Analysis: The American Workers' Responsibility
"Analysis: The American Workers' Responsibility" examines the pivotal role of American workers and labor unions during World War II, particularly through the lens of national unity and wartime production. Established on January 12, 1942, the National War Labor Board (NWLB) aimed to resolve labor disputes and maximize productivity while ensuring that strikes did not disrupt the war effort. Labor leaders, including George Meany of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), emphasized that the pressing priority was to support military needs rather than pursue labor reforms during this critical time. The document highlights the significant decrease in union membership during the Great Depression and how Roosevelt's pro-labor policies encouraged the growth of unions, increasing membership to over 14 million by the end of the war. Many labor representatives agreed to arbitration and pledged no strikes, viewing this commitment as essential for victory against totalitarian threats. The narrative underscores the idea that workers were akin to soldiers, with their efforts directly impacting military success, while also addressing fears of potential legislative rollbacks on labor rights. Overall, the discussion reflects on the complex balance between labor rights and national duty during a time of crisis, inviting readers to consider the broader implications of worker responsibility in shaping history.
Analysis: The American Workers' Responsibility
Date: March 12, 1942
Author: George Meany
Genre: speech
Summary Overview
President Franklin D. Roosevelt reestablished the National War Labor Board (NWLB) on January 12, 1942. This agency was originally formed in 1918 to arbitrate labor disputes and maximize war production during World War I, and it served the same role in World War II. George Meany was the secretary-treasurer for the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and was appointed one of the twelve commissioners who sat on the NWLB, which had sweeping powers to intervene in any labor dispute it believed would threaten war production. The board was divided between labor representatives like Meany, representatives of employers (i.e., owners and management), and representatives of the public (i.e. , consumer advocates and government officials). In a show of national unity after the attack on Pearl Harbor, labor unions agreed on December 17, 1941, to submit labor disputes to arbitration rather than strike. In this speech, Meany urged labor leaders to remember their promise and work for victory rather than taking advantage of the war to push for greater reforms. At the same time, he warned business owners not to use the war as an excuse to repeal protective labor laws.
Defining Moment
Labor union organizing dropped precipitously as the nation's economy was rocked by the Great Depression in the early 1930s. From 1923 to 1933, union membership dropped by nearly half, from five million to under three million members. Most members of unions were skilled workers in trades with a strong union tradition, and most of these unions were members of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). The AFL did little to organize the workers involved in mass production, such as textile and automobile manufacturing, which greatly outnumbered the skilled trades. Labor organizing benefitted from Roosevelt's pro-labor policies during the Depression. In 1933, he passed the National Industrial Recovery Act, which gave employees the right to unionize and bargain collectively as they saw fit. This was followed by legislation that required business owners to bargain with unions that had the support of their employees. In 1935, the Committee on Industrial Organization (CIO), which focused on industrial workers, was formed within the AFL, and the CIO eventually split from its parent organization, becoming the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
Later in the 1930s, both the AFL and CIO enjoyed a surge of membership, as international military mobilization pushed industrial production to an all-time high, and labor unions used the demand for their workers to agitate for greater benefits for their members. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, however, the Unions pledged their support for the war effort, and on December 17, 1941, Roosevelt met with representatives of the employers and employees of major industries, and came to an agreement that “for the duration of the war there shall be no strikes or lockouts, and that all labor disputes shall be settled by peaceful means.” This group agreed to the reformation of the National War Labor Board on January 12, 1942. In addition to preventing strikes, this board had broad powers to intervene in any issue that seemed to damage production, and later in 1942, the NWLB was also given oversight of wages and prices. By the end of the war, union membership had grown to 14.3 million, thanks in part to the Roosevelt administration's support of the “maintenance of membership” policy. This pushed workers and employers to use labor union representation, as the government saw sympathetic labor unions as the key to quelling industrial unrest. The NWLB was disbanded in December 1945.
Author Biography
William George Meany was born in 1894 in New York City to Irish Catholic parents. Meany was raised in the Bronx, where his father was president of the local United Association of Plumbers and Pipe Fitters and a Democratic organizer. In 1910, Meany left high school to apprentice as a plumber and also joined the union. In 1916, his father died suddenly, and after his brother joined the Army in 1917, Meany supported his mother and siblings financially.
