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U N IT E D S T A T E S D E P A R T M E N T O F L A B O R L. B. SCHWELLENBACH, Secretary BU R EAU OF LABOR STATISTICS Ewan Clague, Commissioner + Collective Bargaining W ith Associations and Groups o f Employers B ulletin 7\[o. 897 For sale by the Superintendent o f Documents, U . S. Government Printing Office Washington 25, D . C. - Price 10 cents E R R A T A SH EET fo r L abor D epartm ent B u lletin N o. 8 9 7 House Document No. 135 Collective Bargaining With Associations and Groups o f Employees Corrections on pages 1 and 6. The last line on page 1 should read— unions on the West Coast with employers in a single city. In other The next to the last line o f the second paragraph on page 6 should read— Secretary o f the Interior. The agreement covered all the mines which Contents Page Worker coverage by group bargaining___________________ Area coverage by group bargaining______________________ Approach to standardization of working conditions______ Nation-wide collective bargaining in the coal industry-----National bargaining on the railroads------------------------------Other industry or trade-wide bargaining_________________ Industry-wide bargaining in mass-production industries__ Negotiation of similar agreements in the steel industry___ Collective bargaining by geographic areas-----------------------Bargaining in the needle trades within metropolitan areas----------------------Other city-wide bargaining_____________________________________ Associations of employers across industry lines---------------------------------------Tables: 1. — Percent of workers covered by collective-bargaining agreements with associations and groups of employers, by industry-----------2. — Area of bargaining with associations and groups of employers, by industry_______________________________________________________ (in) 732568— 47 12 13 14 3 3 Letter o f Transmittal U n ited S tates D epartm en t of L abor , B u r e a u of L abor S t a t is t ic s , Washington, D . C., February 14,1947. T h e S ecretary of L abor : I have the honor to transmit herewith a report on collective bargaining with associations and groups of employers. The study is based on an examination of the collective-bargaining agreements and other source materials on file with the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The report provides the most recent picture of the extent to which unions negotiate agreements with associations and groups o f employers. It brings up to date the study prepared by the Bureau in 1939. The report was prepared by the staff of the Industrial Relations Branch, Boris Stern, Chief. E w a n C laque , Commissioner. H on. L. B. Sc h w e l l e n b a c h , Secretary of Labor. (IV) Bulletin T^o. 897 o f the United States Bureau o f Labor Statistics fFrom the M onthly Labor R eview, M arch 1947] C ollective B argaining W ith A ssociations and G roups o f E m p lo y e rs1 Most o f the examples of industry-wide bargaining in the United States are the product o f generations o f experience, and as a rule the employer-union relations in these industries have been remarkably stable and peaceful. In the pressed or blown glassware industry, one o f the branches of glass and glassware having national bargaining, no major strike throughout the industry has occurred since collective bargaining began with an employers’ association in 1888. Similar conditions have prevailed in the pottery industry since 1922. The 1946 contract between the National Automatic Sprinkler and Fire Control Association and the United Association o f Journeymen Plumbers and Steamfitters (A F L ) is a revision of the original agreement o f 1915; and the 1946 agreement between the Anthracite C,oal Operators and the United Mine Workers o f America (A F L ) is a compilation of resolutions, revisions, rulings, and decisions dating back to 1908. Bargaining on an industry basis exists in the elevator installation and repair, installation o f automatic sprinklers, pottery and related products, stove making, and wall-paper industries, and in coal mining. Agreements covering all the employers in an industry within a geo graphic region are somewhat more numerous than those having appli cation throughout an entire industry. Even more numerous are the instances in which associations or groups of employers are dealt with on a city-wide or metropolitan area basis. In this study, the existing extent and the areas o f bargaining with associations and groups of employers are described. The most significant extension o f this form o f bargaining in recent years occurred during W orld War I I in the shipbuilding industry. The Metal Trades Department o f the Ameri can Federation o f Labor negotiated a master agreement during 1941 with Pacific Coast shipyards organized by unions affiliated with the AFL. Prior to this time, joint agreements had been signed by these unions on the West Coast with employers in a single day. In other 1 Prepared by R oy M. Patterson and the staff o f the C ollective Bargaining D ivision o f the Bureau’s Industrial Relations Branch, under the general supervision o f H arold S. Roberts, Chief. Special credit is also due for the contributions made by Abraham W eiss, Jesse Carpenter, and Philom ena Marquardt. a) 2 