Nelson Lichtenstein believes workplace justice can prevent workers from having to “lick the boots” of their employers.
The author and labor historian spoke to a diverse and attentive crowd for nearly an hour Monday in the Knight Library. He analyzed America’s history of union organization, collective bargaining and labor arbitration in the 20th century.
“Americans consider workplace discrimination un-American,” Lichtenstein said, “but there is no debate on the need to stop it.”
He cited the formation of unions as key in turning labor policies upside down.
Lichtenstein said the formation of unions allowed average workers to regain their rights as human beings — that workers maintain the same rights at the office that they have at the ballots, in the courtroom or speaking out in city hall.
The speech helped launch a new exhibition of papers at the Knight Library, which focuses on Wayne Morse’s career as a labor arbitrator.
Morse, a former dean of the University’s law school, represented Oregon for 24 years in the U.S. Senate. He was best known for his contributions to labor relations on the West Coast before his death in 1974.
Lichtenstein also addressed current problems in labor relations. He noted lawyers may be able to protect workers, but the judicial system may not be able to enforce labor laws in millions of workplaces.
“Workers will remain silent unless they have some organization that protects them from the repercussions of speaking up,” he said.
He continued to emphasize the nation’s retreat from democracy in the workplace.
“There is a virtue and a power in appealing to the democratic norms that are still carved in hundreds of buildings,” he said.
Lichtenstein described Morse as the most famous labor arbitrator of the 1930’s.
“He was a man with a social conscience,” Lichtenstein said, “and he was pro-union.”
Between 1958 and 1973, Morse donated 1200 linear feet of personal and senatorial papers to the University’s Special Collections. The Morse collection is the largest at the Knight Library.
The exhibit, sponsored by the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics, is part of a continuing program focusing on “Labor in a Global Economy.”
Margaret Hallock, director of the Wayne Morse Chair, described Lichtenstein as “the most eminent labor historian writing today.”
“This was an illuminating lesson about the challenges facing American workers,” Hallock said. “It’s often forgotten that workers are human beings. We have to check our rights at the door.”
Lichtenstein’s address sparked a great deal of discussion among those at the reception afterwards. Tom Leedham, secretary treasurer of the Local 206 Teamsters, appreciated Lichtenstein’s perspective.
“Workers can’t rely on the judicial system to work for them,” Leedham said. “You need more democracy to build power for the working people.”