Theodore W. Kheel Interviews and Programs
Collection Number: 5776 AV
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library
Title:
Theodore W. Kheel Interviews and
Programs, 1971-1980
Collection Number:
5776 AV
Creator:
Kheel, Theodore W.
Quantity:
6 linear ft.
Forms of Material:
Interviews.
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor- Management Documentation and
Archives, Cornell University Library
Abstract:
Audio recordings of interviews and programs Theodore Kheel
was involved with
Language:
Collection material in English
Theodore Woodrow Kheel was said to be named for both Woodrow Wilson and his political
rival Theodore Roosevelt, the result of a compromise between his politically
differing parents. The settlement presaged a career in which Kheel would be tapped
by mayors, governors, and presidents to settle disputes that were part of the
nation's major political and social transitions from post-World War II to well into
the 21st century.
Born in 1914 in Brooklyn, Ted Kheel attended public high school in the Bronx. He was
awarded a Regents scholarship to Cornell University, where he attended an
accelerated undergraduate law school program permitting him to earn a bachelor's and
law degree in six years.
In private practice for a brief time after graduation from law school, Kheel soon was
offered a position as a National Labor Relations Board attorney in Washington.
Kheel's special talents as a mediator and his obvious political skills soon gave him
the opportunity to move to a new war-time agency, where he was initially hired as
principal mediation officer. By 1944, he had been appointed executive director of
the National War Labor Board, with a staff of 2,500 who were hearing 150 disputes a
week. Kheel's work at the WLB introduced him to the most important figures in the
labor movement and key government officials' contacts he would use effectively in
the future.
Following the end of World War II, Kheel returned to New York City and was drafted by
Mayor O'Dywer to serve in the city's new Labor Relations Division, which Kheel came
to head within a year. With the agreement of the mayor, Kheel was able to serve both
in this position and maintain a separate, private law practice.
In 1949, Kheel was appointed to a part-time position as impartial chairman for an
important segment of public transit in New York City, a position in which he would
render 30,000 decisions through 1982. Also in 1949, Kheel became a partner in the
New York law firm Battle, Fowler, Jaffin and Kheel. His skills in conflict
resolution led an observer to remark that the firm's work began with a battle, ended
by Kheel.
During his more than half a century of involvement in labor matters, Kheel was known
above all else for his extraordinary ability to get feuding parties to make
concessions to reach an agreement. In the important New York and national labor
disputes which he would be called to mediate, Kheel's approach was to protect
management rights and at the same time demand fairness to workers while also trying
to protect the public interest in the issue.
Kheel's was frequently the voice of reason in settling a number of extremely
difficult labor disputes of the 1960s and 1970s. Mayor Robert F. Wagner, Jr., turned
to Kheel to help end the 114-day newspaper strike of 1962-63. Among his most
infamous cases was the strike involving Mike Quill, head of the Transport Workers
Union, who publically battled Mayor John V. Lindsay in 1965-66. Kheel's efforts also
included helping coordinate bargainers and mediators during the 35-day New York City
teachers' strike in 1968. President Lyndon B. Johnson summoned Kheel to Washington
in 1964 to help mediate 10 days of feverish negotiations that prevented a nationwide
rail walkout. Kheel would ultimately serve as a mediator and advisor for virtually
every New York mayor from O'Dwyer to Beame, for the Kennedy-Johnson Administration,
and other presidential administrations as well.
Kheel's interests in public issues were not limited to the labor sector. The policy
disputes that came to his attention as a mediator and lawyer frequently cried out
for larger solutions, and Kheel was not averse to using his considerable public
presence and media contacts to seek redress, especially for what he viewed as past
institutional injustices or misguided government actions. Although pressed to do so
on a number of occasions, Kheel refused to run for elective office, preferring the
role of a labor neutral and public advocate.
Kheel was also not averse to backing his powers of persuasion with legal action: a
fierce advocate for public transit, he initiated a class action lawsuit over the
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's refusal to fund mass rail transit. His
most sustained crusade for the public good related to his battle to limit commuter
auto traffic and control highway building in New York City in favor of increased use
of public transportation. Initially attacked by Port Authority officials and some
city, state, and federal politicians of both parties, many of the solutions
originally proposed by Kheel, including the concept of the subsidized fare, became
public policy in later years.
An early supporter of the civil rights movement, Kheel and his wife Ann become
involved with the New York Urban League in the 1950s. He served as its president in
1955 and as national president for four years. He worked with President Johnson on
race issues and with Martin Luther King, Jr., in a libel suit against the New York
Times. Kheel's mediation skills led to important strides in hiring African Americans
in the airline industry. His reputation for sensitivity to minority issues resulted
in his becoming involved in efforts to add civilians to the New York City Police
Review Board in 1965. Kheel was also recruited as a peacemaker in the 1968 Ocean
Hill-Brownsville Teachers dispute.
Even though Kheel handled disputes for transit workers, typesetters, and
longshoremen, he reveled in the finer things in life, and dabbled as a restaurateur
in fine food and was a patron of the fine arts.