industries, since 1939, the practice only widened in those that had used this method o f dealing for many years. The number of workers covered by these agreements increased somewhat as more o f the Nation’s industry became organized and was brought under agreement* However, the relative proportion covered in most industries did not change greatly. Few o f the examples of collective bargaining on an industry, geo graphic, or city basis occurred in the mass-production industries, although a single agreement in the automobile industry, for instance, may cover many more employees than an association agreement cover ing every employer in an industry or trade within the same city. In mass-production industries, trends are developing toward standardized conditions in large segments of industries through corporation-wide collective bargaining. The efforts of unions are directed first toward bringing all the plants o f a given large corporation, regardless of geo graphic location, within the scope o f a single agreement. A41 example is the corporation-wide bargaining between the Ford Motor Co. and the United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricultural Implement Workers o f America (C IO ). Notwithstanding the great number of workers affected, corporation-wide bargaining differs widely from m ultiemployer collective bargaining which is the subject of the present study. Early in 1947, more than 4 million workers were covered by agree ments negotiated between trade-unions and associations and groups o f employers. These are about equally divided between manufactur ing and nonmanufacturing industries. Approximately a fourth of all workers covered by union agreements in manufacturing and a third o f such workers in nonmanufacturing are working under agree ments negotiated with groups or associations of employers. The agreements were negotiated by one or more unions (1) with a formal or informal association o f employers or (2) with informal multiemployer groups. In presenting the information on agreements, no attempt was made to distinguish between agreements with associations and with other multi-employer groups. Identical agreements signed by separate employers with the same union were included, if there appeared to have been negotiations with a group or committee o f employers. Worker Coverage of Group Bargaining In table 1, the extent o f association and employer-group bargaining is shown, based upon the percent o f total workers under agreement in the respective industries. 3 . T a b l e 1 — Percent o f AU W orkers Under Agreem ent W ho A re Covered b y Agreem ents W ith Associations and Groups o f Em ployers b y Indu stry , 80-100 percent 60-79 percent 40-59 percent 20-39 percent Clothing, m en’s Clothing, women’s Coal mining Laundry and cleaning and dyeing Longshoring Maritime Shipbuilding and boat building i Baking Book and job printing and publishing Canning and preserving foods Construction Dyeing and finishing textiles Glass and glassware M alt liquors Pottery and related products Trucking and ware housing. Building service and maintenance Leather products, other Newspaper and periodi cal printing and pub lishing Beverages, nonalcoholic Hosiery Hotels and restaurants Jewelry and silverware Lumber Shoes, cut stock and findings Trade 0-19 percent Agricultural machinery and tractors Aircraft and parts Automobiles and parts Bus and streetcar, local Bus lines, intercity Carpets and rugs, wool Cement Chemicals, excluding rayon and allied products Clerical and profes sional, excluding transportation, com munication, theaters, and newspapers Cotton textiles Confectionery products Crude petroleum and natural gas D airy products Electrical machinery, equipment and ap pliances Flour and other grain products Furniture K nit goods, except ho siery Leather (tanned, cur ried and finished) Light and power M achinery and machine tools M eat packing M etal mining Motorcycles, bicycles, and parts Newspaper offices Nonferrous metals and products, except jew elry and silverware Nonmetallic mining and quarrying Paper and pulp Paper products Petroleum and coal products, except re fining Petroleum refining Railroad equipment R ayon and allied prod ucts R ubber products Silk and rayon textiles Steel, basic Steel products Stone and clay prod ucts. other Sugar, beet and cane Telegraph service and maintenance Telephone service and maintenance T obacco manufactures W oolen and worsted textiles i During W orld W ar II most of the industry was covered b y tripartite zone standard agreements, signed b y representatives of unions, employers, and certain government agencies. The. principal association agree ment other than the zone standard agreements is between Pacific Coast Shipbuilders and the M etal Trades Department of the A F L , covering yards organized b y A F L unions. Area Coverage o f Group Bargaining The industries are classified by area o f bargaining in table 2. , T a b le 2 .