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U N IT E D STATES D EPARTM EN T OF LABO R Frances Perkins, Secretary BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS Isador Lubin, Commissioner (on leave) A. F. H inrichs, Acting Commissioner ♦ Extent o f Collective Bargaining and Union Status, January 1944 B ulletin 7^io. 776 [R eprinted from the M o n thly L a b o r R e v i e w , A p ril 19441 Letter o f Transmittal U nited S tates D epartment of L abor , B ureau of L abor S tatistics , Washington, D. C., A pril 7, 1944* T he S ecretary of L abor : I have the honor to transmit herewith a report on the extent of collective bargaining and union status in effect in January 1944. This study is based on an analysis of approximately 15,000 employer-union agreements as well as employment, union membership, and other data available to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This study was prepared under the general supervision of Florence Peterson, Chief of the Industrial Relations Division. Constance Williams was in immediate charge of assembling the data. A. F. H inrichs, Acting Commissioner. H on . F rances P erkins , Secntary of Labor. Contents Page Union agreement coverage------------------------------------Union status---------------------------------------------------------Closed and union shop_______________________ Maintenance of membership__________________ Preferential hiring____________________________ Agreements with no membership requirements Check-off arrangements......... .................... ........... 1 2 4 8 8 8 8 UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1944 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U S Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C. Price 5 cents II 585085°— 44 B ulletin 7s[o. 776 o f the U nited States B ureau o f Labor Statistics [Reprinted from the M onthly L abor R eview , April 1944] Extent o f Collective Bargaining and Union Status, January 1944 U nion Agreem ent Coverage A T T H E beginning of 1944 approximately 13% million workers, or almost 45 percent of all workers in private industry,1 were employed under the terms of union agreements. The net gain during 1943 of about three-fourths of a million in the number under agreement rep resents increases in some industries and losses in others. In general, these differences correspond to changes in employment in individual industries, rather than changes in the proportions of workers covered by agreements. Some industries continued to be much more widely organized than others. Manufacturing wage earners as a whole were about 60 per cent covered by union agreement, but in such industries as aluminum fabrication, automobiles, men’s clothing, nonferrous-metal smelting and refining, shipbuilding, and basic steel, over 90 percent were under agreement. Over 95 percent of the coal miners, longshoremen, and workers on railroads, including clerical and supervisory personnel, and over 80 percent of the workers in the construction, maritime, local bus and street railway, trucking, and telegraph industries were employed under the terms of union agreements. About 13 percent of the estimated 7 million clerical, technical, and professional workers in private industries were employed under union agreements. In transportation over half the clerical, technical, and professional workers were under agreement, largely because of the very high proportion of railroad workers covered. Practically all professional actors and musicians were employed under union agree ments. On the other hand, agreements covered only a little over 5 percent of the clerical and professional workers in manufacturing and financial establishments and wholesale and retail trade. Collective-bargaining agreements covered nearly 20 percent of an estimated 2 million workers in service occupations other than domestic work. Among the employees included in this group are barbers and 1There were about 31 million persons employed in occupations in private industry where unions are actively engaged in efforts to obtain written agreements. This includes all the gainfully occupied except the self-employed, proprietors, supervisors (other than certain transportation personnel such as conductors and officers on boats), agricultural laborers on farms where less than 6 are employed, sharecroppers, and domestic workers. Although not included in this report, a considerable number of Government employees belong to unions. Some of them have negotiated agreements with their employing agencies, especially employees of munici palities and construction workers employed by such Federal agencies as the Tennessee Valley Authority. (i) 2 beauty-parlor employees, hotel workers, and those engaged in building service. Recent changes.