The Boycott in American Trade Unions (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1916. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER III The Boycott On Matertals In a suggestive section in his book on the Principles and Methods of Industrial Peace,1 Professor Pigou gives as one of the two factors in industrial disputes the "demarcation of function" between the employer and the unions. By this he means that industrial disputes arise when labor unions attempt to interfere with the management of industrial establishments. He further discusses under the demarcation of function those disputes which arise when "the sources from which an employer draws his material or the destination of his finished product" are brought by the union into question. It is with a description of the attempts of the American trade unions to dictate to employers the choice of the sources and destinations of materials that a discussion of the boycott on materials deals. The salient characteristic of the boycott on materials is its appeal to organized labor. Its essence is organized disapproval of certain implements and materials with which men work. For various reasons, contingent upon the extent and character of organization and dependent upon the characteristics of industry, large numbers of workmen massed into compact bodies for the purpose of self-protection have found it necessary from time to time to exercise, among others, one of their most important functions--the deliberate examination and selection of the things upon which they labor, a selection which carries with it the patent necessity of rejecting products which have been manufactured under conditions objectionable to organized labor and whose continued manufacture is interpreted by such labor as constituting a menace to its welfare. Just as workmen take umbrage at unsanitary shops and threaten strike when they are told to work beside a non-u...