"
The establishment of the War Labor Board did not mean that the country
had gone over to the principle of compulsory arbitration, for the Board
could not force any party to a dispute to submit to its arbitration or
by an umpire of its appointment. However, so outspoken was public
opinion on the necessity of avoiding interruptions in the War industries
and so far-reaching were the powers of the government over the employer
as the administrator of material and labor priorities and over the
employes as the administrator of the conscription law that the indirect
powers of the Board sufficed to make its decision prevail in nearly
every instance.
The packing industry was a conspicuous case of the "new course" in
industrial relations. This industry had successfully kept unionism out
since an ill-considered strike in 1904, which ended disastrously for the
strikers. Late in 1917, 60,000 employes in the packing houses went on
strike for union recognition, the basic eight-hour day, and other
demands. Intervention by the government led to a settlement, which,
although denying the union formal recognition, granted the basic
eight-hour day, a living wage, and the right to organize, together with
all that it implied, and the appointment of a permanent arbitrator to
adjudicate disputes.
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