Organizational Rivalry among American Unions

Abstract

Interunion disputes over raiding and organization of the unorganized has been one of the major unsolved problems of the AFL-CIO since its formation in 1955. In accordance with a resolution which was almost unanimously approved at the annual convention in September 1959, the executive council is now developing a program to establish compulsory arbitration of interunion disputes, possibly including disputes arising from interunion competition for unorganized workers. This will probably be submitted for consideration as a constitutional amendment to a special constitutional convention. The background of one important aspect of this proposed change in the government of the AFL-CIO is discussed in this article. It contains a summary and analysis of the extent and trends in interunion competition for unorganized workers during the period, 1940-1958. Although this article was written before the recent action of the AFL-CIO was taken, the author is doubtful that new jurisdictional machinery designed to curb interunion contests for unorganized workers is needed, or that it can be effectively implemented. In any case, he provides us with a clear picture of those specific areas in which such machinery is most likely to function with respect to the problem of organizational rivalry. (Author's abstract courtesy EBSCO.)