— A rea o f Bargaining W ith Associations or Groups o f Em ployers b y In du stry Bargaining on a national or industry-wide scale Bargaining b y geographic (regional) areas Bargaining w ithin a city, county, or metropolitan area Coal mining Elevator installation and repair Class and glassware Installation of automatic sprinklers Pottery and related products Stoves W all paper Canning and preserving fo o d s 1 D yeing and finishing textiles1 Fishing Hosiery Leather (tanned, curried, and finished) i Longshoring1 Lumber * Maritime M etal mining Nonferrous metals and products, except jewelry and silverware1 Paper and pulp Shoes, cut stock and findings1 Baking Beverages, nonalcoholic B ook and job printing and pub lishing Building service and maintenance Clothing, men’s 2 Clothing, wom en’s 2 Confectionery products Construction Cotton textiles Dairy products Furniture2 Hotel and restaurant Jewelry and silverware K nit goods Laundry and cleaning and dyeing Leather products, other M alt liquors M eat packing Newspaper printing and publish ing Paper products, except wall paper Silk and rayon textiles Steel products, except stov es2 Tobacco T ra d e 2 Trucking and warehousing 2 1 There also is some bargaining on a city, county, and/or metropolitan area basis. 2 There also is some bargaining on a regional and/or industry-wide basis. 4 Approach to Standardization of Working Conditions One o f the major efforts o f labor unions in this country has been directed toward the standardization of working conditions throughout an industry or area, in order to lift substandard wages and to elim inate or reduce the factors of wages and hours in competitive costs. One o f the ways the labor movement has sought to attain this objective has been by pressing for Federal or State legislation for the protection o f certain groups of workers or to establish minimum standards applicable to all workers. Legislation has been sought especially for women and minors on the ground that the interests o f society as a whole require that the health and welfare o f these groups of workers be protected, and also because they often are in a weak bargaining position and might be used to lower the standards of all workers. Certain minimum standards o f health, safety, and sanitation were established by legislation when large sections of the population felt a need for such, and the labor movement from time to time has favored legislative action as the most effective remedy for problems of health and safety. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, minimum wage and hour standards have been established in much o f American in dustry, thus raising the area of collective bargaining on these issues to higher levels. Prior to W orld W ar I I the approach to standardization o f wages and working conditions through governmental action was secondary as far as American trade-unions are concerned. Organized labor in this country has directed its chief efforts toward standardization by means o f collective bargaining. For this reason the labor movement generally has encouraged parallel organizations o f employers for collective-bargaining purposes, in order to obtain extended coverage under one agreement. In some industries the employers also have favored the extension of uniform wages and working conditions by making the terms o f a collective-bargaining agreement applicable to a large segment o f an industry. When collective bargaining with groups or associations o f employers has proved impracticable or im possible, some unions have utilized the technique o f presenting iden tical agreements to the employers within an industry or competitive area. This latter method usually is practicable only in instances where there are a large number of small employers, particularly within a metropolitan area. Although industry-wide trade associations have come to be a common characteristic o f American business, the scope o f employer groups or associations engaged in collective bargaining is generally much more limited. Within an industry, employers may be organized for purposes o f collective bargaining on a city, regional or, in a few instances, nation-wide basis, or two or more such employer organiza 5 tions may exist in the same area. As a rule, the unions work toward the extension o f the collective-bargaining agreement to as wide a section o f the industry as possible. In a number of cases the unions and employer organizations together have directed their efforts toward bringing unorganized sections of the industry within the scope o f collective-bargaining agreements. A necessary corollary o f dealing through employers’ associations is a high degree o f unionization among the employees. During W orld War II, industry-wide production drives, settling o f labor disputes by the National War Labor Board on the basis o f industry or area practice, and the Government’s wage stabilization policies all contributed to standardization of wages and working con ditions throughout industries or areas. Directives o f the National War Labor Board were influenced by precedent and prevailing prac tices in the industry or area and many agreements in the same industry came to have similar provisions on certain subjects. Frequently an order o f the Board would affect several employers and the substance o f the order would be incorporated into union agreements the em ployers might have negotiated, without regard to the existence o f an employers’ association. In the shipbuilding industry, in which a stabilization commission was established, tripartite “ zone standard” agreements were negotiated, covering a limited