Leo Wolman
Leo Wolman (February 24, 1890 – October 2, 1961) was a noted American economist whose work focused on labor economics.
[1] A number of studies he authored for NBER became the subject of national attention and debate, including a 1925, he report on the size and strength of labor unions in the United States,[4] a 1929 study on changes in patterns of consumption and the effect on standards of living,[5] and a 1930 report on the role of public works in helping reduce unemployment.
For example, he was one of many educators who signed an open letter denouncing violence against labor union members in the "Harlan County War" in 1932.
[1][8] Wesley Clair Mitchell, a highly influential economist and colleague at NBER, lobbied heavily for Wolman to be added to the faculty.
[15] In June 1933, Wolman was appointed to the staff of the National Recovery Administration (NRA), which led to a critical role in the regulation of labor relations.
[17] On August 1, 1933, Wolman was appointed (along the Hugh S. Johnson and Deputy NRA Administrator Nelson Slater) to a board to mediate disputes arising under the newly approved cotton textile code.
The Full-Fashioned Hosiery Workers Union launched an organizing drive in the summer of 1933 in the silk stocking mills around Reading, Pennsylvania.
Known as the "Reading Formula," the settlement consisted of four parts: (1) That the union call off the strike; (2) That all employees be rehired immediately, without retaliation; (3) That the NLB hold elections in which the workers would vote by secret ballot for their own representatives, and that both parties would negotiate a collective bargaining agreement covering wages, hours and working conditions; and (4) That in the event of any disagreement on any matter, the parties would submit the dispute to the NLB for binding arbitration.
The order also authorized the Board to "settle by mediation, conciliation or arbitration all controversies between employers and employees which tend to impede the purpose of the National Industrial Recovery Act.
The order gave the Board explicit power to authorize, upon a showing by a substantial number of employees, representational elections to determine majority status, and appeared to give the winning organization exclusive representation for employees in the bargaining unit (although this interpretation was widely contested).
Denver Tramway was a major turning point in American labor law because it established the rule of exclusive representation.
[34][35] After the passage of the National Industrial Recovery Act in June 1933, the AFL again spearheaded a major drive in automobile manufacturing, this time organizing workers into federal labor unions.
For a time the talks seemed to be making progress, but when the automakers refused to deal with the NLB President Roosevelt intervened personally in the negotiations.
[36][43] At Wolman's suggestion,[36] Roosevelt agreed on March 25 to establish an Automobile Labor Board which endorsed Johnson's reinterpretation of the auto industry code of February 1934 and would hear grievances and cases of discrimination against workers.
[36][37][46] Wolman proceeded to implement a plan to hold a series of elections throughout the auto industry beginning in late 1934.
[19][36][37] These two events led to the end of Wolman's career as a public servant, as President Roosevelt did not appoint him to any new positions in government.
On June 3, 1936, he co-authored a letter with Newton D. Baker and Lewis Williams Douglas which appeared in The New York Times and which attacked the New Deal as dictatorial and communist.
[55] He argued that the federal minimum wage laws, unemployment benefits, eight-hour day rules, and overtime requirements hindered economic recovery.
He issued a report on ways to improve economic conditions in the area, and joined the newly formed Friends of Palestine in 1929 to support Jewish institutions of culture and higher education in the region.