In the 1920s, Meany rose steadily within union leadership, and in 1934, he became the president of the New York State Federation of Labor. He used his leadership roles to organize support for pro-labor leaders, including Roosevelt. In 1939, Meany moved to Washington, DC, as the national secretary-treasurer of the AFL. After serving on the National War Labor Board, he succeeded William “Bill” Green as president of the AFL after Green's death in 1952. Meany oversaw the return of the CIO to the AFL. The combined AFL-CIO was established in 1955. In 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded Meany the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Meany retired from the AFL-CIO in November 1979, after the death of his wife. Two months later, on January 10, 1980, he died of cardiac arrest in Washington, DC, and was buried in Maryland.
Document Analysis
George Meany begins this speech, delivered to a very active labor union organization in Detroit, Michigan, by establishing his kinship with them, and what their common goals would have been before the outbreak of war. This is an important step, since though labor unions had agreed, through their representatives, to unite behind a no-strike policy during the war, many organizers on the local level were wary of giving up this protection to their collective bargaining rights. Meany, sitting on the National War Labor Board, was seen by some as enforcing a system that weakened unions. It was important, therefore, that he establish common cause. He lists their shared beliefs as trade unionists, including recruiting new fields to unionism; lobbying for higher wages, shorter working hours, and legal protections; and improving workers' quality of life. This is not the time for such discussions, however, he argues. All issues common to labor paled in importance to the “triumph of free men everywhere over the forces of hate and destruction,” which, Meany predicts, “would, through military domination, impose a system of slavery on workers the world over.” The war was a labor issue, in short. If totalitarian regimes were able to take over the world, there would be no free labor. The energy of the workers of the United States needed to focus exclusively on the war effort.
Victory depended on industrial workers. In fact, Meany asserts that the “worker of today in this modern war is actually a soldier in overalls.” American industry needed to catch up with military production in Europe, but Meany believed they could do it and, in fact, had already exceeded the ambitious goals set for them. Meany gives the examples of recent work by the construction and shipbuilding trades, both of which were able to complete war projects ahead of schedule. Meany reminds his audience that this was due, in part, to the labor movement's agreement to forgo stoppages on defense work and instead appeal to an earlier arbitration board, the National Defense Mediation Board, set up a year before. After Pearl Harbor, “labor again showed the way in an effort to bring about all-out production for victory” by agreeing to work with the National War Labor Board in arbitration rather than strike and disrupt the production of goods needed for the war effort.
Meany warns that despite the splendid work that labor was doing for the war effort, there were those who might try to take advantage of the situation to “shackle labor with restrictive laws and… wipe off the statute books those protective laws that have placed the American worker on a higher plane economically than any other worker on earth,” such as the Fair Labor Standards Act. These attacks on labor would affect morale, and therefore productivity, according to Meany, who then denounces it in the severest terms: “Anyone who attempts for selfish purposes to impair the morale of the American worker is guilty of an act of treason.” Workers, on the other hand, loyal as they are to the labor movement, will always put national interests ahead of selfish gain. Meany concludes by looking forward to the day when workers will exult in the Allied victory “over the forces of inhumanity and barbarism.”
Glossary
cantonment: a camp, usually large, where men are trained for military service; military quarters
poppycock: nonsense
tri-partite: divided into or consisting of three parts; made by three parties
Bibliography and Additional Reading
“Franklin D. Roosevelt: Executive Order 9017—Establishing the National War Labor Board.” American Presidency Project. Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, American Presidency Project, 1999–2015. Web. 8 Dec. 2014.
Murolo, Priscilla, and A. B. Chitty. From the Folks Who Brought You the Weekend: A Short, Illustrated History of Labor in the United States. Illus. Joe Sacco. New York: New P, 2001. Digital file.
“Work n' Progress—Lessons and Stories: Part IV: Labor, the Depression, the New Deal, and WWII.” Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State U Lib., 6 Dec. 2014. Web. 8 Dec. 2014.