November 23 THE NLRB, in the case of Boeing Airplane Co. and International Association of Machinists (Ind.), ordered the management to resume collective bargaining with the IAM local lodge and to offer full reinstatement to all employees who went on strike on April 22. The company's refusal to bargain with the strikers had converted a strike for wages into one to compel an employer to cease an unfair labor practice. (Source: NLRB release R-142, Nov. 23, 1948.) November 24 THE NLRB, in the case of United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (CIO) and General Electric Co., ruled that the relative prestrike seniority of strikers and nonstriking employees must be maintained in making a strike settlement. If one group receives seniority credit for the stoppage period the same must be accorded to the other. (Source: NLRB release R-141, Nov, 24, 1948.) November 25 THE FIRST AGREEMENT was reached in the West Coast shipping strike, which started on September 2 upon termination of an 80-day anti-strike injunction (see MLR, Oct. 1948, p. 394; Nov. 1948, p. 517; and Dec. 1948, p. 629). Shipping and waterfront employers and the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union (CIO) agreed to a wage increase of 15 cents an hour and other benefits. (Source: BLS records.) On December 6, after 95 days of idleness, shipping was restored. (Source: Washington Star, Dec. 6, 1948.) THE NLRB ORDERED Local 74 of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters of America (AFL) and its business agent to cease inducing members of the local to engage in any work stoppage or boycott aimed at compelling any employer to stop doing business with the Ira A. Watson Co. (a chain store having branches in 7 States). The Board thus took jurisdiction in a secondary boycott case growing out of a strike of carpenters engaged in remodeling a home. It beld that such work is local, but that the strike came within the scope of the LMRA of 1947 because it was aimed at a company clearly engaged in interstate commerce. NLRB release R-140, Nov. 25, 1948.) November 26 (Source: The end was ANNOUNCED of the 10-month strike of the International Airline Pilots Association (AFL) against National Airlines. James M. Landis, who mediated the dispute, stated that working conditions would approximate those existing prior to the stoppage. (Source: AFL Weekly News Service, Nov. 30, 1948.) November 29 THE OPERATORS and the International Longshoremen's Association (AFL), representing about 45,000 members, reached a settlement in the 18-day East Coast maritime strike (which had started November 10 as a wildcat strike and became official on November 12). Wage increases from 13 to 191⁄2 cents an hour on straight-time rates and other benefits were authorized. (Source: Labor, Dec. 4, 1948; for discussion, see MLR, Dec. 1948, p. 630.) On November 9, to avert the strike scheduled at the expiration of the 80-day injunction period under the LMRA of 1947 (see Chron. item for Aug. 21, 1948, MLR, Oct. 1948), representatives of the ILA in New York had entered into a 1-year agreement with operators (subject to ratification by union members). Hourly wage increases were 10 cents (day) and 15 cents (night and week-end). (Source: New York Herald Tribune, Nov. 10, 1948.) THE SECRETARY OF LABOR, under the Public Contracts Act, determined prevailing minimum wages on public contracts in the heavy outerwear branch of the uniform and clothing industry, which includes the leather and sheep-lined jackets industry, to be 85 cents an hour (65 cents for auxiliary workers); for the wool trousers branch the minimum wages fixed were 75 cents an hour (65 cents for auxiliary workers). (Source: Federal Register, vol. 13, p. 7352.) November 30 THE 15TH ANNUAL Conference on Labor Legislation opened in Washington, D. C., with the Secretary of Labor presiding. (Source: U. S. Dept. of Labor release $49554, Nov. 30, 1948; for discussion, see p. 15 of this issue.) December 2 The NLRB, in the case of Kaiser-Frazer Parts Corp. and International Association of Machinists (Ind.), barred a union-which had obtained an overwhelming majority as bargaining agent in a Utah State board election-from the ballot in a Federal election for bargaining agent. The union had failed to comply with the non-Communist affidavit requirement of the LMRA of 1947. (Source: Labor Relations Reporter, Vol. 23, No. 13, Analysis, p. 25, and LRRM, p. 1176.) December 6 THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES, in the case of Vermilya-Brown Co., Inc. v. Connell, held that the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 applies to policemen and firemen employed by a contractor to work on an outlying defense base obtained under 99-year lease and executive agreement with the British Government. "Possession" covers areas over which the United States has sole power, irrespective of ultimate sovereignty. (Source: U. S. Law Week, 17 LW, p. 4033.) December 10 THE RAILWAY LABOR EXECUTIVES ASSOCIATION, spokesmen for over a million employees, announced its intention of seeking amendments to the Railway Labor Act. The Association particularly seeks to end the ban against the closed and union shop. (Source: New York Times, Dec. 10, 1948.) Publications of Labor Interest Special Reviews Labor Productivity Functions in Meat Packing. By William H. Nicholls. