Strikers and Replacements: Introductory Comment
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Description
Operating with permanent replacements during a strike is not a new phenomenon. As the recent Greyhound strike so palpably reminds us, much of the labor violence that has occurred in our labor history is an outgrowth of the hiring of replacement workers. Until the 1980s, however, the use of replacements was a marginal feature of the industrial relations scene. Such activity was largely confined to areas or industries where unions were not established. Thus, Charles Perry and his colleagues at the Wharton School, in their 1982 empirical study on Operating During Strikes, reported that employers in established bargaining relationships generally avoided use of replacements. These employers either found it too difficult to obtain qualified workers from outside or feared that the tactic would prolong the strike and leave them with an embittered workforce. Perhaps stimulated by President Reagan's handling of the PATCO strike, employer practices appear to be changing. Permanent replacements were hired in the strikes at Hormel, TWA, AT&T, Boise Cascade, Continental, Pittston and, most recently, Greyhound, to name a few examples. In some cases, the use of permanent replacements has resulted in the effective decertification of the striking union. Organized labor and its friends in Congress have declared a determination to outlaw the use of permanent replacements (or "scabs" in labor parlance). Companion bills—H.R. 3936, introduced by Representative Bill Clay of Missouri and S. 2112, introduced by Senator Metzenbaum of Ohio—would prohibit both the hiring of permanent replacements as well as the granting of any employment preference to an individual because he or she agreed to work during a strike. Staff counsel for the House labor subcommittee tells me that the bills now have 120 cosponsors. Hearings have begun. It is too early to say whether the bills in their present form will pass. Legislative change of some sort may well be in the offing. The controversy over permanent replacements raises a number of questions or paradoxes which, among others, will be the subject of today's roundtable.
Source Publication
Proceedings of the New York University 43rd Annual National Conference on Labor
Source Editors/Authors
Bruno Stein
Publication Date
1990
Recommended Citation
Estreicher, Samuel, "Strikers and Replacements: Introductory Comment" (1990). Faculty Chapters. 478.
https://gretchen.law.nyu.edu/fac-chapt/478
