In May, 1939, the Wisconsin Legislature passed the Wisconsin Employment Peace Act. The new act abolished the Wisconsin Labor Relations Board of April, 1937, and provided for the establishment of the Wisconsin Employment Relations Board. Besides incorporating all the features of collective bargaining, the new act recognized and protected the right of employee to refrain from joining any labor organization if they so desired. One of the functions of the Wisconsin Employment Relations Board was to create the machinery for settling disputes and grievances between organized labor and management by appointing an “impartial tribunal” to adjudicate disagreements. On May 23, 1939, the board began its work to mediate cases in which complaints were filed alleging unfair labor practices.
This H. Herman Rauch file contains material on the arbitration of disputes and grievances between organized labor and 38 companies (36 Wisconsin ones) from 1941-1948. They are cases arbitrated by H. Herman Rauch, who was associated with the Board and the Wisconsin Industrial Commission.
The arbitration cases are arranged in alphabetical order, according to the name of the company involved in the dispute. The exceptions are the Fairbanks-Morse Co., the Four Wheel Drive Corp., and the Green Bay Drop Forge Co. Because of the bulk of material connected with these cases, each is in a separate box. Rauch's general correspondence, and the material pertaining to his lobby activities against federalization of unemployment compensation, Steadier Jobs Conference, and with the Wisconsin Industrial Commission, is arranged in chronological order and is in Box 1. All correspondence between Rauch and the parties involved in the labor disputes was left with the particular case.
