History of American Labor and Management IRL 201

Cliff Donn • • Office – RH 416 Extension – 445 -4484 E-mail: donn@lemoyne. edu Office Hours – Monday 9: 00 -10: 20 – Wednesday 2: 30 -3: 30

Course Web Page • http: //web. lemoyne. edu/~donn/class/irl 201. htm

Educational Background • Bachelors Industrial and Labor Relations – Cornell • Ph. D. Economics – MIT • Permanent Faculty positions at Macquarie University and University of Tennessee • At Le Moyne since 1982

Sources: Text • Boris and Lichtenstein, Major Problems in the History of American Workers • Others on reserve (most on electronic reserve)

Preparing for class • How much time on each topic? See course outline! • When to do the reading? • Optional readings • Definitions will be supplied

Conduct of class • Class discussion and discussion of reading material • Attendance – expect to be called upon every day • Tardiness will not be tolerated • Cell phones – TURNED OFF

Requirements - Essays • Everyone must do one of first three topics (unless we agree on another) • Can do second essay on any topic • Note due dates • Handout and web page specify format • Research for essays • Don’t hand in a poor essay! • See essay rubric on home page • NO LATE ESSAYS ACCEPTED

Requirements - Quizzes • • Cover only reading material 15 minutes at beginning of class No make ups except on final Must take two and freshmen must take the first • Wise to prepare for them do well the first time

Requirement - Exams • Final Exam: Thursday, May 8, 3: 00 p. m. • Comprehensive and enables you to make up quizzes and/or mid-term – No excuses and no make ups – Value of final depends on your choices • Mid-term: March 19 (just prior to Easter break) • Covers class and text material – Will take entire class – Can be retaken on final • Copies of questions on Home Page

Why study history? • For the sake of understanding the past • For the sake of understanding the present

Current issues we can't understand without a background in labor history • Why are strikes by construction workers strikes normally so peaceful while those by coal miners are so often violent? • Why does the AFL‑CIO, which almost always supports exclusively Democrats, maintain an official stance of non‑partisanship? • Why, when almost every trade union movement in the world at least nominally supports socialism, is the U. S. labor movement such a strong supporter of the private enterprise system?

What is Labor History? • Old View ‑ History of worker organizations‑ i. e. unions and their activities • Newer View‑ History of workers and their lives, at work, at home and in the community

How we shall study history? • Disinterest in names, facts, dates • Emphasis on themes

Examples of Themes • Movement from agricultural to industrial to white collar labor force • Impacts of immigration on work and the workforce • Relationships between work life and community life • Treatment of women and minorities by other workers and by management

• Evolution of management and managerial authority • Utopianism as an influence on the working class • Origins and development of trade unions • Development of craft & industrial union models • Role of strikes in the evolution of unions and bargaining • Evolution of public policy on employment issues

Modern Work: Ehrenreich, “Working Poor Blues” • What to look for in this article? • How does Ehrenreich find the work the poor people do? • Would you like to do those jobs? Why or why not? How could they be made more satisfying? • Do the poor people Ehrenreich meets have “tricks” to reduce their expenses?

Next Time • Labor Market and Working Conditions in the early colonial period