American labor movement

Organized labor is an acknowledged force in American society. It is legal, respectable, often powerful, and increasingly businesslike. Signif icant changes have altered its traditional role as a besieged "underdog." The modern trade union leader is more of an administrator than an agitator, often the head of a vast business empire with branches scattered throughout the country; he takes his seat at the conference table as an equal of the representative of management. Although the strike is still resorted to on occasion (the picket line less so), most of the work is done at the conference table. "Thirty years ago," a union official re marked in 1958, "the important thing was for a union leader to know how to organize economic strength. Organize. Strike. Settle. That was labor-management relations. But today, with laws and labor boards, almost all of our problems are settled at the conference table through negotiations. This requires new skills, a different kind of intelligence. Now, it is diplomacy instead of the big stick."

Compared to his predecessors, the modern trade unionist is better treated on the job, receives higher wages, works a shorter day and week, obtains more "fringe" benefits, is better protected against accidents and illness, and generally enjoys a higher standard of living. He maintains his union membership without fear of employer reprisal. While the union has thus given him a greater feeling of security, it has not, however, been able to immunize him from seasonal layoffs, business dislocations, technological unemployment, installment buying, and climbing prices nor has it materially lessened the monotony and drudgery of much of factory labor.