Dispute case files, 1935-1940.

ArchivalResource

Dispute case files, 1935-1940.

This series consists of case files of various labor disputes investigated by the Ala. Dept. of Labor. A major responsibility of the dept. was to promote voluntary arbitration, mediation and conciliation of disputes between employer and employee. Most files are labeled by company name and arranged by county. Typically a file will contain a cover sheet identifying the company name and location, the type of dispute (controversy, strike, lockout, etc.), the number of workers involved, the total number of days of the dispute, and the names of persons involved in negotiations. Also included is a summary of the dispute, detailing the cause, the negotiations and the settlement (if any). Most files contain supporting documents such as correspondence, field reports, news clippings and copies of contracts and agreements. Generally there is also an estimation of the monetary cost of the dispute to the community and state. A few of these disputes may have been resolved after the Dept. of Labor was absorbed by the Dept. of Industrial Relations. These files contain much useful information about industrial relations and unionization in Ala. during the New Deal era. Topics covered especially well are the textile industry, assaults on union organizers in Gadsden, and WPA strikes. The files appear to be incomplete and noticeably absent are records dealing with iron ore workers and coal miners in the Birmingham, Ala. area. The bulk of the case files appear to have been compiled by conciliators M.C. Hughes and Mollie Dowd, and most contain correspondence with Ala. Labor Commissioner Robert R. Moore, the U.S. Dept. of Labor and National Labor Relations Board and various Ala. labor leaders such as William Mitch and W.O. Hare. Similar records were also created by succeeding agencies, Dept. of Industrial Relations, Division of Labor (1939-1943), and the Dept. of Labor (1943- ).

2.33 cubic ft. (2 records center cartons and 1 archives box).

Related Entities

There are 9 Entities related to this resource.

Moore, Robert R. (Robert Reid), 1883-1954

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6qd0vhj (person)

Alabama. Dept. of Labor (1935-1939)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w68f0n87 (corporateBody)

The original Department of Labor was created in 1935. Its original legally authorized duties were, under gubernatorial direction, to administer all laws relating to hours of work, child labor, employer and employee, working conditions, and to promote the voluntary arbitration, medication, and conciliation of disputes between employer and employee. Furthermore, the department was authorized to establish and conduct free public employment offices. The provisions of the original creat...

Alabama. Dept. of Industrial Relations (1939-)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6x45pjx (corporateBody)

The Department of Industrial Relations is responsible for the administration of programs relating to unemployment compensation, workmen's compensation, child labor, mine and industrial safety, surface mine laws, and operates the State Employment Service. Through the Division of Safety and Inspection, the Department maintains mine rescue stations throughout Ala. for the purpose of carrying out rescue and recovery operations of mine disasters and complying with federal r...

United States. Department of Labor

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6p953xc (corporateBody)

The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is a cabinet-level department of the U.S. federal government, responsible for occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unemployment benefits, reemployment services, and occasionally, economic statistics. Many U.S. states also have such departments. The Department of Labor is headed by the U.S. Secretary of Labor. The purpose of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote, and develop the well being of the wage earners, job seekers,...

United States. National Labor Relations Board

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64n9vh3 (corporateBody)

After the first National Labor Relations Board was functionally abolished by the Supreme Court decision invalidating the National Industrial Recovery Act, May 27, 1935, a new National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) was established as an independent agency by the National Labor Relations (Wagner) Act (NLRA) (49 Stat. 195), dated July 5, 1935. The Supreme Court in 1937 declared the Board constitutional and sustained Congress’s power to regulate employers whose operations affected interstate commerce...

Dowd, Mollie, 1883-1953.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6th9dq7 (person)

Hare, W.O. 1881-1954.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6fb5w0z (person)

Mitch, William, 1881-1974

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65d9j3w (person)

William Mitch (10 April 1881- July 1974) worked in the coal mines at a young age and joined the United Mine Workers in 1894. He was a traveling international auditor for the UMW from 1913 to 1914, secretary to treasurer of District 11, Indiana, from 1915 to 1931, and District 11 president in 1932. From 1933 to 1946 he worked in Birmingham, Alabama, as president of District 20 of the UMW. Mitch was also president of the Alabama state CIO and Southern director of the Steel Workers Organizing Commi...

Hughes, M.C., 1880-1943.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62f8f3p (person)