No CrossRef data available.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 October 2011
This article tells the story of an often-forgotten attempt to unionize the United States armed forces in the 1970s. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), an AFL-CIO-affiliated union representing federal employees, voted to allow military personnel to join its union in 1976. Military personnel proved far more open to the bid than expected. Nursing grievances from threatened congressional cuts to their institutional benefits, between one-third and one-half welcomed the union. Though a worried Congress, a powerful military leadership, and skeptical public opinion quashed unionization within the year, the brief episode nevertheless left an influential legacy. Coming just after the difficult transition from the draft to the volunteer force, the union bid forced military leaders, soldiers, and supporters in Congress to defend both military service and military benefits from encroachments of an “occupational” model symbolized by unionization. Their successful distinction between military service and employment elevated the former as uniquely honorable and arduous—and thus deserving of unwavering congressional support. Public unions, the embodiment of the occupational threat to military service, emerged bruised by the comparisons to vaunted military service and endured a decades-long decline in membership and congressional protection.
1. Mossberg, Walter and Levine, Richard J., “Union Plans ‘76 Drive to Represent Servicemen; Legalities are Explored, and Pentagon Shudders,” Wall Street Journal, June 27, 1975Google Scholar, 1.
2. West Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, and Sweden were among the Western European countries that had recently unionized their military forces. On NATO countries with unionized armed forces, see Ezra Krendel, “Trade Unionism and the US Armed Forces,” in Military Unionism and the Volunteer System, 15–17; Tobin Dean Seven, “A Military Union in the United States Army? An Attitude Survey,” MPA Thesis, Department of Political Science, San Jose State University, May 1978, 54–64. Quinn and Grabler, 8–26.
3. Marker, George, “Military to Have Own Labor Group,” Army Times, November 10, 1977Google Scholar, 4; “Unionizing: An Interview with Clyde M. Webber, National President of the American Federation of Government Employees,” Army Times Magazine, September 24, 1975Google Scholar, 23.
4. Clyde Webber, Testimony before the Defense Manpower Commission: Organizing the Military Services into a Union, American Federation of Government Employees, August 18, 1975, RG 98–002, Series 1, Box 38, folder 3, George Meany Memorial Archives, Silver Spring Maryland (hereafter Military Unions Collection, GMMA), 7–8.
5. Cortright, David, “The Union Wants to Join You,” The Nation, February 21, 1976Google Scholar, 206.
6. On the G.I. movement, see Cortright, David, Soldiers in Revolt: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War (New York, 1975)Google Scholar; Appy, Christian, Working Class War: American Combat Soldiers and Vietnam (Chapel Hill, 1993)Google Scholar.
7. Survey numbers varied from one-third to one-half reporting acceptance of a military union. See T. Roger Manley, Charles W. McNickhols, and G. C. Saul Young, “A Quick-look analysis of a Survey Examining the Perceptions of Air Force Personnel Towards Military Unionization,” Department of Systems Management, School of Engineering, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, June 1976. Folder 3, Box 38, Military Unions Collection, GMMA, 3, 12, 22; Seven, “A Military Union in the United States Army?”; McCollum and Robinson, “A Study of Active Army Attitudes Toward Unionization,” paper presented at the 39th Military Operations Research Society Symposium, Annapolis, MD, June 1977.
8. Army Chief of Staff General Bernard Rogers quoted in Wilson, George, “Brown Proposes Rules on Military Unions,” Washington Post, July 19, 1977Google Scholar, A4.
9. The “Third Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation” conducted by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld featured a special section analyzing police and firefighting unions, which they referred to as having “paramilitary” functions and thus analogous to the military unionization debate. In these cases the Defense Department concluded administrators had ignored demands to protect benefits and wages, and the union filled the gap. Donald Rumsfeld, “Report of the Third Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation: Military Compensation—A Modernized System,” (Washington, DC, 1976) in Rostker, Bernard, I Want You! The Evolution of the All-Volunteer Force (Santa Monica, 2006) (S0156), 19–23Google Scholar.
10. “The Draft: On Nixon's Pledge to ‘Bury It,’” New York Times, February 2, 1969Google Scholar, E4; “… And on the Draft,” New York Times, February 1, 1969Google Scholar, 28.