— The greatest increases in the number of workers under agreement during 1943 were in the manufacturing industries where employment expanded. In January 1943, manufacturing workers under agreement numbered almost 7% millions and in January 1944, almost 8% millions. The largest increases in agreement coverage were in shipbuilding and the industries manufacturing aircraft, automobiles, basic steel and steel products, and electrical and other types of machinery. The construction industry, where employment dropped sharply, showed the greatest decrease in the number of work ers under agreement. Gains in the proportion of eligible workers who were covered by agreements were made during 1943 in shipbuilding, aluminum fabrica tion, and in the smelting and refining and alloying, rolling and drawing of nonferrous metals. In these industries, employment increased in firms already operating under agreement and agreements were nego tiated in some new plants. In the aircraft industry, although the proportion of workers covered by agreement was not significantly changed, first agreements were signed by some large plants including the North American plants at Kansas City, Kans., and Dallas, Tex., and the Wright Aeronautical Corporation plants at Paterson, N. J., and Locldand, Ohio. In addition, unions won recognition as bargaining agents in 1943 for the first time in plants employing about 15 percent of the aircraft workers; it may therefore be expected that the proportion of workers under agreement will expand to include this group in the near future. The proportion of workers covered by written union agreements in individual manufacturing and nonmanufacturing industries is shown in the table on page 3. Union Status The outstanding change during 1943 with regard to union status was an increase in the proportion of manufacturing workers covered by agreements which require maintenance of membership during the term of the agreement b y employees who are or choose to become union members, and a decrease in the proportion under agreements which make no requirements regarding union membership. There were also slight increases in the proportions of manufacturing workers covered by closed- and union-shop agreements. The proportions of all workers under agreement who were covered b y various types of union-status provisions changed between January 1943 and January 1944, chiefly because of the increase in membershipmaintenance clauses among manufacturing workers and the increase in agreement coverage of manufacturing workers in relation to non manufacturing. In individual nonmanufacturing industries there was little change in the proportions of workers covered by various types of union status, although for nonmanufacturing industries as a whole there were changes in the distribution of workers by status, owing to changes in employment and the corresponding number under agreement in individual industries. For example, the number of nonmanufacturing employees working under closed-shop agreements decreased largely because of a decrease in agreement coverage in construction where closed-shop conditions prevail. Proportion o f W age Earners Under W ritten Union Agreem ents in January 1944 MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES Almost all Large proportion About half Aluminum fabricating Automobiles and parts Sr6W6ri6S Clothing, men's, including furnishings and excluding hats and caps Furs and fur garments Glass—flat, pressed, and blown Nonferrous metals—smelting, refining Shipbuilding Steel, basic Agricultural machinery Aircraft engines, propellers, assembly, and parts Clocks and watches Clothing, women’s Coke and byproducts Electrical machinery, including equip ment and appliances Glass containers Jewelry and silverware Leather tanning Machinery, excluding machine tools Meat packing Millinery and hats Newspaper printing and publishing Nonferrous metals—alloying, rolling, drawing, except aluminum Paper and pulp Rayon yarn Rubber products Sugar, beet and cane Baking Book and job printing and publishing Cement Cigarettes Flour and other grain products Furniture Gloves—leather, doth, and knit Hosiery Leather products Lumber Machine tools Petroleum refining Pottery, induding chinaware Railroad equipment Shoes, cut stock, and findings Steel products Stone, concrete, gypsum, and plaster products Woolen and worsted textiles Moderate proportion Very few Canning and preserving foods Chemicals Cigars Clay products, structural Confectionery products Cotton textiles Dairy products Dyeing and finishing textiles Paper products Silk and rayon textiles Toys, sporting and athletic goods NONMANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES Actors and musicians Airline pilots and mechanics Coal mining Longshoring Motion-picture production Railroads—freight and pas senger, induding shops and clerical Telegraph service and main tenance Bus and streetcar, local Construction Iron mining Maritime Radio technidans Theaters—stage hands, and motionpicture operators Trucking, local and intercity Bus lines, interdty N onferrous-metal mining Barber shops Building servicing and maintenance Cleaning and dyeing Crude petroleum and natural gas Fishing Hotels Laundries Light and power Newspaper offices Nonmetallic mining and quarrying Retail trade—food stores and res taurants Taxicabs Telephone service and maintenance Agriculture Beauty shops Clerical, technical, and pro fessional employees, ex cluding transportation, conimunication, theaters, and newspapers Domestic service Retail trade, exduding food stores and restaurants Wholesale trade 4 The proportion o f workers under agreement covered b y various types of union status in January 1944 is shown by chart 1 for major industry groups. All clerical, technical, and professional and service workers are included in the group “ other workers.” All trucking and warehousing workers are included in “ transportation and public utili ties.