Social legislation and social activity : $b being addresses delivered at the sixth annual meeting of the American academy of political and social science of PhiladelphiaAmerican Academy of Political and Social Science
History
Social legislation and social activity : $b being addresses delivered at the sixth annual meeting of the American academy of political and social science of Philadelphia
American Academy of Political and Social Science
Arbitration, Industrial; Child labor; Child labor -- United States; Factory laws and legislation -- United States; Housing -- United States; Juvenile courts; Labor -- United States
The obstacle on the part of labor is the effort to establish the idea
that recognition of the union implies more than the agreement to make
collective bargains between employer and employee at such times as a
change in business conditions demands or permits, or to insist that it
conveys the right to enforce rules and methods in the conduct of the
business without the consent or co-operation of the employer.
To remove these obstacles and establish a condition of harmony and
mutual prosperity, the employer must not forget that wage-earners have
formed powerful associations for the purpose of advancing and protecting
their interests, and have delegated their individual power to, and
placed their confidence in, the officers of their unions.
That these officers are in many cases far above the average of their
craftsmen, and their highest ambition is to better the condition of
their fellow-workmen.
That the aggressive methods of labor unions are very frequently caused
by the determination of the employer to destroy them, without giving
them a chance to be heard in their own defence.
That in the conduct of business involving large investment for plant,
and the employment of a large number of men, able management is required
to secure the best results from machinery and power, but good government
is necessary to secure the highest efficiency of men, and the best
government is that which is founded on the consent of the governed.
That responsibility for the performance of such an agreement as should
exist between employer and employee cannot be measured by legal or
financial standard, but can be safely based on individual integrity, and
in this I have found that a very large majority of the workingmen in
this country hold an agreement which is made for them by the officers of
their union as binding them in every sense of the word.
That the organization of associations of employers in kindred branches
of industry tends to uniformity in method of regulating the employment
of men, and at the same time affords protection against the demands
which may be unfair or the strife which may be instigated by unwise
leaders of organized labor.
The employee must not forget:
That the right to be a union man implies also the right to be a
non-union man.
That no honest employer can discriminate between the men in his employ,
or recognize the right of any body of men to determine whom he shall
employ.
That the effort to establish a minimum rate of wage, if based upon the
lowest standard of efficiency, destroys the earning power of the more
competent workman and lowers the standard of all.
That the effort to limit production is false in principle, and can only
succeed, if at all, when the demand is in excess of the supply, and when
it succeeds, it causes the creation of methods and machines which
supplant the skill of the mechanic and bring into competition a lower
grade of labor at a lower wage.
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