11. Van Atta, Dale, With Honor: Melvin Laird in War, Peace, and Politics (Madison, 2008)Google Scholar, 247; Griffith, Robert, The U.S. Army's Transition to the All-Volunteer Force, 1968–1974 (Washington, DC, 1997)Google Scholar, 21.
12. Segal, David, “Military Organization and Personnel Accession: What Changed with the AVF . . . and What Didn't,” in Fullinwider, Robert, ed., Conscripts and Volunteers: Military Requirements, Social Justice, and the All-Volunteer Force (Totowa, NJ, 1983)Google Scholar, 7.
13. “Unionization of the Armed Forces,” U.S. Congress, Senate, Hearing before the Committee on Armed Services, 95th Congress, 1st Session, Mar 18, July 18, 19, 20, 26, 1977, 58, 91.
14. Finney, John, “The Pentagon Budget: Up High and a Likely Target,” New York Times, February 9, 1975Google Scholar, 175.
15. Harold Moore, “On Pay and Benefits, a ‘Balanced Approach,’” Army Magazine, October 1976, 101. Other army analysts made the same point. See Col. William J. Taylor Jr., “Military Unions for the United States: Huge Misstep in the Right Direction,” January 1977, paper for delivery at the 1977 Annual Conference of the International Studies Association, Chase Park Plaza, St. Louis, March 1–20, 1977, in James A. Bandai, Charles Moskos, and William J. Taylor, eds., Military Unions, n.d., ca. 1975–1977, U.S. Army Military History Institute, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, (hereafter MHI).
16. General Accounting Office, “Report to Congress: Problems in Meeting Military Manpower, Washington, DC, 1973,” in Rostker, I Want You!; see also Donald Rumsfeld, quoted in Rostker, I Want You!, 297.
17. Phil Stevens, “Military Kids Get Health Care at ‘Bargain Basement’ Rates,” Army Times, March 15, 1976, 4.
18. Editorial, “They're at it Again,” Army Times, August 9, 1976, 2; “Unionization of the Armed Forces,” 98–99.
19. On the lack of benefits erosion, see “Rumsfeld Departs,” editorial, Army Times, Jan 24, 1977, 13; Ewing, Lee, “Benefits Still Attractive, Taylor Says,” Army Times, November 15, 1976Google Scholar, 10; “Does DoD Care?” Editorial, Army Times, September 10, 1975, 13; “Stratton Joins Fight,” Army Times, December 29, 1976, 4; US Congress, Senate, Hearing before the Committee on Armed Services, 95th Congress, 1st Session, March 18, July 18, 19, 20, 26, 1977, 286, 281; “Benefits Debate,” editorial, Army Times, April 4, 1977, 13; “Benefits Brouhaha,” Army Times, February 16, 1976, 13; Andy Plattner, “Stratton Raps Benefit Erosion Claims,” Army Times, October 31, 1977, 8; David Taylor, “On the Erosion of Benefits: Why Things Aren't As Bad As They Seem,” Army Times Magazine, October 31, 1977, 26.
20. “Benefits Debate,” 13.
21. Sabrosky, Alan Ned, Blue-Collar Soldiers? The Question of American Military Unionization (Philadelphia, 1977)Google Scholar, 14.
22. AFGE's membership estimates from the mid-1970s were publicly reported ranging from 270,000 to 380,000. The union's own history reports 300,000 members in 1970. AFGE, “A Proud Past, A Bright Future: AGFE: The Future is Ours,” http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:6obDzXBL_OsJ:www.afge.org/Documents/History.pdf+AFGE+membership+statistics+historical&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESg6YoX6DZh6BWe4eKKhiakb6TEHlfkjON4N_AMyoGin3Z-qIbWlO4LiqTY0anJEwvlUge1wo5ZZVyGqpBHMxDbUVtm_TVcWJRk4cDQRJshzbusKEAw67eSQD9bQBwM4AQ0lay6v&sig=AHIEtbT-pd9TvYTNnpPD9WNpHAJXVMlAkA, accessed May 12, 2010; McCartin, Joseph A., “‘A Wagner Act for Public Employees’: Labor's Deferred Dream and the Rise of Conservatism, 1970–1976,” Journal of American History, June 2008CrossRefGoogle Scholar, 123.