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1948. 256 pp., charts. $5. This study is concerned primarily with the fresh-pork operations of a large mid-western meat-packing plant during the years 1938 to 1940. The analysis considers the relations between labor inputs (measured in dollar-cost terms and in various alternative units) and the physical volume of output. Throughout the statistical analysis the traditional multiple-regression (single equation) approach is used. The analysis does attempt to make a limited but significant contribution to the economic theory of the firm. Traditionally, labor inputs have been measured in terms of man-hours. Actually, man-hours have two dimensions, the number of workers and average hours per worker, each presumably subject to the law of diminishing physical productivity. Men and hours are substitutes for each other within certain limits and there is presumably some optimum (least-cost) combination of men and hours for any given output. The introduction of overtime wage rates might be expected to lead to the substitution of men for hours, in so far as technically possible, to obtain a new least-cost position. The theoretical basis for this particular problem and its relationship to the maintenance of flexibility for meeting fluctuations of output and uncertainty are spelled out in detail. For the particular plant under study, data were available to estimate three important types of relationships: (1) the relationship between total weight of hogs processed and number of workers and average workweek per worker; (2) the relationship between hogs processed and total manhours; and (3) the relationship between total pay rolls and hogs processed. Analysis of the data led the author to the following conclusions: (1) The workweek being constant, total output is increased at a diminishing rate as successive additions are made to the labor force. EDITOR'S NOTE.- Correspondence regarding the publications to which reference is made in this list should be addressed to the respective publishing agencies mentioned. Where data on prices were readily available, they have been shown with the title entries. cessive increases in the length of the workweek (within a relatively narrow, "normal" range) will increase output at a constant or slightly diminishing rate; and (3) Both men and hours being fully variable, successive increases in total man-hours will increase total output at a nearly constant rate. The author, like other workers in the field, experience difficulty in preparing a suitable indicator of productio Measures based on quantity and value of product we discarded because of the heterogeneity of product and th absence of appropriate information. The author, ther fore, fell back upon physical units of the principal ra material (live weight of hogs processed) as a measure output for the multiplicity of finished products. -C. S. E Recent Analyses of Annual Wage Guarantees. By Rit Ricardo Campbell. (In Quarterly Journal of Ec nomics, Cambridge, Mass., August 1948, pp. 542-56 $1.25.) The author considers the different assumptions an analytical approaches behind the opposing beliefs set fort in three studies-those of A. D. H. Kaplan, Joseph I Snider, and Advisory Board of U. S. Office of War Mobil zation and Reconversion-which evaluate annual wag guarantees. Views on such questions as the effects guarantee plans on consumption, employment, mobilit of labor, and policies of individual firms are compared, a a basis for conclusions concerning such plans and the place in the economy. Although the three studies differ greatly in assumption and methods, they do agree on at least five basic conclusions (1) People who have an annual wage guarantee will be more economically secure than those who do not have such a guarantee. (2) Since under the past and present laws only a very few firms have ever maintained annual wage guarantees, widespread adoption of guarantees cannot, even with union pressure, be secured without government encouragement backed by changes in the law to give financial advantages to firms maintaining guarantees; or, in lieu of this, and some believe in addition to this, without actual government compulsion of guarantees. (3) Maintenance of a given guarantee plan will affect different firms differently or, from another point of view, no one type of guarantee plan can be successfully applied to all firms. (There is disagreement in what direction and to what degree firms' policies will be affected.) (4) Adoption of guarantee plans will affect tradeunion policies as well as company policies. (5) General adoption of guarantee plans will not eliminate cyclical unemployment. (There is disagreement on whether it will tend to increase, decrease or have no effect at all on cyclical unemployment, but this is a question of degree not of complete or near elimination.) In discussing the effects of guarantees upon variou aspects of the economy, including some not analyzed i the three studies considered, it is assumed that there i only one kind of plan, that which may entail a larger paj roll. It becomes increasingly difficult, the writer point out, for an individual firm to maintain a guarantee as th number of firms adopting such plans increases. Furthermore, although firms maintaining guarantees stabilize their employment, they do so at a lower level. In addition, as each firm stabilizes its employment, it may upset the employment stability in firms buying the product. Widespread adoption of guarantees, the paper concludes, would mean an increase in economic security for the few at the expense of the many. Although guarantee plans seem to be feasible in some firms in seasonal industries, the area of their use is relatively very small. -E. L. B. Arbitration American Arbitration, its History, Functions, and Achievements. By Frances Kellor. New York, Harper & Bros., 1948. 