"I even believe in helping an employer function more productively. For then, we will have a claim to higher wages, shorter hours, and greater participation in the benefits of running a smooth industrial machine"
About this Quote
Hillman is selling a kind of labor politics that sounds almost heretical if you expect unions to define themselves purely by opposition. He frames cooperation with management not as surrender, but as leverage: help the boss run the plant better so workers can credibly demand a bigger share of what that efficiency produces. It is unionism as strategy, not romance.
The intent is pragmatic and disciplinary. Hillman signals to employers and the public that labor is not a wrecking crew; it can be a partner in modernization. At the same time, he’s talking to workers who may distrust any rhetoric that smells like “teamwork.” The phrase “claim” matters. He isn’t begging for benevolence or invoking abstract fairness. He’s arguing for entitlement backed by measurable output. If the shop floor contributes to productivity, then wages, hours, and “participation in the benefits” become debts owed, not gifts granted.
The subtext is a wager about power in industrial capitalism: that the struggle is not only over pay but over governance. “Participation” gestures beyond the paycheck toward a say in how work is organized and how gains are distributed. And “smooth industrial machine” is doing double duty - admiring efficiency while hinting that the machine runs smoothly only because labor makes it so. That’s a quiet threat wrapped in managerial language.
Context sharpens the edge. Hillman, a key figure in the garment unions and the CIO era, operated in a world where mass production was consolidating, the New Deal was redefining labor’s legal standing, and “responsible” unionism was politically necessary. He’s staking out a middle path: class conflict, translated into bargaining power that can survive in the mainstream.
The intent is pragmatic and disciplinary. Hillman signals to employers and the public that labor is not a wrecking crew; it can be a partner in modernization. At the same time, he’s talking to workers who may distrust any rhetoric that smells like “teamwork.” The phrase “claim” matters. He isn’t begging for benevolence or invoking abstract fairness. He’s arguing for entitlement backed by measurable output. If the shop floor contributes to productivity, then wages, hours, and “participation in the benefits” become debts owed, not gifts granted.
The subtext is a wager about power in industrial capitalism: that the struggle is not only over pay but over governance. “Participation” gestures beyond the paycheck toward a say in how work is organized and how gains are distributed. And “smooth industrial machine” is doing double duty - admiring efficiency while hinting that the machine runs smoothly only because labor makes it so. That’s a quiet threat wrapped in managerial language.
Context sharpens the edge. Hillman, a key figure in the garment unions and the CIO era, operated in a world where mass production was consolidating, the New Deal was redefining labor’s legal standing, and “responsible” unionism was politically necessary. He’s staking out a middle path: class conflict, translated into bargaining power that can survive in the mainstream.
Quote Details
| Topic | Work Ethic |
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