Labor Relations and the Water Works Field

Abstract

subject of labor relations in public utilities and public service is a contentious one. The whole problem of labor relations in any field is contentious in these times when even members of the same family are divided, or at least from time to time think they must be. One must therefore be cautious in what one says. I should begin by saying that there is no difference in the problem of labor relations in public service and in private employment. In times like these of great public disturbance; of economic, political, and social crises; when the community is in an experimental frame of mind; when a large part of the population likes to forget the past and write it off then many of us begin to experiment with an unknown and uncertain future. The experiments that are carried on in one field spill rapidly over into related fields. Consequently one who surveys the developments in la<bor relations in the United States since 1930, or more particularly since 1933, is struck by the similarity of trend in the areas of public and quasi-public employment in comparison with what has happened in private employment. If we consider the more important developments in the whole field of labor relations since 1933, 1 think we shall immediately see that they find their counterpart in the manifold divisions of public employment. Trade unionism among public employees is not a new fact. As a matter of fact, one of the most striking features of the course of American trade unionism is the growth of organized labor among public employees. Even during the period of the 1920's, when the organized labor movement in this country seemed to reach a saturation point and stop its growth, trade unionism among public employees continued to grow and at a rapid rate. This trend was