Corruption and Racketeering in the Labor Movement (Classic Reprint) - Softcover

Philip Taft

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0265132096 ISBN 13: 9780265132098

Publisher: Forgotten Books, 2020

Synopsis

Excerpt from Corruption and Racketeering in the Labor Movement

Racketeering should, however, be distinguished from other types of conduct which may not meet with general approval. By their very nature, unions cannot always act in harmony with public opinion. In pursuing their particular ends, unions may occasionally seek objectives or utilize methods which are not approved by many members of the community, such as an overly vigorous pressure for improvement, uneconomic demands, strikes in public utilities, and the like. Yet such conduct does not indicate venality or corruption even though it might not be, from the point of View of many, socially desirable. Nor should racketeering be confused with the payment of high salaries and /or the granting of lavish expense accounts. This type of conduct, which reflects the mores of American society at large, lies in the category of taste, while racketeering is usually direct or indirect theft. Moreover, salaries of union officers, on the whole, are not high, but there has been a tendency to increase these emoluments With the growth in size and in the prosperity of union organizations. The criticism concerning the level ofsalaries of union officers Springs from a puritanical and idealistic bias which demands that these officials follow a policy of self denial and austerity. The basis of this demand lies largely in tradition. The labor movement was started by idealists who, despite their appeal to self-interest and material gain, believed that trade unions were the instruments for achieving equity, justice, and the better life. Necessity reinforced their inclina tions, and salaries and expense accounts of union officers were, at the beginning, modest or often nonexistent. In fact, the early labor leader frequently received what economists are wont to call psychic satisfaction in lieu of monetary reward. Salaries were usually related to the earnings of members at the trade, and expense accounts were seldom large enough to provide more than a modest lodging and necessary incidentals.

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Edition details

• Publisher: Forgotten Books
• Publication date: 2020
• ISBN 10: 0265132096
• ISBN 13: 9780265132098
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 69