United States. President's Mediation Commission.

The President's Mediation Commission represented a partial federal response to two aspects of wartime labor policy: 1) the spreading wave of strikes which interfered with the production of goods deemed vital to the war effort, and 2) the growth of labor radicalism associated with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) which precipitated widespread state and local repression of labor's rights.

On the urging of A.F. of L. President Samuel Gompers and of Secretary of Labor William B. Wilson, the Commission was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson on Sept. 19, 1917. The Commission consisted of two representatives of management, two labor officials and Chairman William Wilson. Most important in establishing the guidelines on which the Commission operated was Felix Frankfurter, appointed as Commission secretary. These included the promotion of A.F. of L.-style trade unions and industrial democracy and the elimination of "subversive" IWW locals.

Among the areas investigated by the Commission were the copper mining areas of Arizona and Montana, the lumber industry of the Pacific Northwest, telephone operators in San Francisco and packinghouse workers in Chicago. The Commission's findings were subsequently published as a special bulletin by the Dept. of Labor.

From the description of Records, 1917-1919. [microform] (Cornell University Library). WorldCat record id: 64091530

The President's Mediation Commission represented a partial federal response to two aspects of wartime labor policy: 1) the spreading wave of strikes which interfered with the production of goods deemed vital to the war effort, and 2) the growth of labor radicalism associated with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) which precipitated widespread state and local repression of labor's rights.

On the urging of A.F. of L. President Samuel Gompers and of Secretary of Labor William B. Wilson, the Commission was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson on Sept. 19, 1917. The Commission consisted of two representatives of management, two labor officials and Chairman William Wilson. Most important in establishing the guidelines on which the Commission operated was Felix Frankfurter, appointed as Commission secretary. These included the promotion of A.F. of L.-style trade unions and industrial democracy and the elimination of "subversive" IWW locals.

Among the areas investigated by the Commission were the copper mining areas of Arizona and Montana, the lumber industry of the Pacific Northwest, telephone operators in San Francisco and packinghouse workers in Chicago. The Commission's findings were subsequently published as a special bulletin by the Dept. of Labor.

From the guide to the United States. President's Mediation Commission. Records, 1917-1919., (Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library)