23. McCartin, “‘A Wagner Act,’” 123.
24. Nesbitt, Murray B., Labor Relations in the Federal Government Service (Washington, DC, 1976)Google Scholar, 374, 380, 387, 388; on the reversal of no-strike positions, also see Sparrow, Sterling D. and Cappozzola, John M., The Urban Community and its Unionized Bureaucracies: Pressure Politics in Local Government Labor Relations (New York, 1973), 242–4Google Scholar.
25. McCartin, “‘A Wagner Act,’” 123.
26. Legislation introduced in Congress in the early 1970s proposed to allow public employees’ unions the same right as private unions and to have access to the full “benefits of collective bargaining.” McCartin, “‘A Wagner Act,’” 126–8.
27. Mount, Lucia, “Big Government—Big Pensions,” Christian Science Monitor, May 27, 1976Google Scholar, 15, 16.
28. Seven, “A Military Union in the United States Army?” 34–5.
29. Clyde Webber, Testimony before the Defense Manpower Commission, Military Unions Collection, GMMA, 7–8.
30. Cortright, David, “Unions and Democracy,” AEI Defense Review 1, (Washington, DC, 1977)Google Scholar, 2.
31. David Cortright, a supporter of military unionization who had been involved in the earlier GI movement during Vietnam and was at the time a scholar at Center for National Security, performed the study for AFGE. Author interview with David Cortright, November 25, 2008.
32. Nicholas J. Nolan quoted in Thurmond, Strom, “Military Unions: No,” AEI Defense Review 1, (Washington, DC, 1977)Google Scholar, 19.
33. “Unionization of the Armed Forces,” 276.
34. Blaylock in “Unionization of the Armed Forces,” 287.
35. “Unionizing: An Interview with Clyde M. Webber,” 23.
36. Letter to the editor from RA Retired, Army Times, January 19, 1977, 15.
37. “Unionization of the Armed Forces,” 186.
38. On AFGE, see Blaylock in “Unionization of the Armed Forces,” 285, 297. On EPOC, see ibid., 115, 117; Harold Logan, “Soldiers Fight Bill to Bar Organizing of Military,” Washington Post, May 21, 1977, A4.
39. David Segal, “From Political to Industrial Citizenship,” in The Political Education of Soldiers, Morris Janowitz and Stephen D. Wesbrook, eds. (Beverly Hills, 1983), 294.
40. T. Roger Manley et al., “A Quick-look Analysis,” Military Unions Collection, GMMA; Seven, “A Military Union in the United States Army?” 45. See also McCollum and Robinson, “A Study of Active Army Attitudes”; McCollum, James and Robinson, Jerald F., “The Law and Current Status of Unions in the Military Establishment,” Labor Law Journal, July 1977, 421–30Google Scholar; Segal, David and Karamer, R. C., “Orientations Toward Military Unions Among Combat Troops,” Journal of Collective Negotiations in the Public Sector 8 (1977)Google Scholar; Segal, David, “Attitudes toward Unions in the Ground Combat Forces,” in Taylor, W. J. et al., eds., Military Unions (Beverly Hills, 1977), 137–49Google Scholar.
41. Cortright, “The Union Wants to Join You,” 208; Seven, “A Military Union in the United States Army?” 45; LTC Peter B. Lane, Ezra S. Krendel, and Colonel William J. Taylor Jr., Military Unionism and the Volunteer Military System, National Security Affairs Monograph 77–1, National Defense University Research Directorate (Washington, DC, 1977), 9; Ezra Krendel, “Trade Unionism and the U.S. Armed Forces,” in LTC Peter B. Lane, Ezra S. Krendel, and Colonel William J. Taylor Jr., Military Unionism and the Volunteer Military System, National Security Affairs Monograph 77–1, National Defense University Research Directorate (Washington, DC, 1977), 30.
