IDEOLOGY AND THE UNIONS.

There has been a tendency among economists and others who have concerned themselves with writing about labor movements to establish the ideological factor as the starting point from which their generalizations about labor organizations have proceeded. The purpose of this paper is to develop in broad terms the thought that ideological labels do not fairly epitomize trade union activity although they may have some relevance to what may be called the welfare aspects of union functioning. A corollary purpose of the paper is to outline those elements of trade union behavior that are considered to be underlying in any general understanding. If this presentation constitutes a noticeable departure from prevailing ideas about unions it is in the approach to this problem rather than in the development of any startlingly new facts. In the initial organizing stages, the ideologies of union leaders and union organizers will no doubt influence, though not necessarily determine, union structure. The influence of ideology on structure is more marked when the whole issue of structure appears to be in dispute in the labor movement and when there are strategic considerations of group alignments underlying the issue of structure.