Wertheim Publications in Industrial Relations

This book is an interim report on how the human problems of the British coal industry are handled under nationalization—one of the classic experiments in governmental control of a great industry. The book makes clear why the future progress of the industry will depend on the solution of specific labor problems regardless of the system of ownership or which political party may control the government or the Coal Board.

The national trade union is the dominant institution in the American labor movement. In this book the author analyzes its emergence and development in the latter half of the nineteenth and early part of the twentieth centuries. It was during this period that the labor union as a nationwide organization achieved dominance over other labor institutions.

Utilizing experience and information gained in more than ten years in Norway, the author presents an extensive body of empirical evidence on the difficulties of maintaining both price stability and free collective bargaining in a full employment economy.

The CIO Challenge to the AFL is a three-part study. It discusses the split in the American Federation of Labor and the formation of the Congress of Industrial Organizations; presents eighteen specific industry or union case studies, each an independent essay in economic history; and, finally, analyzes various general aspects of the labor movement.

Horowitz isolates a microcosm in the industrial relations complex and presents the equivalent of a controlled experiment with selected materials. His conclusions about this miniature industrial organism offer instructive analogies with national labor relations developments.

A truly authoritative study of a “model American union” (IAM has long been known as one of the most ethical and efficient), based on complete access to the organization’s files. Beginning with an interpretive history to 1953, the book analyzes IAM’s formal and informal structure and its policies with regard to other unions, employers, public, and government, isolating dynamic features of the decision making process. It includes documented evidence of the difficulties and analyzes both sides of the many controversies IAM has faced.

Phosphorus, the topic of this study, is an element necessary for all forms of life. Long before carbon, nitrogen, or oxygen supplies become critically short, the supply of phosphorus will be exhausted. When this happens, Blakey assures us, life will end, and he demonstrates that we are losing ever-increasing amounts of this vital element every year.

The advance of trade unionism in the first part of the 20th century to a dominant place in the American economy brought with it a major change in the life of the nation. This phenomenal growth has not hitherto been adequately studied. This is the first book to deal with the actual process of unionization. Brody presents here a detailed study of one industry—meat packing and retailing—with implications that apply to unionization in general.

State federations of labor have been the political arms of organized labor for more than 100 years and the California State Federation is one of the most interesting and representative examples. Philip Taft traces the activities, policies, and problem of the Federation from its beginnings in 1901 until the merger of the AFL-CIO in 1958. In the process, the author explores the reasons why organized labor in the United States did not commit itself to a third party.

The authors present an analysis of direct departmental expenses in 72 community hospitals in Massachusetts for the years 1958–59 and 1962–63. Their purpose is to offer new insights into the fundamental relation between the costs of medical care and the administrative structure of hospitals. The conclusions of their study indicate that the hospital industry could find more efficient ways of providing medical care through organizational changes and thus offset or at least moderate the pressures to increase costs.

This is a study of the national union of plumbers, steam fitters, sprinkler fitters, and other pipe trades—the organization known today as the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada. It covers 40 crucial years in the history of national unionism of the pipe trades.

Before her first sea trial, the N.S. Savannah, the world’s first nuclear-powered ship, was embroiled in disputes which reflected the complex nature of the entire maritime industry. David Kuechle proposes some solutions to the age-old maritime labor relations problem, assessing the implications of the Savannah story for industries concerned with technological change.

What makes American labor unions distinctive from others in advanced Western countries is neither as simple as their wanting “more” nor as philosophical as their operating in an open-class society. Through a comprehensive analysis of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters—the largest union before the 1930s and the pioneer—Walter Galenson details the reasons for the union’s success. He finds that the Carpenters survived the vicissitudes of rapid industrialization and modernization because it was a conservative, business union.

Brown traces the origin and evolution of the Universal Product Code (U.P.C.)—a small rectangle of black and white bars which adorns virtually every retail item we purchase. The development of the U.P.C. illustrates the process of setting industry standards without government intervention and shows how systems of complementary technologies evolve.

The bar code is now at the core of commerce, transportation, warehousing, manufacturing, and retailing. Gathered together in this volume are the thoughts of eight speakers with hands-on experience concerning the development, diffusion, adoption, and applications of a truly groundbreaking technology.

The Housing Act of 1949 called for a “decent home and suitable living environment” for every American. The progress toward this goal over the last fifty years is generally a story of success. Kent Colton documents this remarkable progress.

In twenty-three original essays this book reviews the course of labor economics over the more than two centuries since the publication of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations. It fully examines the contending theories, changing environmental contexts, evolving issues, and varied policies affecting labor’s participation in the economy.

The book is the first comprehensive study of the American copper industry to include labor markets, unionism, and labor relations as an integral part of its focus. It also undertakes a careful examination of the influences exerted by geography and geology in the shaping of the industry.