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9 Indus. & Lab. Rel. F. 97 (1973)
Working on the Railroad/IV: Birth of the Railway Labor Act

handle is hein.journals/indlref9 and id is 279 raw text is: 97 WORKING ON THE RAILROAD/ IV. Birth of the Railway Labor Act The Railway Brotherhoods and the Railway Labor Act: A Study in Progressive Political Action in the 1920's by Gary Young Successful government operation of the railroads during World War I lent impetus to a movement for government ownership after the war. The Plumb Plan, embraced by the railway brotherhoods, was a hot issue for several years, but it drew severe criticism as a socialistic measure in the years of the Red Scare. When the Transportation Act of 1920 was passed, enshrining private ownership and setting up a Railroad Labor Board to settle disputes, the unions dropped the Plumb Plan and began to plan political action to re- place the Act, which they considered discriminatory and contrary to the interests of railroad labor. The author develops the theme of progressive pol- itical action by the railway brotherhoods from the congressional campaign of 1922 through to the enact- ment of the 1926 RailwayLabor Act, which, in amended form, is still the basic law for railway labor relations today. Of particular interest is the discussion of railway labor's part in the LaFollette campaign of 1924. Most historians have cited the public ownership plank in the LaFollette platform as the prime motivation for railway labor support for LaFollette. Mr. Young demonstrates that the unions had long since dropped the government ownership issue when they embraced LaFollette; rather, they were motivated by their opposition to the Trans- portation Act and their hope that the election of pro- gressives would result in the Act's repeal or modifi- cation. Gary Young is a 1973 graduate of the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University.

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