Stabilization of Labor Relations?

The objective of stabilization of labor relations is one which, however desirable, is not likely to be achieved in the foreseeable future. Three major problems stand in its way. (1) The strike is becoming, increasingly, an unacceptable device for resolving labor disputes, due to the spread of collective bargaining to the public sector, where vital services have been interrupted, and due also to the fact that often the strike is simply an anachronistic device for settling issues. The obvious substitute for the strike, some form of compulsory arbitration, cannot be expected in the near term, however. (2) The issue of wage and price controls to avoid secular inflation is another which is not likely to be resolved very soon and will serve to keep the industrial relations pot boiling. Voluntary controls are unworkable, and centralized government controls are unpalatable. (3) Finally, as labor unions have won acceptance for themselves and gains for their members, a number have joined the ranks of defenders of the status quo. This leaves inadequately represented those who see a brighter future for themselves and society only through social and economic changes which are unsettling to the status quo. It is unlikely that these dissatisfied elements of the labor force will remain indefinitely unrepresented; one can anticipate the rise of a reform movement, challenging the AFL-CIO, analogous to the challenge of the AFL by the CIO in the 1930's. For at least these three reasons, stabilization of labor relations is only a distant dream.