He once owned a stake in Le Pavillon, a leading French restaurant in Manhattan, among
others. He also represented numerous artists, including Robert Rauschenberg and
Christo, and was the prime mover in the realization of the long-heralded Gates
Project in Central Park in 2005.
He also made millions of dollars as an entrepreneur while facilitating sustainable
economic and social change. He was the lead investor in the giant Punta Cana resort,
transforming 30 miles of jungle in the Dominican Republic, and helped bring about
the airport that opened that country to tourists and travelers.
Finding the solution to problems such as the impact of automation on the workplace,
community disputes, and protecting a sustainable environment in which mankind will
flourish, to name but a few, were the focus of Kheel's interest, enthusiasm, and
financial support. He was the prime mover, bringing along like-minded citizens and
specialists, in the creation of organizations to find solutions to the more
intractable issues facing society. The Foundation on Employee Health, Medical Care
and Welfare, the Foundation on Automation and Employment (and its British
counterpart), Automation House, the Institute for Mediation and Conflict Resolution,
and the Earth Pledge Foundation were among the most successful of such efforts. In
the same vein, in collaboration with Price, Waterhouse in 1994, Kheel formed
Prevention and Early Resolution of Conflicts, Inc. (PERC), now housed at Cornell ILR
as Cornell/PERC Institute.
A prolific writer, Kheel is perhaps best known for his encyclopedic work on labor
law. Throughout a career that was active almost until his death at age 96 in
November 2010, he was able to balance, with amazing success, advocacy of the public
good and the management of a successful law and mediation practice and other
business and cultural interests.
Names:
Kheel, Theodore Woodrow.
Subjects:
Collective bargaining.
Industrial relations.
Arbitration, Industrial.
Form and Genre Terms:
Interviews.
Access Restrictions:
Access to the collections in the Kheel Center is restricted. Please contact a
reference archivist for access to these materials.
Restrictions on Use:
This collection must be used in keeping with the Kheel Center Information Sheet
and Procedures for Document Use.
Cite As:
Theodore W. Kheel Interviews and Programs #5776 AV. Kheel Center for
Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.
Related Collections:
6207 OH: CLEL Video Oral History Project
6194 OH: College of Labor and Employment Lawyers Interview with Theodore W. Kheel
5024: Theodore W. Kheel Arbitration Awards
6021 AV: Theodore W. Kheel Audio-Visual Materials
6017: Theodore W. Kheel Newspaper Clipping File
6021 P: Theodore W. Kheel Photographs
6196 OH: New York City Central Labor Council Interview of Theodore W. Kheel for Central Archives
6059 OH: Thomas Shachtman Interviews with Theodore W. Kheel
6207 OH: CLEL Video Oral History Project
6194 OH: College of Labor and Employment Lawyers Interview with Theodore W. Kheel
5024: Theodore W. Kheel Arbitration Awards
6021 AV: Theodore W. Kheel Audio-Visual Materials
6017: Theodore W. Kheel Newspaper Clipping File
6021 P: Theodore W. Kheel Photographs
6196 OH: New York City Central Labor Council Interview of Theodore W. Kheel for Central Archives
6059 OH: Thomas Shachtman Interviews with Theodore W. Kheel
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Container
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Description
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Date
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| Box 1 | Item C-118 | 1977 | |
|
Part 1. 6/2/77, 28 min. (Master)
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| Box 1 | Item C-119 | 1977 | |
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Part 2. 6/2/77, 28 min. 15 sec. (Master)
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| Box 1 | Item E-110 | ||
| Box 1 | Item E-112 | ||
| Box 1 | Item E-133 | ||
|
ICB/WIA. n.d. 47 min. 30 sec. (Dub)
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| Box 1 | Item E-171 | 1980 | |
|
4/30/80. (Dub)
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| Box 1 | Item K-1 | 1977 | |
|
4/19/77, 29 min. (Master)
|
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| Box 1 | Item K-2 | 1977 | |
|
5/5/77, 30 min. (Master)
|
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| Box 1 | Item K-3 | ||
|
n.d. (Dub-2nd Gen.)
|
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| Box 1 | Item K-4 | 1977 | |
|
6/2/77, 60 min. (Master)
|
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| Box 1 | Item K-5 | 1978 | |
|
3/3/78, 30 min. (Master)
|
|||
| Box 1 | Item K-6 | 1978 | |
|
3/30/78, 28 min. (Master)
|
|||
| Box 1 | Item K-7 | 1978 | |
|
3/30/78, 30 min. (Master)
|
|||
| Box 1 | Item K-8 | 1978 | |
|
3/30/78, 28 min. (Master)
|
|||
| Box 1 | Item K-9 | 1978 | |
|
Demo tape, revised montage. 5/11/78. (Edited Master)
|
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| Box 2 | Item K-10 | 1978 | |
|
ICB Synopsis, Part I. 5/11/78, 60 min. (Edited Master)
|
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| Box 2 | Item K-11 | 1978 | |
|
ICB Synopsis, Part 2. 5/11/78, 20 min. (Edited Master)
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| Box 2 | Item K-12 | 1978 | |
|
2/17/78, 28 min. (Master)
|
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| Box 2 | Item K-13 | 1977 | |
|
12/12/77, 60 min. (Master)
|
|||
| Box 2 | Item K-14 | 1977 | |
|
12/12/77, 58 min. (Master)
|
|||
| Box 2 | Item K-15 | 1977 | |
|
12/12/77, 58 min. (Dub-3rd Gen.)
