The Forgotten History of “The Labor Board Crew”: How Mediators at the US Labor Board Changed Organized Labor (and the World)

The Rhodes Center Podcast with Mark Blyth

On this episode Mark talks with Ron Schatz, Professor of History at Wesleyan University and author of the new book The Labor Board Crew. In it, Ron  tells the story of a groups of young professionals who, during WWII, took on roles that hadn’t really existed before: they were hired as mediators, recruited by the government to help end strikes at a time when the US government felt the country couldn’t afford to have factories sitting empty.

They weren’t union organizers, businesspeople, or politicians. They were mostly economists and lawyers. They were also quite young. But they were very good at this new kind of job. And the techniques they pioneered changed not only labor relations in the US, but how conflicts were resolved in settings ranging from higher education to international relations.

Learn more about and purchase “The Labor Board Crew”

Watch the video of Ron’s virtual visit to the Rhodes Center

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