number o f subjects. The parties to the agreements were the Government itself and most o f the employers and unions in the industry. The shipbuilding in dustry in the United States was divided into four zones, in each o f which the “ zone standards” determined practices with regard to those subjects covered by the agreements. The attention directed to a few national associations with long records o f collective bargaining should not be permitted to obscure thousands o f employer organizations which have negotiated agree ments on a regional or metropolitan basis and which affect hundreds o f thousands o f workers. These employer groups vary widely as to type, structure, procedure, and scope of activity. Some are temporary and highly informal, with no tangible evidences o f permanent organization. Others have complex structures with elaborate consti tutions and a staff o f full-time employees. Between these extremes there are wide variations in organization, procedures, and functions. Nation-Wide Collective Bargaining in the Coal Industry In anthracite mining a single agreement is signed to cover the entire industry. In bituminous-coal mining, the union negotiated agree ments with the operators in the Central Competitive Field (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and West Virginia) from 1898 until 1927. The 732568— 47-------2 6 agreement for this area set the pattern for negotiations in other areas between districts o f the union and local associations o f coal mine operators. The interstate bargaining relationship in the Central Competitive Field collapsed in 1927 and was not reestablished until after the passage of the National Industrial Recovery Act. In 1934 an agreement was signed with the operators in the Appalachian Area which served, as the previous interstate agreement had, as a pattern which the remainder o f the industry generally followed. Districts o f the United Mine Workers o f America negotiate agreements with parallel associations o f employers, which follow the terms o f the Appalachian agreement. In 1941 the northern and southern groups o f operators in the Appalachian area signed separate agreements with the union, and unified negotiations were not reestablished until 1945. In that year, the first industry-wide agreement in bituminous-coal mining was negotiated. Following the break-down o f negotiations between the union and the operators in the spring o f 1946, which led to a Nation-wide softcoal strike, and the rejection by both the union and the operators o f President Truman’s May 16 arbitration proposal, the President on May 21 “ authorized and directed” the Secretary o f the Interior to take over the mines. On May 29 an agreement was signed by John L. Lewis, president o f the union, and J. A. Krug, Coal Mines Administrator and Secretary o f the Interior. The agreement covered all the irines which were seized. National Bargaining on the Railroads The traditional bargaining unit in railroad transportation is the individual railroad system. The workers are organized on the basis o f craft, and agreements with the various systems are negotiated by each craft union or by “ system federations” of shop craft unions. Although the regular working agreements continue to be signed by systems, on occasion certain specific questions o f major importance, as wages, have been settled on a Nation-wide basis. Negotiations are generally conducted by the nonoperating unions (clerical, mainten ance, and shop crafts) and by the operating unions (train and engine service) separately with representatives of the railroads selected on a regional basis. Other Industry or Trade-Wide Bargaining The American examples o f trade-wide bargaining of longest status occur in the pottery and glassware industries. Since the early years o f this century, an annual meeting has been held between the repre sentatives of the United States Potters’ Association and the National Brotherhood of Operative Potters. The current agreement between / these parties, for example, continues a provision for joint discharge committees first set up in 1913. Since 1888 the National Association o f Manufacturers of Pressed and Blown Glassware, or its predecessor, has been meeting with the American Flint Glass Workers Union. The “ Star Island Agreement” of 1903 established a grievance procedure which still is utilized in this industry. The Glass Bottle Blowers’ Association o f the United States and Canada signed its first national agreement in 1890 and currently has an agreement with the Glass Container Manufacturers’ Institute which affects several thousand employees in the industry. In each o f these cases the bargaining agreements are confined chiefly to detailed piece-rate schedules, although a considerable body o f “ unwritten law” has developed to supplement the national agree ment in governing employer-employee relations within a plant. Originally, the trade-wide bargaining was established to regulate the working conditions o f highly skilled craftsmen within these indus tries. With the development of technological changes, one skilled occupation after another has been eliminated. As a result, the unions have extended their jurisdiction to include a major part o f the workers in and around the plants and these skilled and