|
|||
| Box 2 | Item K-16 | 1977 | |
|
12/12/77, 58 min. (Dub-? Gen.)
|
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| Box 2 | Item K-17 | 1978 | |
|
5/11/78, 30 min. (Master #2)
|
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| Box 2 | Item K-18 | 1978 | |
|
5/11/78, 30 min. (Master-Protection copy #1)
|
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| Box 2 | Item K-19 | 1978 | |
|
2/17/78, 28 min. (Master #1)
|
|||
| Box 2 | Item K-20 | 1978 | |
|
2/17/78, 28 min. (Master #1 w/Twk. Intro.)
|
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| Box 2 | Item K-21 | 1980 | |
|
2/21/80, 58 min. 50 sec. (Dub)
|
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| Box 2 | Item K-22 | 1980 | |
|
2/21/80, 58 min. 50 sec. (Dub-Edited version)
|
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| Box 2 | Item K-23 | 1980 | |
|
2/21/80, 58 min. 50 sec. (Dub)
|
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| Box 2 | Item K-24 | ||
|
n.d., 60 min.
|
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| Box 3 | Item K-24a | ||
|
n.d., 31 min. (Dub-false start)
|
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| Box 3 | Item K-25 | 1980 | |
|
11/18/80, 58 min. (Dub)
|
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| Box 3 | Item K-26 | ||
|
n.d., 60 min. (CNB-TV)
|
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| Box 3 | Item K-27 | ||
|
n.d., 47 min. 20 sec. (Edited Master)
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| Box 3 | Item K-28 | 1979 | |
|
10/31/79, 60 min. (Unedited Master)
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| Box 3 | Item K-29 | 1979 | |
|
10/31/79, 58 min. 50 sec. (Dub)
|
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| Box 3 | Item K-31 | ||
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n.d., 60 min. (Dub from 90 min. master)
|
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| Box 3 | Item K-32 | 1980 | |
|
1/2/80, 60 min.
|
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| Box 3 | Item K-33 | ||
|
n.d., 59 min. (Dub)
|
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| Box 3 | Item K-34 | 1980 | |
|
1/2/80, 30 min.
|
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| Box 3 | Item K-35 | ||
|
n.d., 31 min. (Final Edit, Dub)
|
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| Box 3 | Item K-36 | ||
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n.d. (Dub)
|
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| Box 3 | Item K-37 | ||
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(Back-up Master, Roll-ins)
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| Box 3 | Item K-38 | 1979 | |
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12/9/79, 60 min. (Dub from 90 min. master parts 1 and 2)
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| Box 3 | Item K-39 | 1979 | |
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12/9/79, 60 min. (Master)
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| Box 4 | Item K-40 | 1979 | |
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12/9/79, 60 min. Total time 88:30 (Dub)
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| Box 4 | Item K-41 | 1979 | |
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12/9/79, 28 min. 30 sec. (Dub)
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| Box 4 | Item K-41a | 1979 | |
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The International Association of Machinists, The Center for Non-Broadcast
Television live satellite transmission from New York City to 186 cable
stations in the United States. Part 1 of 2. 4/29/79, 30 min. (Dub)
|
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| Box 4 | Item K-42 | ||
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Part 1. n.d., 30 min.
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| Box 4 | Item K-43 | 1979 | |
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Part 1 of second. International Association of Machinists. 4/29/79, 30 min.
(Master)
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| Box 4 | Item K-44 | ||
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Part 2. n.d., 60 min.
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| Box 4 | Item K-45 | 1979 | |
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4/29/79, 60 min. (Master-Do Not Play, Dubbing only)
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| Box 4 | Item K-46 | 1979 | |
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6/28/79, 30 min. (Promo-compilation tape)
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| Box 4 | Item K-46a | 1979 | |
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7/12/79, 15 min. (Master)
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| Box 4 | Item K-46b | 1980 | |
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4/24/80, 5 min. (Edited master)
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| Box 4 | Item K-47 | 1971 | |
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1971, 30 min. (Film transfer)
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| Box 4 | Item K-48 | 1977 | |
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1/25/77, 60 min. (Master)
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| Box 4 | Item K-49 | ||
| Box 4 | Item K-58 | ||
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n.d., 30 min. (Dub)
|
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| Box 4 | Item K-59 | ||
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n.d., 30 min. (Master)
|
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| Box 5 | Item L | 1980 | |
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4/30/80, 30 min.
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| Box 5 | Item W-6 | ||
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11/18 (Master)
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| Box 5 | Item W-8 | ||
|
n.d., 90 min. (Master)
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| Box 6 | Item W-17 | ||
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Protection Dub.
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| Box 6 | Item W-29 | ||
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n.d., 18 min. (Master)
|
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| Box 6 | Item W-43 | 1979 | |
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6/22/79, 90 min. (Edited Master)
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