MS 657 - Toledo Labor Management Citizens Committee
MLA Citation
Tags
| Title | MS 657 - Toledo Labor Management Citizens Committee |
|---|---|
| Introduction | The records from the Toledo Labor Management Citizens Committee were transferred to the Center for Archival Collections in November 1993, with the assistance of Martin Fitts, Executive Director. The collection is comprised of minutes, reports, correspondence, histories, and publications and dates from 1945-1996. No restrictions exist on the research use of this collection and duplication is permitted for scholarly purposes. The collection was arranged and finding aid written by James Mapes, graduate assistant, in October 1996. |
| Agency History | In 1935, Toledo gained recognition when it formed The Toledo Industrial Peace Board after the Electric Auto-lite Strike of 1934. Two demonstrators were killed and many more injured in the street fighting during the strike when the National Guard was called in to restore order. However, with the onset of War in Europe, and the entrance of the U.S. into World War II in December of 1941, the Board was dissolved as government agencies assumed control of employment during war time production. In the post-war industrial atmosphere of 1945, "Peace Board" principle was cited by Vice Mayor Michael V. DiSalle, when he proposed that a committee be established to study and devise a plan to minimize labor and management misunderstandings. Key to the issue, was to keep Toledo from being labeled a "bad labor" town, and thereby keep the job and money producing industries in Toledo as well as attracting new ones to the area. Mayor Lloyd Roulet agreed with DiSalle and named eighteen prominent citizens, six representatives each from labor, management, and the public, serving without pay, attending all sessions, to sit on the committee. Vice Mayor DiSalle was appointed the chairman, a charter was approved on November 30, 1945 and on February 5, 1946, The Toledo Labor Management Citizens Committee (TLMCC) was established. The Committee served as a mediation panel and responded, when needed, to labor-management disputes by organizing negotiation teams from both labor and management. Simple arbitration and mediation, however, were not the only responsibilities with which the Toledo Labor Management Citizens Committee was charged. The Committee also served the dual function of public educator on labor-management issues as well as practicing "preventive" work - that is they sought to resolve labor-management "hot-spots" before strikes or disputes occurred. Thus the Committee employed, as is stated in its charter, a "practical common sense recognition of the rights of both employees and employers, the mutuality of their interests and the importance of their joint responsibility to the citizens as a whole whose interests transcend the presumed rights of any group." The TLMCC was termed "an immediate success" and brought to Toledo national attention. The TLMCC became known popularly as the "Toledo Plan" and became a model of sorts, for similar projects in many other industrial communities throughout the United States. In a letter from the White House to Mayor Czelusta, ten years after the creation of the TLMCC, President Dwight Eisenhower wrote that "the committee is an outstanding example of what can be accomplished by cooperative local efforts to minimize labor-management disputes." The Committee was not without internal difficulties, and it nearly was dissolved in 1951, which, consequently, explains a gap of fourteen months for which no records can be found. But with the Korean War raging in the far east, the TLMCC returned to keep labor disputes at a minimum. Rabbi Goldberg became chairman of the committee and called to order the first meeting in fourteen months on June 12, 1952. Goldberg outlined a plan to revitalize the TLMCC, under which, all the existing committee members would resign. The Toledo City Council would then amend the charter and appoint ten instead of six, representatives from each sector--public, industrial, and labor plus an additional six associate voting members from each of the previously mentioned sectors, who would serve on mediation panels. The Toledo Labor Management Committee has continued to serve in this capacity. Several minor changes in arbitration and mediation policy were made during the 1960's to help reflect the changes in industry and labor relations. In April of 1996, the Toledo Labor Management Citizens Committee celebrated its 50th year of continuous operation, promoting industrial peace and harmony for the welfare of Toledo and its community. |
