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President Roosevelt Against Collective Bargaining by the Public Sector

President Roosevelt Against Collective Bargaining by the Public Sector
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
The American Presidency Project
August 16, 1937

President Roosevelt's letter to Mr. Luther C. Steward, President, National Federation of Federal Employees. In the letter, FDR takes a position that public employees should not be able to collectively bargain.

"My dear Mr. Steward:

 

As I am unable to accept your kind invitation to be present on the occasion of the Twentieth Jubilee Convention of the National Federation of Federal Employees, I am taking this method of sending greetings and a message.

Reading your letter of July 14, 1937, I was especially interested in the timeliness of your remark that the manner in which the activities of your organization have been carried on during the past two decades 'has been in complete consonance with the best traditions of public employee relationships.' Organizations of Government employees have a logical place in Government affairs.

The desire of Government employees for fair and adequate pay, reasonable hours of work, safe and suitable working conditions, development of opportunities for advancement, facilities for fair and impartial consideration and review of grievances, and other objectives of a proper employee relations policy, is basically no different from that of employees in private industry. Organization on their part to present their views on such matters is both natural and logical, but meticulous attention should be paid to the special relationships and obligations of public servants to the public itself and to the Government.

All Government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service. It has its distinct and insurmountable limitations when applied to public personnel management. The very nature and purposes of Government make it impossible for administrative officials to represent fully or to bind the employer in mutual discussions with Government employee organizations. The employer is the whole people, who speak by means of laws enacted by their representatives in Congress. Accordingly, administrative officials and employees alike are governed and guided, and in many instances restricted, by laws which establish policies, procedures, or rules in personnel matters.

Particularly, I want to emphasize my conviction that militant tactics have no place in the functions of any organization of Government employees. Upon employees in the Federal service rests the obligation to serve the whole people, whose interests and welfare require orderliness and continuity in the conduct of Government activities. This obligation is paramount. Since their own services have to do with the functioning of the Government, a strike of public employees manifests nothing less than an intent on their part to prevent or obstruct the operations of Government until their demands are satisfied. Such action, looking toward the paralysis of Government by those who have sworn to support it, is unthinkable and intolerable. It is, therefore, with a feeling of gratification that I have noted in the constitution of the National Federation of Federal Employees the provision that 'under no circumstances shall this Federation engage in or support strikes against the United States Government.'

 

I congratulate the National Federation of Federal Employees the twentieth anniversary of its founding and trust that the convention will, in every way, be successful."

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...

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This CNN article discusses how New Jersey plans to deal with their massive $34 billion dollar pension shortfall—money which goes towards the retirement packages of teachers, firefighters, and cops. “For years, states nationwide have shortchanged the retirement programs that cover teachers, police, and other public employees; now the stock market plunge has wiped...

Chart or Graph

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Abstract:     
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Introduction:
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Video/Podcast/Media

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Governor Schwarzenegger of California discusses the state's public pension crisis, something he calls the single biggest threat to the state's fiscal health and future. He says that promises were made that cannot be made and that the unfunded liability to California is $500 billion.

Primary Document

While President Franklin D. Roosevelt opposed collective bargaining by government employees, it wasn't until President Kennedy that government employees were able to collectively bargain at the federal level. Executive Order 10988 is below which first granted the federal employees collective bargaining.

EMPLOYEE-...

President Roosevelt's letter to Mr. Luther C. Steward, President, National Federation of Federal Employees. In the letter, FDR takes a position that public employees should not be able to collectively bargain.

"My dear Mr. Steward:

 

As I am unable to accept your kind invitation to be present on the occasion of the Twentieth...

David Johns comments before the Social Security Subcommittee on the positives and negatives of our British counterpart's public pension policies, and the lessons that we should take from their experiences.

A report established by a committee of chief investment officers (CIO's) by the Association of Public Pension Auditors which outlines the various risks that publicly funded actuaries may encounter, and how to avoid such risks.

"The purpose of this report is to provide updated information on actuarial accrued liabilities as they relate to Other Postemployment Benefits (OPEB) for school districts in Minnesota."

Introduction:
"Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee, I appreciate the opportunity to testify today on Chile's private pension system, especially since it has become the model for countries around the world that have reformed their public pension systems or are considering doing so.

In 1924 Chile was the first country...

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