The National War Labor Board
https://highered.nbclearn.com/portal/site/HigherEd/browse/?cuecard=39499
General Information
Source:
NBC News
Resource Type:
Creator:
N/A
Copyright:
Event Date:
Air/Publish Date:
1917-1919
07/30/2007
Copyright Date:
Clip Length
Video MiniDocumentary
NBCUniversal Media,
LLC.
2007
00:03:15
Description
To keep American industry humming during World War I, Woodrow Wilson sets up the National War
Labor Board to resolve conflicts between labor and business.
Keywords
World War I, Woodrow Wilson, National War Labor Board, Labor Policy, Military Production, Disputes,
Mediation, Unions, American Federation Of Labor, Samuel Gompers
Citation
MLA
"The National War Labor Board." NBC News. NBCUniversal Media. 30 July 2007. NBC Learn. Web. 26
© 2008-2015 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Page 1 of 3
August 2015
APA
2007, July 30. The National War Labor Board. [Television series episode]. NBC News. Retrieved from
https://highered.nbclearn.com/portal/site/HigherEd/browse/?cuecard=39499
CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE
"The National War Labor Board" NBC News, New York, NY: NBC Universal, 07/30/2007. Accessed
Wed Aug 26 2015 from NBC Learn:
https://highered.nbclearn.com/portal/site/HigherEd/browse/?cuecard=39499
Transcript
The National War Labor Board
NARRATOR: In 1917 the United States entered World War I, and American industry boomed, producing
the equipment and supplies necessary to support the growing military needs. President Woodrow Wilson
wanted to make sure nothing interrupted a smooth production line, so he established The National War
Labor Board to resolve potential conflicts between labor and business leaders.
CHRISTOPHER CAPOZZOLA (MIT): The Wilson administration was concerned above all with
production, keeping the factories moving. And they wanted to do what it took to do that. And that
sometimes meant negotiation and compromise. They wanted to speak to union leaders and get them on
their side for the war effort. And the National War Labor Board was designed in part to do that.
NARRATOR: The Board pressured employers to improve the quality of workers’ lives.
It encouraged industry to reduce shifts to eight hours, to pay workers a living wage, and to grant women
equal pay for equal work.
EDWARD T. O’DONNELL (Holy Cross College): They want full production, full employment, and no
labor unrest. So they, essentially, tell-- American industries, particularly industries making stuff that is
used for the war, that you are to pay your workers high wages. You're to reduce their hours of work. You
are to recognize their unions and negotiate with them. We do not want strikes.
NARRATOR: The National War Labor Board insisted that unions avoid all strikes for the duration of the
war. This guaranteed that factories stayed open, and that American soldiers and overseas allies continued
to receive the equipment they needed. But it also benefited workers because employers wanted to keep
them happy.
CAPOZZOLA: The biggest union was the American Federation of Labor, which was organized primarily
around skilled workers and that worked closely with the government during the war. Samuel Gompers
who was head of it came out strongly in favor of the war. And he worked closely with government
institutions, particularly the National War Labor Board, which also intervened for the first time on behalf
of workers. And sort of enforcing the eight hour day so-- protecting workers' rights to organize in
exchange for a no strike pledge from the American Federation of Labor. So, you get a kind of negotiated
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balance between them.
O’DONNELL: And so American workers earned very favorable wages and have pretty decent conditions
for a couple of years there during World War I. And so there's hope that when peace comes, that this'll be
a golden age of labor, that there'll be this sort of business and government cooperation-- making a-- a
better situation for all American workers.
NARRATOR: But that didn’t happen. When the war ended, American business resumed its practice of
trying to lower wages and increase workers’ hours. Tensions between employers and workers exploded in
1919 when more than four million workers went on strike to protest 12-hour workdays and dangerous
working conditions.
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