^ Except for these occupational groups, workers have been in cluded in the industry b y which they are employed. CLOSED AN D U N ION SHOP In January 1944 closed-shop agreements covered almost 30 percent of all workers under agreement and union-shop agreements almost 20 percent, or together a total of about 6% million workers. Over 3% million of these workers were employed in manufacturing, almost 1 million in construction, over half a million in trucking, almost half a million in mineral extraction, and the remainder in trade, service, and other industries. Closed shops were established b y almost all agree ments in the building construction, trucking, and printing and publish ing industries. In the men’s and women’s clothing, breweries, and hosiery industries over 75 percent of the organized workers were covered b y closed-shop agreements. In shipbuilding about 55 percent of the workers under agreement were employed in closed shops. Practically all coal miners were under union-shop agreements and about 70 percent of the organized local bus and street-railway em ployees. The industries which had the greatest increase in proportion of workers covered b y union-shop agreements during 1943 were industrial chemicals, electrical machinery, leather tanning, and textiles. Under closed-shop agreements all employees must be members of the appropriate union at the time of hiring and must continue to be members in good standing throughout their period of employment. M ost of the closed-shop agreements require employers to hire through the union, although they allow the employer to seek employees else where if the union cannot meet the demand within a given period, on the condition that the persons hired on the outside join the union before beginning work. Under the union-shop agreements, in contrast to the closed shop, the employers have complete control over the hiring of new employees and such employees need not be union members at the time of hiring although they must become members as a condition of continued employment. Some of the union-shop agreements, covering about 15 percent o f the workers under union shop, in addition to requiring that all employees join the union within a specified probationary period, stated that union members would be given preference in hiring, so that in effect these agreements differed very little from the closed shop. In a few closed- and union-shop agreements the employer was allowed regularly to hire 1 or 2 percent of his force without the re quirement that they become members. In some cases, employees who were employed before a closed- or union-shop agreement was signed were exempt from the requirement to join the union. 5 PROPORTION OF WORKERS UNDER UNION AGREEMENT BY UNION STATUS PROVIDED MAJOR INDUSTRY GROUPS KEY TO UNION STATUS CLOSEO SHOP UNION SHOP f / y j MEMBERSHIP MAINTENANCE PREFERENTIAL HIRING | RECOGNITION ONLY UNJTCO STATES KPAftTWFNT Of lAtOft rj«SA U of lasow statistics __________ 6 PROPORTION OF WORKERS UNDER UNION AGREEMENT BY UNION STATUS IN SELECTED INDUSTRIES AND OCCUPATIONS INDUSTRY OR OCCUPATION CLOSED SHOP UNION SHOP MEMBERSHIP Ma in t e n a n c e PREFER EN TIAL HIRING AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY VMM W//M mm AIRCRAFT ALUMINUM FABRICATING v m mm V/M/A mm / A m m . i1 AUTOMOBILES ANO PARTS BAKING RECOGNITION ONLY V /////A BOOK a JOB PRINTING a PUBLISHING BREWERIES mm, BUS AND STREETCAR, LOCAL m CHEMICALS mm mm mm CLERICAL, TECH. AND PROFESSIONAL OCC. mm CLOTHING (MEN'S) m m V M M \M M V //M \ m m M w ////A m A mm VM/M m mm CLOTHING (WOMEN'S) COAL MINING mm CONSTRUCTION ii ELECTRICAL MACHINERY i 1 mm mm mm mm Wm mm mm mm mm MM mm mm mm mm mm mm COTTON TEXTILES FURNITURE GLASS HOSIERY LEATHER TANNING KEY TO PROPORTION OF WORKERS | 9 0 -1 0 0 PERCENT 3 6 0 -8 9 PERCENT 2 UNITE* S TATfB DEPARTMENT OP LADOA BUREAU OP LABOR STATISTICS V77% 10-39 PERCENT V7Z\ 1 -9 PERCENT 4 0 -9 9 PERCENT ATTENTION IS CALLED TO THE FACT THAT THIS LISTINS OOCS NOT REFER TO THE PROPORTION OF ALL WORKERS EMPLOYED IN THESE INDUSTRIES BUT RATHER TO THE PROPORTION. WORKING UNDER COLLECTIVE SAR6AININS PRO CEDURES. THE EXTENT OP UNIOH AGREEMENT COVERAGE IN THESE INDUSTRIE VARIED BETWEEN LESS. THAN IS PERCENT TO PRACTICALLY 100. PERCENT. 7 CHART t CON'T. PROPORTION OF WORKERS UNDER UNION AGREEMENT BY UNION STATUS IN SELECTED INDUSTRIES AND OCCUPATIONS INDUSTRY OR OCCUPATION LIGHT AND POWER MACHINE TO OLS MARITIME AND LONGSHORING MEAT PACKING METAL MINING NONFERROUS ALLOYING, ETC. NONFERROUS SMELTING AND REFINING PAPER AND ALLIED PRODUCTS PETROLEUM AND COAL PRODUCTS PO TTER Y CLOSED SHOP UNION SHOP MEMBERSHIP MAINTENANCE PREFER ENTIAL HIRING RECOGNITION ONLY mm mm VM M Y/WM mm mm mm mm mm mm — Y '/zV 'zA vmm mm mm Y'/zA'z'z/A mm vmm V /zW A M ZM mm W /////A V /zW /A wm m m vmm wwmi mm mm W//M mm mm W/m\ RAILROADS mm mm RUBBER TIRES SERVICE OCCUPATIONS SHIPBUILDING SILK AND RAYON T E X T IL E S TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH Yz/Z/z'z/A vm m V /z .z /Z \ fmm mm mm m m mm mm TRUCKING AND WAREHOUSING WOOLEN AND WORSTED TE X T IL E S mm w m mm mm KEY