The Government of American Trade Unions (Volume 31, Nos. 1-4)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1913. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XII THE INITIATIVE AND THE REFERENDUM Originally, as has already been noted, the national trade unions elected officers and transacted all other business--executive, legislative and judicial--through the convention of delegates. A number of national unions still continue to vest such unlimited, wide-reaching powers in this representative assembly, but the great majority of them have limited its power to a greater or less extent by the use of the initiative and referendum. The trade unions submit a far wider variety of business to popular vote than do political governments. By this method they elect officers, adopt rules, declare strikes, levy assessments, render judicial decisions, and transact other business. In a few organizations the convention has been abolished, and all questions are determined by the vote of the members. The right of popular initiative exists in American trade unions only in a modified sense. A member, for example, may propose any amendment to the international constitution at a meeting of his local union, but his proposal must be endorsed by at least a majority of the members in his own branch, must be signed by the local officers, and must have the seal of the subordinate union attached before it can be recognized at headquarters. Then it must be endorsed by the general executive board or by a certain number of other branches before it can be submitted to popular vote. In other words, the local unions, not the members in their individual capacity, have the right to propose legislation. The general executive board has an equal right with the local societies in nearly all cases to submit measures to the referendum. Indeed, in some eight unions the general executive board alone may exercise this privilege. The subordinate un...