| Scope and Content | The core of the Toledo Labor Management Citizens Committee collection is the completeness of its minutes. The minutes begin with the TLMCC's first meeting on July 3, 1945 and continue uninterrupted through September 21, 1979. It is important to note, however, that the meetings gradually become less frequent in the 1950's and by the 1970's the TLMCC rarely meets more than twice a year. Also interesting, is the switch from a "script-dialogue" minutes to a synopsis summary style after the first meeting. This change in style was agreed to during the second meeting. The reason given is to maintain an off-the-record discussion period about issues concerning the TLMCC. Furthermore, many of the minutes have cover letters giving the date, place, and time of the next meeting. Included also with the minutes is a confidential Bulletin, attached to the minutes of October 8, 1947 and a draft report (undated) found between the minutes of December 11, 1947 and January 8, 1948. The report was prepared by the secretary of the education subcommittee and is a fourteen page outline of TLMCC history as well as a brief summary of its duties and policies. This report was to be distributed to various local high schools. The researcher of labor disputes may also be interested in reviewing the minutes of September 15, 1955 attached to which, is a typed copy of a discussion before the TLMCC on a dispute between building supply dealers and the AFL Teamsters Union. The membership records of the TLMCC are sporadic, at best. The completeness of the minutes, however, helps to alleviate this somewhat, by providing attendance information at the start of each meeting. The correspondence includes many letters addressed to and from committee members with a smaller number being addressed to organizations outside of the TLMCC. Researchers who are looking for information pertaining to the development of Labor Management Citizens Committees (LMC) elsewhere (other than Toledo) will find some of this correspondence interesting. The correspondence becomes very sporadic after the year 1947. The subject files record group includes several record series: charter materials, mediation and arbitration policies, activities, Toledo ordinances, agreements, histories, and U.S. Department of Labor reports. The charter materials include correspondence drafts, and statements from representatives of labor and management in regards to formation of a charter for the TLMCC. The documents included mostly date from July 2, 1945 to February 13, 1946. Perhaps most helpful to the researcher will be the history subject file. This file contains a senior college paper and master's thesis as well as several TLMCC commissioned histories. The reports record group includes a complete series of annual reports up to 1972. These reports provide data concerning man-day losses, reports on activities, arbitration, and disputes, and budget reports. Also interesting to a researcher of U.S. government policy toward LMC's is a series titled "status" report. This series contains a report commissioned by the TLMCC pertaining to the status of the TLMCC under the Taft-Hartley Act. The report is dated September 4, 1947. This Collection's statistical and financial documents are less impressive and are fairly sporadic. The Collection's scrapbook material contains sporadic newspaper and newsletter articles on the functions of the TLMCC from a variety of sources. Again, however, there are wide gaps in the dates, sometimes ranging from 2-3 years to over 11 years, during which no articles were filed. The newest concentration of these articles are dated from June 1945 to June 1947 with the second greatest concentration occurring between June 1988 to March 1991. Printed material is organized into three series: programs, brochures, and awards-commendations. The programs series is unimpressive, containing only 3 programs from meetings and conferences concerning labor-management issues. The awards and commendations series is not much more impressive, with the exception of a typed letter signed by President Dwight Eisenhower, dated May 10, 1955, and addressed to then Toledo Mayor Ollie Czelusta. Perhaps the most spartan series in this collection is the photographic material. This series contains miscellaneous positive photographs of unknown individuals, a filmstrip produced by the TLMCC education subcommittee for use in Toledo classrooms and a humorous photograph of a company voting booth. None of the items are dated. The researcher should note that additional photographs are contained in this collection under the record group subject files. Numerous black and white photographs were taken of surviving charter members of the TLMCC during the 35th anniversary luncheon/reunion. Completing the collection are two audio cassette tapes dated 1988 and containing recorded interviews with Dr. Goldberg and Franz Berlather on the history of the TLMCC. |
| Series Description | PROCEEDINGS MINUTES MEMBERSHIP RECORDS CORRESPONDENCE SUBJECT FILES CHARTER MATERIALS MEDIATION AND ARBITRATION POLICY ACTIVITIES TOLEDO ORDINANCES AGREEMENTS HISTORY U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR REPORTS ANNUAL REPORTS STATUS REPORT STATISTICAL FINANCIAL SCRAPBOOK MATERIALS NEWS ARTICLES PROGRAMS PRINTED MATERIAL BROCHURES AWARDS-COMMENDATION PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIAL POSITIVE PHOTOGRAPHS AUDIO MATERIAL AUDIO TAPE RECORDING |
| Inventory | Box 1 Folder
Box 2 Folder
Box 3 Folder
Box 4 Folder
Oversized Box Folder
|