Local union

WHILE there has been a growing interest in the subje unionism in the United States for many decades, relatively lede hos been done to study the union itself as a living institution With significant exceptions, scholarly emphasis has related to the forces impinging on the union and the union's reaction to them. Here and there parts of the structure have been singled out for study by the psychologist, the sociologist, or the economist, but in general the union has remained more a subject for controversy than for research.

Although other students have concentrated on the International, we have preferred to study the local because it is closer to the worker and his job in the plant. We believe that knowledge of industrial relations can be considerably advanced by a better understanding of the role and function of the local union. These organizations are so influential in plant affairs that few generalizations can be made without calculating their impact upon worker productivity, job satisfactions, and the decisions of management.

While our interest is focused primarily on questions concerning the impact of collective bargaining upon local leadership and mem bership participation, these problems cannot be studied in a vacuum, They can be understood only in relationship to the needs and activities of the whole mass of workers, who, willingly or un willingly, have joined into one union.

Logically, the problem is even more involved. One should take Ento account the relationship between the union, the employer, the Community, and society as a whole. These external factors have een taken into account in the field research, but the emphasis has een on how they affect the internal life of the union.