semiskilled employees are now covered in the national agreements to the degree that they are unionized. In the glassware industry, however, there are some companies which have negotiated separate agreements. In the pottery industry virtually all of the vitreous and semivitreous branches of the industry are covered by the association agreement. A different kind of bargaining relationship has been built up in the manufacture of flat glass. B y far the major part o f the production in this industry is centralized in two large producing companies. These companies, the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. and the Libby-Owens-Ford Glass Co., negotiate their agreements jointly, both with the Window Glass Cutters League (A F L ) and the Federation o f Glass, Ceramic and Silica Sand Workers (C IO ), but each company signs separate, identical agreements. The two companies also collaborate in the administration of the agreement to insure uniform patterns of inter pretation. Most o f the other manufacturers are organized into the Fourcault Manufacturers’ Association which negotiates the agreement with the unions. There are a few other instances of industry-wide dealing, each of them originating from the efforts of a highly skilled craft to protect its conditions o f employment. Among these are the Wall Paper Institute and the United Wall Paper Craftsmen and Workers of North America, covering wall paper printing; the National Automatic Sprinkler Association and the United Association of Journeymen Plumbers and Steamfitters of the United States and Canada, cover ing sprinkler fitting; and the Manufacturers Protective and Develop 8 ment Association and the International Molders and Foundry W ork ers Union o f North America, covering stove-molding and hot-water castings. Employers engaged in the manufacture of paper-mill wire cloth sign similar agreements with the American Wire Weavers’ Protective Association. Another instance of trade-wide bargaining occurs in the installation, repair, and maintenance of elevators. Although wage rates are negotiated locally, other working conditions are regulated by conferences between the National Elevator Manufacturing Indus try, Inc., and the International Union of Elevator Constructors. A standard agreement is used in all localities, with the locally negoti ated rates inserted as agreed upon. The manufacture of wooden kegs and barrels should also be men tioned as an instance o f national conferences between the employers and the union. The conferences, however, have resulted in no agree ment on an industry scale and discussion of working conditions has been o f far less importance than mutual discussion o f trade-promotion plans. Industry-Wide Bargaining in Mass-Production Industries In the more recently organized, mass-production industries there are at present no examples of industry-wide collective bargaining resulting in a single union agreement covering the full range o f employer-union relations. In a few such industries, however, certain bargaining relationships have come into existence which produce considerable uniformity in the agreements throughout an industry. In the rubber industry, for example, a wage-increase agreement was signed on March 2, 1946, by the four largest manufacturers, which affected a large proportion o f the workers in the industry. This socalled “ B ig Four” agreement is limited in scope to a few subjects; it differs from the usual union agreement also in that it does not have the customary provisions relating to termination and renewal. The agreement provides: “This agreement shall finally dispose of all issues covered in these negotiations including all of the union’s 7-point program for a period o f 1 year except that during this 1-year period the general wage scale shall be subject to negotiation if conditions economically and in the industry warrant, but only on a four-company (B ig Four) basis.” I f this joint relationship of the four corporations with the United Rubber, Cork, Linoleum and Plastic Workers o f America is continued in the future, it may be possible to describe the collective bargaining in this industry as approaching industry-wide negotiations. A degree o f standardization has been achieved in the meat-packing industry through the medium o f uniform expiration dates o f the 9 agreements with the principal packers. Certain agreements affecting a large number o f workers negotiated by the United Packinghouse Workers o f America (C IO ) and by the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America (A F L ), covering various plants of the four largest corporations in the industry, have expired on the same day each year for several years. Negotiation o f Similar Agreements in the Steel Industry In the basic steel industry in the United States there is no employers’ association which engages in collective bargaining, yet a great deal o f standardization in industrial relations has occurred in recent years. The industry is composed of two dominant groups o f employers, one known as “ B ig Steel” and the other as “Little Steel.” The first in cludes the United States Steel Corp. and its subsidiaries, and the second is made up o f a number of independent companies. The Steel Workers Organizing Committee, now the United