Guide to the Arthur S. Meyer Papers,
1941-1957

Include speeches and articles by Meyer (1941-1950); his correspondence while on the U.S. National War Labor Board (1942-1945); and excerpts from letters written by Meyer (1942-1955).

Include Meyer's writings and speeches on the following subjects: progress toward orderly action (1941), labor mediation and national defense (1941), arbitration and mediation (n.d.), the changing role of unions in a democratic society (n.d.), some general aspects of labor relations (1948), functions of the mediator in collective bargaining (1950), and union power and policy in collective bargaining (n.d.).

Also included is correspondence between Meyer and Edgar F. Warren (director, Conciliation Service of the U.S. Department of Labor) regarding the Conciliation Service and the strike of the National Maritime Union against the American Merchant Marine Institute; correspondence with Murray W. Latimer (1945-1946) regarding a study of the steel industry, guaranteed wage plans in the electrical industry, a proposal for a government guarantee for employers who adopt an annual wage plan, and the relationship between guaranteed wage plans, stabilization of employment, and regularization of production.

Also correspondence with Mort Heineman (vice-president, Franklin Buick Advertising Corporation); Paul M. Herzog (U.S. National War Labor Board); Arthur Jacobs (executive, Labor Letter); Thomas P. McManus (assistant counsel, Joint Legislative Committee on Industrial and Labor Conditions); N.P. Feinsinger (law professor, University of Wisconsin); Katherine P. Ellickson (assistant director of research, CIO); Samuel H. Thompson (assistant director, National Planning Association); and William H. Davis (director, Office of Economic Stabilization). Correspondence regards arguments used in the maritime and trucking strikes, an industry investigation regarding the annual wage, a study of the steel industry, and government interest payments.

Correspondence of Meyer with George W. Taylor (National War Labor Board), and William A. Waldron (National War Labor Board) regards a coal dispute (1943), and the relationship of the dispute to the wage stabilization program. Correspondence of Meyer with Harry Frumesman (committee chairman, National War Labor Board), Milton Rubin (committee member, National War Labor Board), William S. Hilger (sub-regional director, United Auto Workers), Walter Gellhorn (regional vice-chairman, National War Labor Board), and Max J. Miller (assignment officer, National War Labor Board) regards the investigation of personnel needs of private industry, metal trades rates, and retroactive data in first contract cases.

Correspondence also includes excerpts from letters written by Meyer to Paul H. Douglas (University of Chicago) (1947) regarding the union shop; to William H. Davis (1947) regarding the limits of collective bargaining as a force for good in society; to Gordon Duysee (1945) regarding a guaranteed annual wage; to Nathan Feinsinger (University of Wisconsin) (1947) regarding industrywide bargaining; to Jesse Freidin (1947) regarding the impact of strikes on the public; to Jacob Billikopf (1945) regarding collective bargaining in philanthropic agencies; to Douglas P. Falconer (1942) regarding collective bargaining; to E.S. Duffield (1947) regarding union security, industrywide bargaining, and compulsory arbitration; to Walter Reuther (1948) regarding productivity increments; to Elinore Jackson (associate secretary, American Friends Service Committee) (1951) regarding the use of labor mediation technology in internal disputes; to Felix S. Cohen (1953) regarding organized labor as a political force in the United States; to Lloyd D. Fisher (research associate, Institute of Industrial Relations, University of California at Berkeley) (1947) regarding philosophies of industry and unionism; and to Max F. Millikan (1949) regarding the power of labor in strikes.

Include materials on the Fact-Finding Committee of the Board of Education, City of New York (1951); transcripts and accompanying documentation regarding the National War Labor Board case of the Electrical Transcription Manufacturing Company vs. the American Federation of Musicians (1942-1943); and miscellaneous arbitration case files (1942-1946). The Fact-Finding Committee of the Board of Education, City of New York, consisted of Arthur S. Meyer (chairman), Mrs. Elinore M. Herrick, Joseph D. Clauson, Jr., and Vito E. Lanza. The Committee was appointed to consider teachers' salaries and the matter of teachers' extra-curricular and co-curricular activities. The Committee was created in reponse to widespread protests from both teachers and the public concerning salary schedules and a boycott of extra-curricular activities by the teachers. Materials include (5 vol) transcripts of proceedings (1950), report and summary of findings, recommendations and related documents.

Transcripts (11 vol) of the official report of proceedings before the U.S. National War Labor Board (1943) of the Office of Emergency Management in the case of the Electrical Transcription Manufacturing Company vs. the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) regard unemployment of musicians due to broadcasting of records in place of live performances. The Board consisted of Arthur Meyer (chairman, representing the public), Gilbert E. Fuller (industry representative), Max Zaritsky (labor representative), Paul R. Hays (counsel to the Panel), and N.P. Feinsinger (special assistant to the Panel). The files include manuscript notes of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission on the case, on James C. Petrillo (president, AFM) on questions concerning phonograph records, on electrical transcriptions, and on musicians (1942); a petition for intervention in the case by RCA Victor Division, Radio Corporation of America (1943); a statement of Joseph A. Podway (counsel for AFM at Senate Sub-Committee hearings) (1943) in support of the AFM position; statement of James Lawrence Fly (chairman, Federal Communications Commission) before the Sub-Committee on Interstate Commerce, S.R. 286, 77th Congress, 2nd Session, regarding the recording ban on the radio broadcasting industry; papers on the history of the controversy and on the jurisdiction of the National War Labor Board; clippings; and miscellaneous materials relating to the case.

The arbitration case files include awards, transcripts and minutes of arbitration hearings, opinions, correspondence, manuscript notes, union and company exhibits, agreements, demands, briefs, reports and papers, news releases, statements, pamphlets, and statistical data as supporting documentation for cases involving Consolidated Edison of New Jersey vs. the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Brotherhood of Consolidated Edison Employees (1942) regarding contracting out; Transcontinental Gas Pipe Lines Corporation vs. International Hod Carriers, Laborers' International Union, International Union of Operating Engineers, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry (1943-1944) regarding sub-contracting, open shops, and union security; Press Wireless Incorporated vs. American Communications Association, CIO on the issue of management rights and unilateral action of employer regarding layoffs, position reclassification, wages, and back pay; General Electric Company and Westinghouse Electric Corporation vs. United Electric, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (1945) regarding wages (elimination of sex differentials), and minimum wages in hiring.

Other cases include the New York Telephone Company vs. United Telephone Organizations (1944) regarding transfer of employees (men and women) to avoid violations of the Todd Act, prohibiting discrimination in rates of pay because of sex; the American Cloak and Suit Manufacturers Association Incorporated vs. the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (1945-1946) before the impartial chairman of the coat and suit industry regarding union demands for a wage readjustment; and the Broadway Corporation vs. Meyer regarding wages and progression adjustments and other routine arbitration awards.