Compare Constellations

United States. National Labor Relations Board. Topic 3 : Interviews re the "old" NLRB (pre-Wagner Act), 1968-1975.

Title: Topic 3 : Interviews re the "old" NLRB (pre-Wagner Act), 1968-1975.

The pre-Wagner Act National Labor Relations Board under the chairmanship of Lloyd Garrison and Francis Biddle is discussed in detail by the interviewees.

ArchivalResource: 15 transcripts.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/64091520 View

United States. National Labor Relations Board. Topic 13 : Interviews re Smith Committee investigation of the NLRB, 1968-1975.

Title: Topic 13 : Interviews re Smith Committee investigation of the NLRB, 1968-1975.

Smith's relationships with Frances Perkins and Franklin D. Roosevelt are reviewed as are his views on congressional control over quasi-judicial federal administrative agencies and his participation in the drafting of a bill to amend the Wagner Act (HR. 8813, 1940.) Smith's role with the House Committee on Un-American Activities and in the formulation of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 is also reviewed. The activities of the Smith Committee are examined in detail. Smith Committee members' criticisms of David Saposs, Nathan Witt, and Edwin Smith are discussed, as is the controversy regarding the appointment of Edmund M. Toland as general counsel of the Committee and the battle over Committee interference with NLRB activities, including the effort to abolish the Division of Economic Research because of alleged communist domination; investigations of alleged pro-labor biases on the part of NLRB staff and alleged unfairness to employers; and seizure of NLRB files at the instigation of the Committee. Other issues illustrative of the antagonism between the Smith Committee and Board members are the Committee-inspired allegations that Witt and Edwin Smith gave unfair advice to unions, that Warren Madden solicited union support for the Board against the Committee, and that spurious evidence was used to discredit the NLRB, as well as charges that the Committee investigations disrupted Board work. Also examined is NLRB staffer Joe Rosenfarb's conduct of the Eagle-Picher Mining and Smelting Company Case and Toland's methods of cross examination and his general method of conducting the hearings, which was found offensive by some. The impact of the hearings is discussed at some length. One effect was a realignment of alleged communists and non-communists on the NLRB. The report of the minority members of the Committee was said to have been adopted, in part, in the later Taft-Hartley legislation. The position of the minority members of the Board was a broader concern for principles of law, while the majority chose to concentrate on what they believed to be questionable activities of individual NLRB staff and Board members. Relevant respondents include William Avrutis, Meta Barghausen, George Bokat, George Bott, Fannie Boyls, Harry Brickman, Wallace Cohen, William Consedine, Bernard Cushman, Thomas Emerson, Estelle Frankfurter, Herbert Fuchs, Ben Golden, Leon Keyserling, Ida Klaus, Frank Kleiler, Howard Lichtenstein, J. Warren Madden, Will Maslow, Ray Murdock, George Pratt, Lee Pressman, Roger Robb, David Saposs, Louis Silverberg, Howard Smith, Gerhard Van Arkel, Owsley Vose, Nathan Witt and Benedict Wolf. The House of Representatives investigation of the NLRB in 1939-1940, led by Congressman Howard Worth Smith, forms an important subject for discussion in many of the interviews.

ArchivalResource: 30 transcripts.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/64091511 View

United States. National Labor Relations Board. Topic 1 : Interviews re general issues relating to the NLRB, 1968-1975.

Title: Topic 1 : Interviews re general issues relating to the NLRB, 1968-1975.