Steelworkers o f America, first signed written agreements with the U. S. Steel Corp. in 1937 and since then, with a few exceptions, practically all o f the basic steel industry has been brought under agreement. Even though there is no bargaining by employers’ associations, the major provisions o f agreements throughout the basic steel industry are similar. This degree o f uniformity is occasioned by a number o f factors, first among them probably being the predominant position o f the United States Steel Corp. Agreements with this corporation tend to set the pattern for the rest o f the industry. Also, by long-established practice the same wage adjustments generally are made throughout the industry at the same time. During World War I I directives o f the National W ar Labor Board, which generally were applicable to large sections o f the industry, further encouraged the growth o f uniform collective bargaining practices. The United Steelworkers o f America, the most important union in the industry, also tended to bring a degree o f uniformity into the bargaining relationships and practices. Agree ments with most o f the employers in the basic steel industry will expire in February 1947, and negotiations are in process for new agreements. (Since this was written the parties have agreed to extend the agree ments until April 30,1947.) Collective Bargaining b y Geographic Areas In the hosiery industry a bargaining relationship has existed between the Full-Fashioned Hosiery Manufacturers o f America, Inc., and the American Federation o f Hosiery Workers since 1927. The employers’ association, originally covering only Philadelphia mills, now covers a major part o f the northern section o f the full-fashioned hosiery industry. Conferences occur annually, with occasional addi 10 tional meetings on specific subjects. Under the agreement the joint relations are administered by a permanent impartial chairman. In the textile industry there are association agreements between the Textile Workers’ Union o f America and associations o f silk and rayon mills in a number of States. A joint arrangement o f longer standing exists in the dyeing and finishing of textiles in nonintegrated mills. In cotton textiles in Massachusetts and in knit goods in Philadelphia and New York, many of the employers are members of associations which negotiate union agreements. Maritime workers usually deal with employer organizations which represent the shipping operators on a given coast. Practically all the union agreements in the maritime industry are negotiated with associations or informal committees representing the employers. On the Pacific Coast the companies are organized into the Pacific Ameri can Shipowners Association. On the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts the most recent agreement s were negotiated and signed by a Committee for Companies and Agents, Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, most of the mem bers o f which are also members o f the American Merchant Marine Institute. The Waterfront Employers of the Pacific Coast embraces employers of longshoremen along the entire West Coast ; much o f the work o f the association, however, is carried on through affiliated local Water front Employers Associations in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and San Pedro (Los Angeles). The International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union (CIO ) negotiates a general cargo agree ment with the coast-wide association, which signs “ on behalf o f” the four local organizations. Separate agreements covering dock workers and ship qlerks are negotiated with each of the port associations. On the Atlantic Coast the International Longshoremen’s Association (A F L ) as a rule, negotiates separate agreements with employer asso ciations in each port.2 In the Pacific Northwest the pulp and paper industry, although dealing elsewhere on the basis of individual companies, is combined into the Pacific Coast Association of Pulp and Paper Manufacturers which deals with the two national unions in the field. The unions, representing different occupations in the industry, are the Interna tional Brotherhood o f Papermakers and the International Brother2 F or some tim e there has been no form al federated organization o f the unions in the maritim e industry. F or a few months during 1946, however, the CIO unions and an independent form ed the com m ittee fo r m aritime unity fo r the purpose o f jo in t negotiations w ith all employers simultaneously. The American Federation o f Labor, also in 1946, established a M aritim e Trades Department, composed » o f A F L unions in the industry. M ost o f the unlicensed personnel on the A tlantic Coast are represented by the N ational M aritim e Union (C IO ). On the W est Coast these workers are represented principally by three unions, the Sailors’ Union o f the Pacific (A F L ), the P acific Coast M arine Firem en, Oilers, W atertenders and W ipers Association (independent), and the N ational Union of M arine Cooks and Stewards (C IO ). 