262 pp. $3. History of American Arbitration Association and of its work over a 20-year period, with related information. The association was originally created (in 1926) for commercial arbitration, but in 1937 it set up a labor arbitration system, which is briefly described in the book. Problems in Labor Arbitration. By J. Noble Braden. (In Missouri Law Review, Columbia, April 1948, pp. 143-169; also reprinted.) The author, who is tribunal vice president of the American Arbitration Association, sets forth in this article some principles of commercial arbitration established by common law and statutory standards. He agrees that commercial and labor arbitration differ, but emphasizes that "all labor arbitrations are subject to the existing common law and statutory standards" and that a survey of commercial arbitration procedures affords an opportunity to study variations between it and labor arbitration procedures. Required Arbitration of Labor Disputes. By Bruce Roach and Edd Miller. Austin, University of Texas, 1947. 158 pp., bibliography. (Publication No. 4737.) 50 cents. An aid to be used in high-school debates on the subject of compulsory arbitration of labor disputes in all basic American industries. Consists of reprints of and excerpts from articles on both sides of the question. Selection and Tenure of Arbitrators in Labor Disputes. By Lois MacDonald. New York, New York University, Institute of Labor Relations and Social Security, 1948. 51 pp. Based on an analysis of labor contracts and on information furnished by arbitrators, union officials, and employers. The paper was reprinted from the proceedings of the First Annual Conference on Labor sponsored by the Institute of Labor Relations and Social Security, New York University (see book note under Industrial Relations, this issue of Monthly Labor Review). Discharge for Cause: A Study of Arbitration Awards in Cases of the New York State Board of Mediation, 1937-46. By Myron Gollub. New York, State Department of Labor, Division of Research and Statistics, 1948. 88 pp. (Special Bull. No. 221.) 70 cents. Cooperative Movement Consumers' Cooperation in the Postwar Transition Period. By A. Wössner. (In Review of International Cooperation, London, July 1948, pp. 146-156; August 1948, pp. 169–176.) The first article gives statistics on membership, number of shops, employees, and amount of business done by retail consumers' cooperatives in countries of Europe, Asia, and America, the national cooperative movements of which are affiliated with the International Cooperative Alliance. The second article shows amount of business, value of production, number of employees, etc., of cooperative wholesales in the various countries. The statistics are for the years 1944-46, and are the first relatively complete figures issued since before World War II. Cooperative Apartment Housing. (In Harvard Law Review, Cambridge, Mass., September 1948, pp. 14071427. $1.) Discussion of advantages and disadvantages of cooperative (pseudo and genuine) apartments, mainly from the legal point of view. Handbook on Major Regional Farm Supply Purchasing Cooperatives, 1946-47. By Joseph G. Knapp and Jane L. Scearce. Washington, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Farm Credit Administration, Cooperative Research and Service Division, 1948. 45 pp., map; processed. (Miscellaneous Report No. 124.) Follows the pattern of previous annual reports, with detailed statistics for each of the 18 associations represented. Several of these regional organizations, namely, those which handle consumer goods, are also included in the statistical reports of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. How to Organize a Co-op: A Guide to the Establishment of a Community Cooperative. By Jerry Voorhis and others. Chicago, Cooperative League of the U. S. A., 1948. 34 pp., illus. $1. Contains sections on what cooperative service to undertake first, tools of organization, getting legally organized, and financing. A directory of regional and national cooperative federations in the United States is appended. How to Organize a Health Cooperative. By Russel K. Lewis. St. Paul, Minn., Health Center Services Committee, 1948. 126 pp., bibliography, charts. Includes chapters on the preliminary health survey, incorporation of the association, membership drive, publicity program, prepayment contract, financing, planning and building a hospital, and the Cooperative Health Federation of America. Appendixes give summary descriptions of typical prepayment plans in small and large communities. Employment Management Company Rules—Aids to Teamwork. New York, National Industrial Conference Board, Inc., 1948. 