General issues discussed in the oral history interviews include the nature of the administration of the Wagner Act and litigation relating to it. Such general issues include the position of the Board on the evolution of collective bargaining and industrial relations in the United States; the development of procedures and operational policies within the Board; the responsibilities of the executive secretary; the leadership exerted by various Board chairmen; the legal propriety of case settlement; the working relationships among Board members, their attitudes on various issues, and critiques of staff performance. Also discussed is the nature of the Board as a political mechanism and its relations with various presidential administrations and other governmental agencies. Specific issues of collective bargaining and industrial relations addressed throughout the interviews include the Board's policy on blacklisting, company spies, the secret ballot and run-off elections, the safety of witnesses, attitudes of law enforcement officials in strike collusion, living conditions, safety and health conditions for miners, the nature of industrial relations during World War II, rival unionism, free speech for workers, "sweetheart" contracts, employment status of supervisors and foremen, treatment of black workers and their employment as strikebreakers, and independent unions, among other issues. The discussion of the evolution of Board procedures and operational policy includes the Board's methods of determination of bargaining unit and of what constitutes unfair labor practices, including refusal to bargain. Discussed is the problem of case backlogs and the need to expedite cases which threatened to impede interstate commerce; the policy of giving precedence to large violations; the manner in which admissible evidence is determined; timing and scheduling of representational cases; methods of issuing subpoenas; the evolution of the contract bar rule; and the strategy of assigning certain cases to women attorneys, among other topics. Controversial issues discussed include the influence of socialists and communists on Board policy, the pro-CIO leanings of Board members and staffers, and the role of women and Jews as Board staffers. The Board attitude toward union corruption, the "zealous" behavior of Board attorneys, various employer abuses such as the exploitation of black workers, recruitment of police as strikebreakers, and the use of Pinkerton agents to spy on unions are also discussed, as is the relationship of the Board to the Smith Committee and the Subversive Activities Control Board. Cases mentioned prominently in the interviews include the Ford case, the Republic Steel case, the Fruehauf case, the Inland Steel case, the Berkshire Knitting Mills case, the Carter Coal case, and cases relating to transport workers and merchant seamen, among others.

ArchivalResource: 48 transcripts.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/64755487 View

United States. National Labor Relations Board. Topic 2 : Interviews re the National Labor Board (1933-1934), 1968-1975.

Title: Topic 2 : Interviews re the National Labor Board (1933-1934), 1968-1975.

Interviewees discuss the inauguration, staffing and operation of the National Labor Board (NLB). The appointment of the National Labor Board's chairman, Senator Robert F. Wagner is reviewed in detail. Senator Wagner's pro-labor proclivities are discussed, as is his role in settling strikes, his dual responsibilities to the Senate and to the Board, and the effect of this on the efficiency of the Board. The political viewpoints of various other members of the Board are also reviewed. Significant staff appointments and their impact are discussed. Individuals commented upon include Heber Blankenhorn, Estelle Frankfurter, Milton Handler, William Leiserson, Jesse Miller, John Moore, Beatrice Stern, and Benedict Wolf. Substantive issues influencing the operation of the NLB discussed include the nature of the limitations on the Board's enforcement powers (especially the need for voluntary compliance with its decisions), the nature of regional Boards, and the formulation and administration of Public Resolution #44 (1934), the impact of Section 7(a) of the National Recovery Act and Presidential Orders (1933-1934) which served to strengthen the NLB's authority. Significant cases coming before the NLB included the Berkeley Woolen Mills vs. the Textile Workers, the Philadelphia Transport case, and the Budd Manufacturing, Weirton Steel and Houde Engineering representation cases, among others. Issues included the right to bargain collectively, company unions, and the doctrine of majority rule in representational elections, among others. The political pressures on the Board, especially those from business interests resenting government intervention in their labor relations, are also examined. Relevant respondents include Meta Barghausen, George Bokat, Wallace Cohen, Charles Fahy, Estelle Frankfurter, Herbert Fuchs, Lloyd Garrison, Herbert Glaser, Charles Halleck, Milton Handler, Leon Keyserling, Philip Levy, J. Warren Madden, Gerhard Van Arkel and Benedict Wolf.

ArchivalResource: 15 transcripts.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/74924315 View

United States. National Labor Relations Board. Topic 4 : Interviews re the NLRB in the Wagner Act era (1935-1947), 1968-1975.

Title: Topic 4 : Interviews re the NLRB in the Wagner Act era (1935-1947), 1968-1975.