TO PROPORTION OF WORKERS m UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OP LABOR BUREAU OP LABOR STATISTICS i mm mm w m mm mm mm mm mm mm gsssssa S T E E L -B A S IC S T E E L PRODUCTS im M 90-100 PERCEN T V7Z\ 10-39 R583 60 - 89 PERCENT T7 Z K I* 9 E 8 3 3 4 0 -5 9 PERCENT PERCEN T PERCENT 8 M AINTEN AN CE OF M EMBERSHIP Over 20 percent of all workers under agreement, or over 3 million workers, at the beginning of 1944 were covered by clauses which pro vide that all the employees who were members at the time the agree ment was signed or who later joined the union, must retain their mem bership for the duration of the agreement.2 In manufacturing, the proportion o f workers under membership-maintenance clauses rose during the year from less than 25 percent to about 35 percent. There was also an increase in iron mining and a slight gain in the retail and wholesale trade industries. Among the manufacturing industries, significant increases in the proportion of workers under membershipmaintenance clauses occurred in the machine-tools and steel-products industries, each of which had less than 10 percent of the workers under agreement in this category in January 1943, but over 35 percent a year later; aluminum which increased from about 50 percent to nearly 70 percent; aircraft and woolen and worsted textiles, each of which increased from less than 15 percent to over 30 percent; industrial chemicals and cotton textiles which changed from less than 10 percent to over 25 percent; basic steel which increased from about 75 percent to over 90 percent; and agricultural machinery which increased from less than 70 percent to over 80 percent. P R EFE R E N TIA L H IR IN G Only 2 or 3 percent of all workers under agreement were covered by clauses which stated that union members would be given preference over nonunion members in hiring, but did not require union member ship as a condition of employment. The maritime and longshoring agreements usually provide for preferential hiring and this practice is also widespread in the pottery industry. A G REEM EN TS W IT H NO M EM BERSHIP R E QU IREM EN TS About 30 percent of all workers under agreement were covered by provisions which do not require union membership as a condition of hiring or continued employment. The union is recognized as the sole bargaining agent for all employees in the bargaining unit, and is thus responsible for negotiating the working conditions under which all workers, including those who do not belong to the union, are employed. Unlike the agreements providing closed or union shops or membership maintenance, agreements with no membership require ments do not enable the union to rely on employment per se to build or maintain its membership. CHECK-OFF ARRANGEM ENTS Almost 4% million workers were covered by union agreements which provided some form of check-off in January 1944. This represents almost a third of all workers under agreement, a marked increase over 2 Most of the “ maintenance of membership” provisions established by order of the National War Labor Board, as well as most such clauses adopted voluntarily, allow 15 days during which members may with draw from the union if they do not wish to remain members for the duration of the agreement. A few agreements when first incorporating membership-maintenance clauses, allowed employees to withdraw from union membership by giving 60 days* notice, but such clauses are usually dropped in later agreements. For example, the 1942 General Electric agreement with the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (C. I. O.) contained such a provision, but the 1943 agreement instead allowed a 10-day escape period at the beginning of the year. 9 the situation a year earlier when approximately 2K million workers or about one-fifth of those under agreement were covered b y check-off provisions. Over 3 million o f the workers under check-off clauses were employed in manufacturing and almost half a million were coal miners. The m ajority of the check-off clauses continued to establish a gen eral or automatic check-off from the pay of members of all amounts due to the union. In January 1944, about three-fifths of the workers under check-off clauses were covered by the automatic type, while about two-fifths stated that check-offs might be made only when employees have filed individual written authorizations with the em ployer. In some agreements these authorizations held until with drawal by the employee, in others until the termination of the agree ment. Although most of the check-off clauses provided the full check-off of all dues and assessments levied by the union, some specified “ regular dues only” or check-offs not to exceed a given amount. Almost all coal miners and a large proportion of the workers in the basic-steel industry were covered by check-off provisions and such clauses were common in aircraft, hosiery, silk and rayon, and cottontextile agreements. The proportion covered by check-offs increased during 1943, especially in the agricultural and electrical machinery, shipbuilding, industrial chemicals, petroleum, and woolen and worsted textiles industries. FQ&yiCTORY BUY U N IT E D STATES W AR BO N D S AND STAMPS
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