11 hood o f Pulp, Sulphite, and Paper Mill Workers. The employers’ organization is described in the agreement as follow s: “ This Pacific Coast Association of Pulp and Paper Manufacturers * * * o f which the signatory company is a member, is an employer association o f a majority of the pulp and paper manufacturing companies in the Pacific Coast area, comprising the States of Washington, Oregon, and California, and as bargaining agent with authority to bind its mem bers by a majority vote of such mills, has met with a bargaining com mittee from the signatory union for a period of years, beginning in 1934 * * Notwithstanding this provision, each company signs a separate document with the local unions which represent its employees. The lumber industry is one which is not yet well organized through out the country but in which the dominant method of present dealing is through associations within the producing area. The Columbia Basin Loggers’ Association and the Timber Producers’ Association in Minnesota are examples of associations dealing with the union in this industry. The fishing industry, particularly on the Pacific Coast where it is well organized, is an example o f collective bargaining almost exclu sively on an association basis. The employers, however, are organ ized into a number o f separate associations, such as the Alaska Packers’ Association and the Central Pacific Wholesale Fish Dealers’ Association. In retail trade, the National Association of Ketail Meat Dealers, composed o f affiliated State and local associations throughout the United States, negotiates with the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen o f America. The national agreement between these parties, first negotiated in 1937, is confined to a statement o f principles and policies of mutual interest to both parties, who agree to “give their aid and good offices to the execution of fair and reasonable contracts between local unions and affiliated associations in the various localities where the said unions and affiliated associations exist.” The agreement further states that it is recognized “that local conditions require local treatment and that it is not practical or feasible to include in this agreement the matters of wages, hours, and conditions of em ployment.” In the Midwest, the Central States Drivers’ Council* an organ o f the International Brotherhood o f Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America (A F L ) negotiates agreements with the Central States Area Employers Association Negotiating Committee. Collective bargaining in canning and preserving foods on the West Coast is largely on an association basis. Most o f the shipbuilding and boatbuilding industry on the West Coast is covered by a master agreement negotiated by the Metal Trades Department o f the American Federation of Labor. During the war, 12 as previously noted, bargaining on major issues in this industry was on a tripartite basis, and wages and certain other questions were determined by the zone standards. Issues not covered by the zone standards were settled in the ordinary processes of collective bargain ing. A t the present time the zone standards are still in effect. Bargaining in the Needle Trades Within Metropolitan Areas Outstanding examples o f stable bargaining relationships over a long period o f time between employers’ associations and unions are found in the needle trades. In the men’s and women’s clothing, men’s hats and millinery, and fur industries the earliest efforts o f unions to organize were accompanied by efforts to combine into associations the employers within the producing area. Bargaining has become estab lished in these industries, with highly developed industrial relations machinery within each o f the metropolitan areas which are important as producing centers. These unions and employers’ associations cus tomarily make use of a permanent impartial chairman to administer the agreement and there are numerous examples of joint trade boards, stabilization commissions, and other similar bodies which deal on a day-to-day basis with the problems o f the industry. These industries all have the problem of “ run-away” shops, which leave the unionized areas and, with the small capital investment required, are able to establish themselves in low-wage, semirural sec tions. This has been a major reason for the unions’ insistence upon dealing on an association basis, for it is through the combined pressure o f both the union and the employer association that these “ run-away” shops can be brought under control. Another problem within these industries is the regulation o f the jobber-contractor relationship. Job bers have taken advantage of both the extreme seasonal fluctuations and the small investment required in setting up a shop to encourage an oversupply o f contractors. Cut-throat competition among the con tractors has been furthered by the frequent practice o f establishing “fly by night” shops for the duration of a contract secured by under bidding regularly operating shops. Both the owners o f shops oper ating under union conditions and their workers have thus faced a constant threat to industrial stability. Through collective bargaining, the oversupply o f contractors has been dealt with and the jobber’s responsibility for maintaining union conditions in his contract shops has been established. A large portion of the employer-union negotia tions in the needle trades deal with these three-way problems, in addition to the usual wages, hours, and