PresidentialPositionsIssuesReceptionTimelineDocuments

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1936 › Alf Landon (Republican) › Right to organize and bargain collectively

Labor's right to organize in any union it prefers, free from coercion by employer, fellow employee or anyone else; organizers' lawful activity protected

pledge_forwarddirectional_stancecandidate_directevidence B Labor & Employment similar solutions · similar reasoning

Solution

Protect self-organization and collective bargaining 'without interference from any source', with the employee equally free to join or refuse to join absent a contract; after Norman Thomas's inquiry, affirm that organizers may lawfully enter unorganized industries.

Rationale

'Working conditions, wages and hours have been improved through self-organization.'

Labor read 'any other person' in the acceptance speech as excluding organizers; Landon's letter to Thomas corrected the reading.

Statements (3)

1936-06-11 · Republican National Convention, Cleveland (platform) · conventionparty_platform ✓ verified
Protect the right of labor to organize and to bargain collectively through representatives of its own choosing without interference from any source.
1936-07-23 · Acceptance address, Topeka · conventioncandidate_direct ✓ verified
The right of labor to organize means to me the right of employees to join any type of union they prefer, whether it covers their plant, their craft or their industry. It means that, in the absence of a union contract, an employee has an equal right to join a union or to refuse to join a union.
1936-07-30 · Letter to Norman Thomas, as reported by David Lawrence, Evening Star · generalreported ✓ verified
the Republican nominee pledges him self to the doctrine that all workers have a right of self organization and have the right by lawful and proper means to send thier organizers into an unorganized industry.

Follow-through

not_applicable

The Wagner Act's employer-only prohibitions stood; the AFL-CIO split made 'any type of union' the live issue, unresolved until Taft-Hartley (1947).

Reception (2)

news_coverageaccuratesalience medium David Lawrence, Evening Star 1936-07-27

Landon 'must clarify to win labor'; workers were entitled to clear-cut views on bargaining.

Landon Must Clarify to Win Labor Workers Entitled to ClearCut Views on Bargaining
news_coveragedistortedsalience medium David Lawrence, Evening Star 1936-07-31

Labor first read 'any other person' as a denial of organizers' rights; Landon's letter to Norman Thomas was received as 'a milestone' affirming lawful organizing.

labor critics were quick to contend that this meant a denial of the right of organizers to go into an unorganized industry and get members. Mr. Lan don, in his letter to Norman Thomas, makes it clear that he did not mean to exclude union organizers.

Other positions on this issue

1936-landon-labor-right-to-organize-any-union-free-of-coercion · created by claude-fable-5-1 · review: unreviewed