42. Robert Nolan, Fleet Reserve Association, National Executive Secretary, quoted in “Unionization of the Armed Forces,” 185. Surveys bore out the analysis. T. Roger Manley et al., “A Quick-look Analysis,” Military Unions Collection, GMMA, 13. McCollum and Robinson, “The Law and Current Status of Unions,” 429.
43. Taylor, “Military Unions,” 9.
44. Quoted in “Unionization of the Armed Forces,” 189. See this same sentiment in Lieutenant Colonel Maurice L. Lien, “Military Associations: A Positive Force for Defense,” The Retired Officer, December 1975, 22, Military Unions Collection, GMMA. Retired Officer, now called Military Officer, was the magazine of the Military Officer's Association of America.
45. Rogers, William J., “The Commander's Message: Unionism Would Threaten Military Chain of Command,” American Legion Magazine, January 1977Google Scholar, 4.
46. “Unionization of the Armed Forces,” 7.
47. G.V. Montgomery quoted in Plattner, Andy, “Poll Rejects Military Unions,” Army Times, December 27, 1976Google Scholar, 4.
48. Stennis quoted in Wilson, “Caution Urged on Military Union,” A1.
49. See, for example, the advertisement Thurmond made for candidate Gerald Ford in the 1976 presidential election in which he accused candidate Jimmy Carter of not being “for the South” but for “George Meany and the unions,” because he promised to sign a repeal of southern states’ right-to-work laws. http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1976/strom-thurmond, accessed June 21, 2010.
50. “Unionization of the Armed Forces,” 8; Strom Thurmond, “Military Unions: No,” 25.
51. “Unionization of the Armed Forces,” 7; n.a. “Senate Votes a Military Union Ban,” New York Times, September 17, 1977, 48.
52. Taylor, William, “Issues in Military Unionization,” in Sabrosky, Alan Ned, ed., Blue Collar Soldiers? (Philadelphia, 1977)Google Scholar, 21.
53. “Unionization of the Armed Forces,” 11, 14, 18, 20.
54. Kansas City Star, September 1, 1976, folder 3, box 38, Military Unions Collection, GMMA, 1.
55. Army Times, October 4, 1976, 15.
56. Blade News, Bowie, MD, January 22, 1976, folder 3, box 38, Military Unions Collection, GMMA, 4.
57. Denholm, David Y. and Humes, Theodore C., “The Case Against Military Unionism,” in Sabrosky, Alan Ned, ed., Blue Collar Soldiers? (Foreign Policy Research Institute: Philadelphia, 1977)Google Scholar, 75, 77; on Denholm and the PSRF, see McCartin, “‘A Wagner Act,’” 140–141; on Gallup poll results, see Causey, Mike, “Public Opposes GU Union,” Washington Post, July 7, 1977Google Scholar, B2.
58. Both quoted in Krendel, Ezra S. and Samoff, Bernard, “Trade Unions and the United States Armed Forces: The Issues and Precedents,” Unionizing the Armed Forces, (Philadelphia, 1977)CrossRefGoogle Scholar, 9.
59. Quoted in Wilson, “Brown Proposes Rules on Military Unions,” A4.
60. Quoted in Mossberg and Levine, “Union Plans ‘76 Drive”; also quoted in David Cortright, “The Union Wants to Join You,” 206.
61. Halverson, Guy, “Cannons Roar on Unionizing U.S. Military,” Christian Science Monitor, April 2, 1976Google Scholar, 34.
62. William C. Westmorland, “Against Unionizing the Military,” New York Times, June 2, 1977, 21.
63. Mossberg and Levine, “Union Plans ‘76 Drive,” 1.
64. Fred Reed, “Military Union Value Doubted,” Army Times, December 27, 1976, 2.
65. Blaylock quoted in “Unionization of the Armed Forces,” 276.
66. The Report of the President's Commission on an All-Volunteer Armed Force, February 1970, (US Government Printing Office, 1970), 10, 52, 58.
67. For an incisive, full discussion of the relationship between the army and consumer society in late twentieth-century America, see Bailey, Beth, America's Army: Making the All-Volunteer Force (Cambridge, MA, 2000.)Google Scholar
68. See Moskos's testimony in “Status of the All-Volunteer Armed Force,” US Congress, Senate, Hearings before the Subcommittee on Manpower and Personnel of the Committee on Armed Services, 95th Congress, 2nd session, June 20, 1978, 38.
