, in States not having such statistics; and provisions in workmen's compensation laws to make mandatory the prompt reporting of accidents. A sufficient expansion of staff in labor departments to enable them to reach small employers was stated to be essential. Responsibility of organized labor to cooperate at the plant level in establishment of joint programs and to expand safety activities through trained representatives at regional, district, and local levels was emphasized. Stricter enforcement of existing State regulations, supplemented by educational and promotional activities through the State labor departments, the conference believed, would aid greatly in maintaining safer conditions in the small establishments. Attention was called, as at former conferences. to "encroachment of health departments on what are essentially and legally State labor department functions," and to the need for funds in labor departments for maintenance of divisions of in dustrial hygiene to carry out "their full responsi bility for inspection and enforcement of laws governing working conditions." The objectives of the President's Conference or Industrial Safety to be held in March were endorsed, and delegates to the Labor Legislation Conference were urged to call the attention of their respective Governors to the merit of definite recommendations to be made by the Safety Con ference. Work of the Bureau of Labor Standards of the United States Department of Labor in organizing the Safety Conference was commended. Finally, the report recommended provision of funds to the United States Department of Labor to enable it to render effective service in the following: 1. The collection and dissemination of comprehensive and adequate accident statistics. 2. Assistance in the development of more complete State safety codes for each type of industry. 3. The development of State safety programs to meet the needs of high hazard industries and the small establishments not reached ordinarily through general safety programs. 4. Action by the recent Congress eliminated the technical safety training programs available to State labor departments. The Committee feels this action was detrimental to the best public interest and urges immediate restoration of this function in the Department of Labor. 5. The preparation of safety engineering data for use by labor law administration agencies in promoting joint labor-management safety programs and other activities designed to materially reduce accident losses. Resolutions 1. A conference between officials of specified Government agencies and organized labor was advocated "for the purpose of stopping the promotion" of certain trade schools "opened and operated in numerous States." These schools, the resolution affirmed, "provide from 8 months to 78 weeks training courses in the building and construction trades crafts and other crafts under the GI bill of rights per student." at a cost of $500 The conference stated that if permitted to continue, this practice will "destroy the apprenticeship standards of all trades, and relations with the employers." 2. Support of establishment by Congressional enactment of a Labor Extension Service Division in the United States Department of Labor, as advocated by the Fourteenth Conference, was reaffirmed. 3. The United States Department of Labor was asked to make an analysis and report of existing State legislation to provide time off for voting. Delegates were urged to work for provision of adequate laws in their own States to protect workers in their right to vote without loss of pay. 4. A disability insurance program to be integrated with Federal social security was advocated as follows: Whereas, All States and the Federal Government have now established plans by which compensation is paid to workers injured on the job and also in cases where the worker is unemployed; and Whereas, It is generally agreed that there is need for temporary disability insurance to pay benefits to a worker because of sickness or other disability not resulting from employment; be it Resolved, That the Fifteenth National Conference on Labor Legislation record itself in favor of the principle of a Federal program of cash sickness insurance integrated with its great social security system, but pending the establishment of such Federal program, the conference urge all States to set up disability insurance programs under the complete control and operation of the States. 5. It was recommended that "the United States Employment Service and the administration of unemployment compensation along with other labor functions be coordinated in the United States Department of Labor," and that Congress be urged "to establish minimum standards by amendment to the Social Security Act to assure adequate benefits to all workers throughout the United States." 6. All States were urged to consider establishment of advisory councils representing management, labor, and the public, for preparation and promotion of sound labor legislation. It was recommended, moreover, that the representatives of organized workers be chosen after consultation with major labor organizations in the States. 7. It was recommended that State labor departments and the United States Department of Labor assume responsibility for migrant workers; and that laws be enacted to give these workers the protection of workmen's compensation, as well as of child-labor and school-attendance, wage and hour, and social-security standards; that licensing and regulation of labor contractors and employment agencies be required; that labor-camp codes governing sanitation and safety be developed and enforced by State labor departments; and that licensing of labor camps by State labor departments be required. Recommendations of the Federal Interagency Committee on Migrant Labor were endorsed. 8. The United States Department of Labor was requested to make a study to show the personnel in each State, Territory, or possession, for enforcing the various labor laws, and the approximate number of establishments and employees to be covered by the work of this staff. 9. The United States Department of Labor was requested to obtain and make available to labor, employers, and the public, and to governors and labor commissioners of the various jurisdictions, data showing the cost of present workmen's and unemployment compensation, broken down into simple examples; and the approximate cost of improving these laws as recommended by the conference. The NWLB: Notes on Labor Regulation in Wartime H. M. DOUTY1 AS AN EFFECTIVE OPERATING AGENCY, the National War Labor Board ceased to exist on VJ-day. With the end of World War II, the real foundation of its authority collapsed. The Nation-wide labormanagement agreement in December 1941 to submit unresolved disputes to a tribunal for final adjudication was a wartime expedient that was not intended to survive the emergency that produced it. For almost 4 years, however, the conduct of industrial relations and the character of wartime wage policy were determined largely by the Board. It is still difficult, 3 years after its liquidation, to see the Board in perspective. The process of evaluation has been greatly aided, however, by the publication of the first volume of the Board's Termination Report. The remaining two volumes, which will appear in the near future, consist entirely of documentary materials. The first volume of the report is divided into two parts. The first part contains a description of the legal authority, jurisdiction, organization, structure, and procedures of the Board, together with a detailed examination of its policies governing the settlement of disputes and the stabilization of wages. Such problems as the enforcement of wage control and compliance with Board directive orders in dispute cases are also dealt with. The second part of the volume is probably unique in the annals of official reports on the work 1 Chief of the Bureau's Division of Wage Analysis. 