The years immediately following the passage of the Wagner Act in 1935 are discussed at length. The appointment of J. Warren Madden as chairman is focused upon and his prior career in private practice and as dean of the University of Pittsburgh Law School is mentioned. Relations between Madden, President Roosevelt and Secretary of Labor Perkins are discussed as are Madden's views about staff political contacts and the charge that he blacklisted companies on the basis of their unfair labor practices. Madden's political and administrative views are also compared with those of other NLRB members and staffers, especially John Carmody. Other political issues at this point were the attempts to secure Presidential Executive Orders to delineate the powers of the Board, and the effort to separate its quasi-judicial and political functions. The post-Wagner years saw major changes in the practices and policies established by the National Labor Board and the pre-Wagner NLRB. Methods of appointment of Board attorneys (particularly women and Jews) and appointments of regional staff are discussed, as is the establishment of the Division of Trial Examiners and the Division of Economic Research. Administrative and policy changes also highlighted include the formulation of procedures for hearings and for the enforcement of decisions, development of a litigation strategy and of a pattern of communication between regional and central staff. The criteria for the selection of test cases for Supreme Court review, the development of economic data to prepare these cases and the method by which these cases were prepared is discussed in detail. These cases included Virginia and Maryland Coach Company, Associated Press, Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation, Fruehauf Trailer Company and Friedman and Harry Marks Clothing Company. Major issues in these cases included the definition of the Board's authority in the matters of interstate transportation, communication, manufacturing and commerce. Other themes regarding this period developed in the interviews include a discussion of the Board's strategy to demonstrate that unfair labor practices lead to labor disputes which disrupt the flow of interstate commerce and the use of NLRB decisions by the Supreme Court as a weapon against President Roosevelt's efforts to pack the Court. Relevant respondents include Meta Barghausen, George Bokat, George Bott, Wallace Cohen, William Consedine, Thomas Emerson, Charles Fahy, Ogden W. Fields, Estelle Frankfurter, Herbert Fuchs, Lloyd Garrison, Herbert Glaser, Ben Golden, Milton Handler, Paul Herzog, Leon Keyserling, Ida Klaus, Philip Levy, Howard Lichtenstein, J. Warren Madden, Marcel Mallet-Prevost, David Saposs, Louis Silverberg, Howard Smith, Edwin Smith, Stanley Surrey, Gerhard Van Arkel, Owsley Vose, Nathan Witt and Benedict Wolf.

ArchivalResource: 30 transcripts.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/64091519 View

United States. National Labor Relations Board. Topic 9 : Interviews re external influence on the NLRB, 1968-1975.

Title: Topic 9 : Interviews re external influence on the NLRB, 1968-1975.

Congressional activities, including moves to amend the NLRA, investigations by the Byrd Committee, the Smith Committee and the Dies Committee are elucidated and the activities of the LaFollette Committee are reviewed. Executive efforts to influence the NLRB are also examined. Frances Perkins' relationship with David Saposs and Edwin Smith and the effort to place the Board under the jurisdiction of the Department of Labor are discussed, as is President Roosevelt's influence on the formation of the Board and the selection of its members. Roosevelt's efforts to influence the Board through its first chairman, J. Warren Madden, is also the subject of comment. Corporate efforts to influence or weaken the Board are examined at length. Major industrial corporations, in particular, looked at the NLRB as a threat. The constitutionality of the NLRA was challenged vigorously by the National Lawyers Committee of the Liberty League. The National Association of Manufacturers, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Liberty League and American Medical Association all voiced vigorous opposition to Board policies. Walter Lippmann also found occasion to criticize NLRB activities. Relevant respondents include Bernard Cushman, Lloyd Garrison, Herbert Glaser, Leon Keyserling, Ida Klaus, Philip Levy, Howard Lichtenstein, J. Warren Madden, Lee Pressman, Roger Robb, David Saposs and Nathan Witt. Efforts to influence the direction of the Board's policies and decisions are broadly discussed in the interviews.

ArchivalResource: 12 transcripts.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/64091514 View