69. The Report of the President's Commission on Military Compensation (Washington, DC, April 1978) in Rostker, I Want You! (S0565), 26; Rumsfeld, “Report of the Third Quadrennial Review,” 3–5; General Accounting Office, Report to Congress: Problems in Meeting Military Manpower (Washington, DC, 1973) in Rostker, I Want You! (S0156), 64–5.
70. Rumsfeld, “Report of the Third Quadrennial Review,” 3–5.
71. The Report of the President's Commission on Military Compensation, 1.
72. Moore, Harold G., “A Busy Year of the ‘Hard Look’ at People Policies,” Army Magazine, October 1975Google Scholar, 25.
73. Callender, Bruce, “Servicemen Viewed as Employees,” Army Times, October 4, 1976Google Scholar, 33.
74. Carney, Larry, “Rogers Will Try To Halt Erosion Of Benefits,” Army Times, January 17, 1977Google Scholar, 3.
75. Famiglietti, Gene, “Weyand Issues Call to ‘Fight’ for Benefits,” Army Times, November 5, 1975, 6–7Google Scholar.
76. Rumsfeld, “Report of the Third Quadrennial Review,” 12.
77. Letter from Spc4 Fatima F. Ebrakini to the editor, Army Times, February 21, 1977, 14.
78. Letter from An Officers Wives Club, 4.
79. Beard and Reed, “The Beard Study,” 220.
80. Shoemaker, Randall, “X-Factor Forgotten: Military Benefits Chart Draws Fire,” Army Times, December 24, 1975Google Scholar, 15.
81. Letter from LTC Dennis J. Morrissey to the editor, Army Times, October 11, 1976, 14.
82. “Union Threat Not ‘Severe,’” Army Times, February 14, 1977Google Scholar, 23.
83. On the military's statements of support for unions in general, but not in a military context, see, for example, “AF Chief Says Uncertainty Fuels Drive to Unionize GIs,” Washington Post, April 5, 1977Google Scholar, A4.
84. de Toledano, Ralph, Let Our Cities Burn (New Rochelle, NY, 1975)Google Scholar, 43, 82, 102, 111.
85. According to Senator Jake Garn (R-UT), “Even the most liberal Democratic mayors who were very, very pro-union usually had their bellyful of this kind of action.” “Unionization of the Armed Forces,” 289; McCartin, “‘A Wagner Act,’” 139–40.
86. “Unionization of the Armed Forces,” 185.
87. Ibid., 189.
88. Thurmond, “Military Unions: No,” 19.
89. Indianapolis News, Editorial, September 25, 1976, quoted in Thurmond, “Military Unions: No,” 28.
90. Thurmond, “Military Unions: No,” 24.
91. Garn quoted in “Unionization of the Armed Forces,” 289.
92. Indianapolis News, Editorial, September 25, 1976, quoted in Thurmond, “Military Unions: No,” 27–8. See also McCartin, “‘A Wagner Act.’”
93. Emphasis in original. Both a majority of officers (eighty-one percent) and enlisted personnel (eighty-two percent) in a survey of army personnel believed in the effectiveness of unions. Seven, “A Military Union in the United States Army?” 36.
94. Taylor, “Military Unions for the United States,” MHI, 10.
95. Army Times, December 6, 1976, 15.
96. Letter to the editor from May Be Leaving, Army Times, March 28, 1977, 14.
97. Quoted in “Unionization of the Armed Forces,” 191.
98. Parker, Jim, “Dependable Medical Care, Not Pay, is Greatest Concern of Troops,” Army Times, April 25, 1977Google Scholar, 10.
99. Letter to the editor from Lt. Cmder. Kutch, John M. Jr., Army Times, September 20, 1976Google Scholar, 14.
100. Letter to the editor, Army Times, January 10, 1977, 15.
101. Letter to the editor from SFC Jennings, Henry D., Army Times, August 16, 1976Google Scholar, 14.
102. Blaylock in “Unionization of the Armed Forces,” 276; interview with David Cortright, November 25, 2008, in possession of author.
