An inquiry into the trend of compensation and the growth and extent of white-collar employee unionization in the United States

115 Pages·05.037 MB·English

by  Crosslin, William Meredith

AN INQUIRY INTO THE TREND OP COMPENSATION
AND THE GROWTH AND EXTENT OP WHITE-COLLAR
EMPLOYEE UNIONIZATION IN THE UNITED STATES
A Thesis
Presented to
the F aculty of the Department of General Business
The U niversity of Southern C alifo rn ia
In P a rtia l F u lfillm en t
of the Requirements fo r the Degree
M aster of Business A dm inistration
fey
W illiam M eredith C ro sslin , J r.
June 1950
UMI Number: EP43240
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This thesis, written by
.........
under the guidance of h%$.~. Faculty Committee,
and approved by all its members, has been
presented to and accepted by the Council on
Graduate Study and Research in partial fulfill­
ment of the requirements for the degree of
MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION,
June 17, 1950
Faculty Committee
Chairman v
fx*. ^ ^ ^ £ 4 .?C_
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE PROBLEM AND DEFINITIONS OF TERMS USED . . 1
The p ro b le m ......................... 2
Statem ent of the p r o b le m .................................... 2
Im portance of the s t u d y ......................................... 3
Nature of the problem of the w hite-
c o lla r worker ............................................... 3
D efin itio n s of term s u s e d .......................................... Ij.
W hite-collar employees ................................... I}.
Non w h ite-c o lla r e m p lo y e e s ............................... 5>
C o llective bargaining ............................................... 5
Unionized o ffic e s ......................................................... £
C o n ciliatio n ................................................................... 6
W ages....................................................................................... 6
S alary .................................................................................. 6
I I . THE WHITE-COLLAR WORKERS ............................................... 7
Who are t h e y ? ........................................ 7
Their a ttitu d e s and b e lie fs .................................... 8
I I I . REPORT OF CLERICAL EMPLOYEE UNIONIZATION
IN THE UNITED STATES . .......................................... 12
Conclusions drawn from survey ............................... 13
The development and growth of w hite-
c o lla r u n io n s ................................................................... 15
*■
S tatus of o ffic e u n io n izatio n in the
United S tates as to geographic lo ca tio n . 17
i i i
CHAPTER PAGE
S tatu s of o ffice u n io n izatio n in the
U nited S tates as to type of business . . , 18
S tatu s of u n io n izatio n in the United
S tates as to size of company and by
number of em p lo y ees................................................. 18
A ffilia tio n s of o ffice and fac to ry unions
in same com panies, by geographic areas . 19
O ffice union a f f ilia tio n by size of
com pany................................................................................ 20
A ffilia tio n s of o ffice and facto ry unions
in same companies, by type of business . 21
Comparison of companies w ith and w ithout
. o ffic e unions by size of company and
geographic areas . . . . . ............................... 22
In te re st in u n io n izatio n in companies
w ithout o ffice u nions, by geographic
areas .............................................................. 23
In te re st in u n io n izatio n in companies
w ithout o ffice unions, by type of
business ......................................................... 23
Length of probation period in companies
w ith o ffice unions, by geographic areas . 23
iv
CHAPTER PAGE
Percentage and geographic lo c a tio n of
companies, w ith and w ithout o ffice
unions, having Wage Incentive Plans
fo r o ffice employees and organized
methods for handling g rie v a n c e s ..................... 2\+
Percentage and type of business of
companies w ith and w ithout o ffice
unions having Wage Incentive Plans
fo r o ffic e employees and organized
methods fo r handling grievances ........................ 25
Standard work week by companies w ith
and w ithout o ffic e unions, by geographic
areas ............................... 26
Factory union a f f ilia tio n in companies
w ithout o ffice unions, by type of
b u s i n e s s ............................................................................. 27
F actory union a f f ilia tio n in companies
w ithout o ffice unions, by geographic
a r e a s ............................................................................ 27
Factory union a f f ilia tio n in companies
w ithout o ffic e unions, by size of
com pany.................................................................................. 28
IV. TRENDS IN UNIONIZATION AND PRESENT STATUS
OF WHITE-COLLAR UNIONSI N THEU NITED STATES 29
V
CHAPTER PAGE
Trends in u n io n izatio n ............................................... 29
W hite-collar workers in the newspaper
i n d u s t r y ......................... 29
Government e m p lo y e e s ............................................... 30
The o ffic e worker .................................................... 32
Technicians .......................... . . . . . . . . . 3b
Present sta tu s ................................................................... 35
V. THE UNIONIZATION OP WHITE-COLLAR EMPLOYEES
ON THE PACIFIC C O A ST .................................................... 38
The u n io n izatio n of r e ta il departm ent
sto re c l e r k s ........................................ IpO
The u n io n izatio n of public school
t e a c h e r s .................................................................. 1^.0
The u n io n izatio n of bank employees . . . . Ip
Unionization in the food industry........ ip.
The u n io n izatio n of dental lab o rato ry
te c h n ic ia n s ........................................................................ b3
Public u t i l i t y workers u n i o n ............................... ijij.
The u n io n izatio n of salesm en . . . . . . .
The u n io n izatio n of insurance workers . . . 1^5
The u n io n izatio n of C iv il Service
em p lo y ees.................................................................. lj.6
The u n io n izatio n of o ffic e personnel . . . bl
Vi
CHAPTER PAGE
VI. TRENDS IN WHITE-COLLAR COMPENSATION ........ $0
Traditional advantages.............. . . . 51
Clerical and office workers ............... 52
Teachers ................... 5^-
Pederal Government Employees ............. 59
Overtime unimportant..................... 60
Rise in take-home p a y ..................... 6l
Further evidence......................... 62
Annual earnings........................... 63
Postwar position.............. 61f
VII. SALARIES OF OFFICE WORKERS IN SELECTED
LARGE C I T I E S .............. 66
Intercity differences in salary levels . . 67
Salary levels within cities ............... 70
Related practices and supplementary
benefits......................... 72
VIII. WHY ORGANIZATION OF WHITE-COLLAR WORKERS
HAS L A G G E D ................................ 75
Prestige and superiority consciousness . . 75
Middle-class Ideology . . . ............... 75
Feeling of relationship to management . . . 76
Employment techniques ..................... 77
The desire for status..................... 78
Type of worker and the group size........ 78
v ii
CHAPTER PAGE
Rapid growth and recen t o rig in of the
group.................................... 79
Racketeering in u n i o n s .............. •• • 80
IX. UNION ORGANIZING METHODS AND PROGRAMS . . . . 8 l
Philosophy and approach................... 81
O rganizing methods and p ro g ram s............................. 83
X. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS..................................................... 87
Summary........................................................................................ 87
C o n c lu sio n s......................... 93
BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................................................................................... 96
APPENDICES....................................................................................................... 101
Appendix A -T ypes ofb u s in e s s ................................................. 101
Appendix B - Geographic areas as sta te d in
rep o rt of c le ric a l employee u n io n izatio n
in the U nited S t a t e s ...................................................................... 103
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE PAGE
I. Hours and Earnings in M anufacturing and
Nonmanufacturing In d u strie s, 1939 and
November, 19V7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
I I . Average Annual Earnings per F ull-tim e
Employee, 1939 and 19^6 * ....................................• 57