1 The Termination Report of the National War Labor Board, Vol. I. Washington, U. 8. Government Printing Office, 1948. XXXVIII, 1213 pp. Historical Reports on War Administration.) functions through 12 regional boards and a numbe of special commissions and panels established o an industry basis. The chairmen of these Boar agencies were encouraged to write freely of thei experiences in the administration of wartime dis pute and wage policy. Their reports throw muc light on the actual operation of the Board and o some of the problems of comprehensive govern mental control over labor relations and the wag bargain. The Termination Report, taken as a whole provides a broad foundation for the understanding of the policies and work of the Board. It is not of course, a "critical" report in the sense of a evaluation of policy and performance in terms o wartime objectives, or in terms of the longer-ru implications, for labor-management relations, o Board actions. Such studies will come later some, indeed, are now in preparation. The present report prepares the ground for the more critical studies, and will serve to lighten the labo of research. Although this large volume cannot be discussed in detail, brief attention can be given to several aspects of wartime experience in the management of labor relations which it covers. Tripartitism and Dispute Settlement In a war situation, the interruption of production by strike or lock-out inevitably will be subject to restraint. Some mechanism for the settlement of disputes that cannot be resolved through collec tive bargaining will be established. The National War Labor Board grew out of the "voluntary" action of representatives of labor and management at a conference called by the President 10 days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. It was agreed that there should be no strikes or lockouts for the duration of the war and that the President should establish a War Labor Board to handle disputes. The Board, created by Executive order, had no statutory basis until the pas sage of the War Labor Disputes Act in June 1943. The particular way in which the Board was established was important. Voluntary agreement undoubtedly was facilitated by the certain prospect of Executive or legislative action in the absence of agreement. But in the delicate and difficult field of industrial relations, the fact of agreement was of enormous significance. It meant, as George W. Taylor pointed out in an introductory statement to the Termination Report, that "the Nation could count upon the active support of labor leaders and management leaders in the carrying out of their own program." The tripartite composition of the Board was in a sense a condition of the "voluntarism" that gave it birth. Beyond this, however, direct and equal representation of labor and management with the public was almost essential, since initially the Board had no policies to guide its decisions.3 It was a quasi-judicial agency without rules of law to apply in the cases that came before it. It had to function, therefore, as a rule-making body. It also had to develop principles that were viable in the extreme conditions of the war emergency. Under these circumstances, participation of labor and management representatives in the formulation of policy undoubtedly contributed greatly to the Board's success. The policies that evolved from its case-by-case approach were by no means always equally acceptable to both sides. The solution of the "union security" issue-maintenance of membership—was never formally accepted by the management representatives. The wage decision in the Little Steel case was bitterly opposed by the labor members. Despite recurring crises, however, the Board held together. Compliance with its directive orders, except in a handful of cases, was remarkable. This result certainly flowed, in part, from the fact that both sides had a genuine voice in the determination of policy. Even when a decision was made by a divided Board, insistence on compliance with the decision was unanimous. Even after the Board's attitude on a particular issue had been reasonably well defined, a measure of flexibility ordinarily remained. Hence, it was able to adapt policy to unusual situations or to meet unusual pressures. On some issues, such as seniority, a generally applicable policy never emerged, and each case was treated separately. The Termination Report illustrates all these situations in chapters on union security, the check-off, grievance procedure, seniority, and other nonwage issues. Its predecessor agency, the National Defense Mediation Board, was essentially a mediating body. See U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Bull. No. 714, Report on the Work of the National Defense Mediation Board Washington, 1942). The tripartite composition of the Board was helpful in an additional sense. In another introductory statement to the Termination Report Lloyd K. Garrison pointed out that a decision in a labor dispute simply will not stick unless it falls within a fairly narrow zone of acceptability or tolerability, whose ascertainment can only be arrived at through an intimate understanding of the inmost positions of both sides and of all the forces which are playing upon their representatives both within their own group (corporate or labor) and from the outside. One of the little appreciated features of the tripartite structure of the War Labor Board was that the public members of the Board, when direct contact with the parties was not feasible, or did not prove helpful, could often acquire an understanding of the basic difficulties and problems and of the ultimate breaking points of each side, through the industry and labor members of the Board as intermediaries. The tripartite structure of the Board was not an unmixed blessing. In the particular and perhaps unique circumstances of the Board experience, however, its contribution to the solution of war time labor problems was very great indeed. Wage Stabilization In the field of wages, the Board's position, after the Stabilization Act of October 21, 1942, differed considerably from that with respect to the nonwage issues in labor-management disputes. The Stabilization Act directed the President to stabilize wages and salaries, as far as practicable, on the basis of levels existing on September 15, 1942. He was authorized to make adjustments "to the extent that he finds necessary to aid in the effective prosecution of the war or to correct gross inequities." He delegated this authority over wages and salaries, for the most part, to the Board. Prior to this action, the Board had jurisdiction over wage issues in the dispute cases that came before it; after that, it had jurisdiction as well over the vast majority of voluntary wage adjustments. It had to undertake the task of administering a comprehensive wage control program aimed at combating inflation. Governmental control of wage rate changes was new in American experience. The language of the Stabilization Act, and that of the implementing Executive order, recognized the fact that various types of inequities existed within the wage structure and that these inequities should not be |