103. “Government Employees Reject Proposal to Organize Military,” AFL-CIO News Service (9/8/77), folder 3, box 38, Military Unions Collection, GMMA. David Denholm conducted a survey that included public sector union members, and he, too, noted that seventy-one percent of them opposed unionizing the military. Thurmond, “Military Unions: No,” 21, appendix B, 30.
104. “AFGE Rejects Move to Organize Military,” AFL-CIO News, September 10, 1977, folder 3, box 38, Military Unions Collection, GMMA.
105. “Unionization of Military Personnel,” US Congress, House of Representatives, Hearing before the Investigations Subcommittee of the Committee on Armed Services, 95th Congress, 1st session, October 12, 13, 19, and 26, 1977.
106. Sherman, Edward F., “Military Unions and the Soldier ‘Employee,’” Washington Post, April 4, 1978Google Scholar, folder 3, box 38, Military Unions Collection, GMMA; Plattner, Andy, “Bill Banning Military Unions Voted,” Army Times, August 7, 1978Google Scholar, 4.
107. Letter to the editor from Guildor, Joseph, Army Times, January 10, 1977Google Scholar, 15.
108. Quoted in Fleiegar, Howard, “On the Other Hand,” U.S. News and World Report, October 25, 1976Google Scholar, 100.
109. “Posture of the Army,” (February 2, 1976), Statement by General Fred C. Weyand, Chief of Staff, US Army, before the Committee on Armed Services, US Senate, 2nd session, 94th Congress, 25.
110. Quoted in Reed, Fred, “Anti-GI Union Laws ‘Unnecessary,’” Army Times, June 20, 1977Google Scholar, 2.
111. writer, Staff, “Defense Budget Gets a ‘Boost,’” Army Times, March 21, 1977Google Scholar, 4; “Aspin Misses ‘His’ Meetings,” Army Times, May 29, 1978, 22; US Army, Department of the Army Historical Summary, FY79, (Washington, DC, 1982)Google Scholar, 93.
112. These were the Defense Appropriation Act of 1981, the Servicemen and Women and Compensation Act of 1980, and the Military Pay and Benefits Act of 1980.
113. US Army, Department of the Army Historical Summary, FY81 (Washington, DC, 1988), 110–11Google Scholar; US Army, Department of the Army Historical Summary, FY80 (Washington, DC, 1983)Google Scholar, 110; Linda Pappas, Hay Associates, Washington, DC (Chair), CPT Thomas Hale, USN, Peter Oglobin, Office of the Secretary of Defense/MPP, “Panel: Military Compensation: A New Look at an Old Challenge,” (Washington, DC: Hay Associates, n.d., ca 1981). handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADP001413 (http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA127952), accessed October 15, 2009.
114. Jimmy Carter, “Department of Defense Authorization Act, 1981 Statement on signing H.R. 6974 Into Law,” September 8, 1980. http://www.presdiency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=45003, accessed October 15, 2009.
115. Mike Causey, “Senate Heading off Unions for Military,” Washington Post, April 25, 1976, B2. On Denholm and the Public Service Research Council origins, see McCartin, “‘A Wagner Act,’” 140–41; on AFGE's bid to unionize the military being used for fundraising for the PSRC, see McCartin, “‘A Wagner Act,’” 143.
116. Crawford, Alan, Thunder on the Right: The “New Right” and the Politics of Resentment (New York, 1980), 28–30Google Scholar; Burch, Philip H. Jr., Elites in American History: The New Deal to the Carter Administration (New York, 1980)Google Scholar, 334.
117. The text of the appeal was reprinted in “Unionization of the Armed Forces,” 227.
118. McCartin, “‘A Wagner Act,’” 147.
119. Wilcox, Derk Arend, Shackman, Joshua, and Naas, Penelope, eds., The Right Guide: A Guide to Conservative and Right-of-Center Organizations (Ann Arbor, 1993)Google Scholar, 287.
120. Rostker, I Want You! (2006), 503.
121. Ronald Reagan, “Address at Commencement Exercises at the United States Military Academy, May 27, 1981, 4, in Rostker (G1166).