working conditions. The employers within a given city are usually organized into more than one association within each o f the needle trades. The basis o f distinction is both the type o f product and the classification o f em 13 ployers (i. e., jobbers, contractors, or inside manufacturers). The unions have frequently expressed a desire for more uniformity among the employers5 organizations throughout the industry. Although a major part o f the production in the country is covered by the New York City agreements alone, the unions have made repeated efforts over several decades to secure industry-wide dealing in the interests o f national standardization. Thus far, however, only in men’s clothing has there been a successful approach to industry-wide bargaining. For a number o f years the Amalgamated Clothing Workers o f America has negotiated major wage questions with the Clothing Manufacturers’ Association o f the United States and with the Shirt Industry. Other City-W ide Bargaining In many industries and trades characterized by numerous small establishments within a city, collective bargaining has been conducted with associations o f employers within the city. In many cases the associations are formal organizations in which the association officers have the power to bind all members to the agreed terms of employment. In other cases the employers may unite informally and perhaps only for the duration of the bargaining conferences. In many instances the lack o f a continuing employers’ association makes no difference in the actual negotiation of the agreement, but complicates considerably the enforcement o f the agreement. In cases o f city-wide bargaining the extent of coverage o f the employers’ association generally depends upon the strength o f the union. It is common to find within a city an organized group o f employers dealing with the union, while other employers within the same industry are organized into a separate association or have no organization. In some cases the union employers form an organized group within a trade association which also includes nonunion employers in the city. There are probably 5,000 local or city employer associations throughout the country which deal with various unions. More of these are found in building construction than in any other single industry. Other examples, in which the predominant method of dealing is with city-wide associations, are brewing, retail trade, bak ing, printing and publishing, restaurants, trucking, and barber shops. An important development is found in the electrical machinery in dustry, where the United Electrical, Eadio and Machine Workers of America (CIO ) recently negotiated an agreement with the Electronics Manufacturers’ Association, representing 20 employers in the New York City area. This association was formed at the insistence o f the employers, who are relatively small and who previously had signed separate agreements. The employers desire, through nego 14 tiating a single blanket agreement, to achieve a degree of uniformity in wage and working conditions in order to reduce these as competitive factors in costs. Associations of Employers Across Industry Lines Employer-group federations embracing all types of business within a city are largely a development of the last 10 years and are concen trated in the Far Western States. Leader in this field is the San Francisco Employers Council, formed in 1939, and which in April 1945 had 1,995 members, 919 of whom were affiliated through their various industry groups. The other members were individuals or independent companies. The objectives of the council, as stated in its articles of incorporation, are (1) to encourage the organization o f autonomous employer groups and cooperation among these groups in matters relating to labor relations; (2) “ to promote the recognition and exercise of the right of employers to bargain collectively” ; and (3) upon request, “ to assist its members and others in matters relating to the negotiation, execution and performance o f fair labor contracts.” The council negotiates or participates in negotiations of agreements between its members and the unions in the city, and performs various other services. O f a similar character is the Industrial Conference Board of, Tacoma, Wash.— an over-all agency for a number o f independent companies and 15 or 20 employers’ associations each of which has one or more union agreements. Both the Reno Employers Council of Reno, Nev., and the Silver Bow Employers Association of Butte, Mont., participate in the negotiation of labor contracts for their vari ous employer groups. In Sacramento, Calif., the Sacramento Valley Associated Industries is the unifying agency for a dozen or more associations covering such varied fields as bowling alleys, beverages, furniture warehouses, taxicabs, machine shops, liquor and tobacco dealers, retail foods, wholesale bakeries, draymen, druggists, tire dealers, and building owners. Each association has a union contract signed in its behalf by an individual, who serves both as executive secretary to the associations and as general manager of the Associated Industries. U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING O FFICE : 1947
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