Labor Councils

Examples of Labor Councils in the following topics:

• AFL and WWI

  • The AFL also encouraged the formation of local labor bodies (known as central labor councils) in major metropolitan areas in which all of the affiliates could participate.
  • These local labor councils acquired a great deal of influence in some cases.
  • Local building trades councils also became powerful in some areas.
  • In San Francisco, the local Building Trades Council, led by Carpenters official P.
  • McCarthy, not only dominated the local labor council, but also helped elect McCarthy mayor of San Francisco in 1909.

• Industrial Freedom

  • This rising interest in "industrial freedom," labor and marxian philosophy is embodied by Harry Ault's career.
  • Ault participated in the Socialist Labor Party from 1892 to 1898.
  • In 1909, Ault became secretary of the Seattle Central Labor Council.
  • In 1910, the Central Labor Council established its own newspaper and Ault took over the role of editor in 1912.
  • These groups were gaining an increasing audience among various labor organizations and unions.

• A New Labor Force

  • World War I saw a change in U.S. labor: women entered the workforce as never before, and labor unions gave firm support to war efforts.
  • Samuel Gompers, head of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), and nearly all labor unions were strong supporters of the war effort.
  • President Wilson appointed Gompers to the powerful Council of National Defense.
  • To keep factories running smoothly, Wilson established the National War Labor Board in 1918, which forced management to negotiate with existing unions.
  • Examine the new labor force of women, and the strong support of labor unions, during World War I.

• New France and the Native Americans

  • The Sovereign Council of New France was a political body appointed by the King of France in the 1675 reorganization of the colony of New France.
  • The major officers of the Sovereign Council were the Governor-General, who was responsible for military affairs and diplomatic relations, the Intendant of New France, who was responsible for finance, economic development, and the administration of justice (law and order), and the Bishop of New France, who was responsible for all spiritual matters in the colony.
  • The Intendant served as the presiding officer of the Sovereign Council.
  • In his first term, Frontenac supported the expansion of the fur trade, establishing Fort Frontenac (in what is now Kingston, Ontario) and came into conflict with members of the Sovereign Council over its expansion and over the labor required to build the new forts.
  • The conflict with the Sovereign Council led to his recall in 1682.

• Leadership

  • Common people, on the other hand, would have supported the elite through farming and labor.
  • Many African communities were governed and administered by a council of elders.
  • The council would be responsible for mediating conflict, governing the town, and making all important decisions within the community.
  • For many tribes, such as the Balanta people, a person would be initiated into the Council through a ceremony.
  • Elders in Dan society often wore masks that served as agents of social control, enforcing the council's rules and orders.

• The European Central Bank

  • Thus, capital, goods, labor, and services can move anywhere within the EU freely.
  • The council is composed of the Executive Board and 17 Governors.
  • The European Council consists of heads of state of the EU member countries.
  • Consequently, the European Council cannot change the board members all at once.
  • President of the Executive Council also becomes the president of the Governing Council.

• Efficiency

  • City governments were reorganized to reduce the power of local ward bosses, and to increase the powers of the city council.
  • This system is part of the council-manager style of government.
  • The position of “mayor” present in this type of legislative body is a largely ceremonial title, and may be selected by the council from among its members or elected as an at-large council member with no executive functions.
  • Its main objective was improving economic efficiency, especially labor productivity.
  • These principles, coupled with a technological revolution during Henry Ford's time, allowed for this form of labor to flourish.

• Peacetime Economy

  • The president was faced with the renewal of labor-management conflicts that had lain dormant during the war years, severe shortages in housing and consumer products, and widespread dissatisfaction with inflation, at one point hitting 6% in a single month.
  • Although the resolution of the crippling railway strike made for stirring political theater, it actually cost Truman politically: his proposed solution was seen by many as high-handed, and labor voters, already wary of Truman's handling of workers' issues, were deeply alienated.
  • This growth was distributed fairly evenly across the economic classes, which some attribute to the strength of labor unions in this period—labor union membership peaked historically in the U.S. during the 1950s, in the midst of this massive economic growth.
  • During this time as well, Congress created the Council of Economic Advisors, to promote high employment, high profits, and low inflation.

• The Diversity of Workers

  • The American Federation of Labor (AFL) offered more support to white men than to women and non-whites.
  • In response, most women workers remained outside the labor movement.
  • The Metal Trades Department engaged in some organizing of its own, primarily in shipbuilding, where unions such as the Pipefitters, Machinists and Iron Workers joined together through local metal workers' councils to represent a diverse group of workers.
  • The Knights strongly supported the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Contract Labor Law of 1885, as did many other labor groups, although the group did accept most others, including skilled and unskilled women of any profession.
  • Examine the diversity of workers within the American Federation of Labor

• The Varieties of Progressivism

  • The pursuit of trust-busting (breaking up very large monopolies) was chief among these aims, as was garnering support for labor unions, public health programs, decreased corruption in politics, and environmental conservation.
  • One example of Progressive reform was the rise of the city-manager system, in which salaried, professional engineers ran the day-to-day affairs of city governments under guidelines established by elected city councils.
  • City governments also were reorganized to reduce the power of local ward bosses and to increase the powers of the city council.
  • Child-labor laws were designed to prohibit children from entering the workforce before a certain age, further compelling children into the public schools.
  • Pro-labor Progressives such as Samuel Gompers argued that industrial monopolies were unnatural economic institutions that suppressed the competition necessary for progress and improvement.