56 pp. (Studies in Personnel Policy, No. 95.) Summarizes information from employee handbooks of 300 companies concerning rules promoting health and safety of employees, protecting employees from annoyance, ensuring a working force of good character, maintaining production, and other matters. Part of the report consists of a pictorial presentation of rules of individual companies. Current Trends in Personnel Management. By Robert D. Gray. San Francisco, California Personnel Management Association, Research Division, 1948. 10 pp.; processed. (Management Conference Report No. 11.) $1. Interview Procedures and Employee Testing Methods. Chicago, Dartnell Corp., [1948?]. Variously paged, bibliography; processed. (Report No. 537.) Working Hours, Vacations, Holidays, and Excused Absences. Vacation, Sick Leave, Working Hours Practices in 118 Guaranteed Wage The Case for the Guaranteed Annual Wage. By Mary T. Waggaman. New York, Paulist Press (for Social Action Department, N. C. W. C.), 1948. 33 pp., bibliography. Gives some findings from the studies by the Advisory Board of the U. S. Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion and the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, reviews legislative attempts to promote wage guarantees, and presents viewpoints of various individuals, including representatives of labor unions and of the Catholic church. Guarantees of Wages and Employment. By L. B. Wheildon. Washington (1205 19th Street NW.), Editorial Research Reports, 1947. 17 pp. (Vol. 1, 1947, No. 22.) $1. Discusses new demands for employment security and the benefits claimed for experience with, and problems of, guaranteed wage plans. Industrial Accidents; Workmen's Compensation 1947 Accident Analysis [of] Member Plants of the Portland Cement Association. (In Annual Statistical Number, Accident Prevention Magazine, Portland Cement Association, Chicago, 1948; 24 pp., paster, charts, illus.) Circular Saw Safety. By George Allen. (In Industrial Safety Survey, International Labor Office, Geneva, April-June 1948, pp. 43-48, illus. 50 cents.) Powder-Actuated Hand Tools. (In National Safety News, Chicago, November 1948, pp. 39, 40, et. seq.; Industrial Data Sheet D-Gen. 34.) Outlines safety procedures for explosive devices which but recently have become prominent throughout industry. These tools require operation by authorized workers only, and rigid supervision of use. Subrogation Under Workmen's Compensation Acts. By William B. Wright. New York, Central Book Co., 1948. xxxiii, 161 pp. $7.50. Analysis of rights of employers and employees to prosecute damage claims against third parties, who are legally liable under existing workmen's compensation acts, for injury or death. Includes a summary of "third party" statutory provisions as well as a comparison of principal provisions, by State. Workmen's Compensation in Canada-A Comparison of Provincial Laws. Ottawa, Department of Labor, Legislation Branch, September 1948. 34 pp.; proc essed. Industrial Hygiene Studies on the Duration of Disabling Sickness, VII: Duration Table for Specific Causes of Disability Among Male Workers. By W. M. Gafafer and others. (In Public Health Reports, Federal Security Agency, Public Health Service, Washington, July 9, 1948, pp. 901-923, bibliography, charts; also reprinted.) Based on reports from 17 industrial sick-benefit organizations, 1940-46. The other articles in this series are also available in reprint form. Free. Chrome. Trenton, New Jersey Department of Health, Division of Industrial Health, [1948?]. 7 pp. (Industrial Health Bull., Vol. 2, No. 10.) One of a series of brief pamphlets dealing with individual industrial hazards (or related topics). American Standard Allowable Concentration of Manganese. New York, American Standards Association, Inc., 1948. 4 pp., bibliography. (Z37.6-1948.) 35 cents. Important Uses of Industrial Vision Tests and the Medical Director. By W. Gregory Morgan, M.D., and N. Frank Stump. (In Industrial Medicine, Chicago, July 1948, pp. 253-258, charts, illus. 75 cents.) Indicates the benefits, to one company and its employees, of industrial vision standards. The Practice of Industrial Medicine. By T. A. Lloyd Davies, M.D. London, J. & A. Churchill, Ltd., 1948. 244 pp., bibliographies, charts. A textbook grounded in English industrial experience. Industrial Relations Industrial Relations Research Centers in West Coast Universities. By Pacific Coast Labor Market Committee, Social Science Research Council. Stanford, Calif., Stanford University, Graduate School of Business, Division of Industrial Relations, 1948. 15 pp. Description of the origin, programs, major activities, publications, and areas of specialization and cooperation of five university industrial relations centers on the West Coast. Al Proceedings of New York University First Annual Conference on Labor: Issues in Collective Bargaining and Taft-Hartley Act. Edited by Emanuel Stein. bany and New York City, Matthew Bender & Co., Inc., 1948. 