‘Master-Servant Role for Labor in America’

Paul Schrade’s highly thoughtful letter (Oct. 12), “Master-Servant Role for Labor in America,” is worthwhile reading for every sensitive soul who longs for greater justice in everyday living.

The fatal flaw in his argument is that man has not evolved to a high enough level to make his utopia workable.

As I read Schrade’s thesis, “The fundamental relationship between labor and management is so grossly unequal . . . that it can be defined as a ‘master-servant’ relationship. His solution: “Unions must join forces with other groups that are also not privileged or have unsolved problems and face the same corporate and governmental adversaries.”

Although I am a graduate of the “West Point of Capitalism”--the Harvard Business School--and have represented managements for nearly as long as Schrade has been a union member, I have often been troubled by the bastions of tyranny within a democracy that characterize many corporations. If Schrade thinks labor union members are abused by the power of corporations, he should walk in the moccasins of some top executives who live in fear of the wrathful, whimsical personalities of some of their superiors.

Schrade’s solution is predictable, coming from a union man of 37 years. Going from his assumption that unionization somehow creates democracy, he would form one monster union, sweeping up everyone who feels he is outside of the power structure.

There is a strong streak of naivete in this solution. Clever people who are power-hungry would soon rise to the top of this super-union as they have with the traditional unions. What has an individual to gain in joining a monster union when its leaders are willing to take away his individual rights to further their own personal priorities? Even Schrade in his letter criticizes union leaders for this tendency to make concessions that are not in the best interests of individual union members.

I have no doubt that Schrade is a man of good will. I know nothing of his religious persuasion but he probably would agree with the sentiment expressed by Jesus when He said: “Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” It seems likely that there has been an evolution toward better treatment of individuals since Jesus’ time, when viewed from a historical perspective; yet men (and women) continue to step on each other in their quest for position, regardless of the nature of the organization. I don’t think this fact will change materially in the lifetime of anyone now living.

Thus, my advice to younger people starting out is somewhat different than my generation was given when I graduated from college 35 years ago. Then we were told that if you put your faith in big organizations--big corporations, big unions, big governments--you would prosper by working hard and being a compliant soul.

Alternatively, I would say today that every person should take charge of his individual life and never let his security depend on another’s nobility. For example, one’s health is too important to slavishly follow “doctor’s orders,” the development of one’s immortal soul is too important to turn over to some self-professed guru in either flowing robes or a polyester suit, and one’s economic well-being is too important to cave in to the dictates of corporate, union or governmental leaders.

I realize in that statement I have come perilously close to endorsing the bumper sticker of the 1960s and 1970s that stated, “Question Authority.” Well so be it.

One has to answer to only one ultimate authority--his personal relationship with God.

FLOYD A. OLIVER

Los Angeles