639 pp. $7.50. The articles presented in this volume formed the basis of a series of lectures delivered at the conference (April 27-30, 1948), and deal with problems considered to be of "immediate and practical interest to those actively engaged in labor relations." Topics covered include the impact of the Taft-Hartley Act on industrial relations, determinants of wage policy, factors involved in labor arbitration, job evaluation and incentive wage programs, and determination of the proper area of collective bargaining. An appendix contains a table of references to sections of Federal statutes cited in the text. Collective Bargaining and the Concept of Contract. By Neil R. Chamberlain. (In Columbia Law Review, New York, September 1948, pp. 829-847. $1.) Industry-Wide Collective Bargaining—An Annotated Bibliography. Compiled by Selma P. Kessler. Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Finance and Commerce, Labor Relations Council, 1948. 50 pp. (Industry-Wide Collective Bargaining Series.) $1.50. Labor Clauses in Public Contracts. Sixth item on agendaReport VI (1)—of International Labor Conference, 32d session, Geneva, 1949. Geneva, International Labor Office, 1948. 35 pp. 25 cents. Distributed in United States by Washington Branch of ILO. Technological Change Under Collective Agreements. Princeton, N. J., Princeton University, Industrial Relations Section, November 1948. 4 pp. (Selected References, No. 24.) 10 cents. What Does Labor Want From Industry and Government—An Interview with Philip Murray. (In U. S. News & World Report, Washington, November 26, 1948, pp. 36-41; also reprinted.) Industry Reports 148 pp., Bituminous Coal Facts and Figures, 1948 Edition. Washington, Bituminous Coal Institute, 1948. maps, charts, illus. 75 cents. First issue of a handbook which the Bituminous Coal Institute plans to supplement by future annual editions. This volume includes a 21-page section on labor bringing together Government statistics on employment, earnings, working hours, productivity, strikes, and fatal accidents in the bituminous coal industry for varying periods of years down to 1948. Revolution in Glassmaking: Entrepreneurship and Technological Change in the American Industry, 1880–1920. By Warren C. Scoville. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press, 1948. 398 pp., bibliography, charts, illus. The study emphasizes the organization and history of glass firms founded by the Toledo group of entrepreneurs. Two of the 10 chapters describe changes in technology, and another chapter relates to the control of labor and of markets for products. A considerable amount of information is presented regarding the organization and activities of unions, changes in skills, and the wages of workers in the industry as compared with the levels and trends of wages in other industries. Human Relations in the Restaurant Industry. By William Foote Whyte. New York, McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1948. 378 pp., bibliography. $5. Based upon a year's research, including some time spent working in different restaurant jobs, the author discusses the various human relations elements in supervision. In a concluding chapter he indicates that employers in the industry should handle their personnel problems on the same high level that characterizes their handling of food production and service problems. Appendixes are devoted to methods used in obtaining the material for the book, an evaluation of the findings, and job attitudes of workers interviewed. Union-Management Cooperation in Millinery Manufacturing in the New York Metropolitan Area. By Paul F. Brissenden and John M. Keating. (In Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Ithaca, N. Y., October 1948, pp. 3-32. $1.25.) Le Commerce de la Chaussure en Suisse. Berne, Département Fédéral de l'Économie Publique, Commission d'Étude des Prix, 1948. 212 pp., charts. (48 Supplément de la Vie Économique.) Includes statistics of production, prices, employment, cooperative societies, exports, imports, and other aspects of the Swiss shoe industry. Labor Legislation and Court Decisions Overtime on Overtime: The Supreme Court Decision in the Bay Ridge Case. By Guy Farmer. (In Virginia Law Review, Charlottesville, October 1948, pp. 745-768. $1.25.) The analysis of the decision is followed by discussions of alternative methods of computing overtime on overtime, types of premiums affected, past and future liability, and the possiblity of changes through legislative action. Précis de Législation Industrielle (Droit du Travail). By André Rouast and Paul Durand. Paris, Librairie Dalloz, 1948. 595 pp. 3d ed. Handbook on labor legislation in France. Istituzioni di Legislazione Sociale. By Lionello R. Levi. Milan, A. Giuffrè, 1947. 249 pp. 2d ed. Subjects covered include not only compulsory social insurance but also vocational training and placement of workers, apprenticeship programs, conciliation of labor disputes, and trade-union programs for workers' assistance, in Italy. A Statement of the Laws of Mexico in Matters Affecting Business in its Various Aspects and Activities. By Julian Bernal-Molina. Washington, Inter-American Development Commission, 1948. 161 pp.; processed. $10. Includes a summary of labor and social legislation. |