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Reflections on Six Decades in Industrial Relations: An Interview with John Dunlop

I think it is fair to say that if people in industrial relations were asked to name the single greatest living name in the field, John Dunlop would win hands down. A number of other people have made a significant mark on the field, but no one has put together as long and distinguished a record as Dunlop. John Dunlop received his Ph.D. degree in economics in 1939 from the University of California-Berkeley and in the same year took up his new position as Assistant Professor of Economics at Harvard University, an institution he has remained with ever since. But even before the official starting date of his academic career, Dunlop gained national and international recognition by taking on John Maynard Keynes on the subject of the movement of real and money wages in the pages of the Economic Journal (Dunlop 1938)—and winning! Since then Dunlop has published a continual stream of influential articles and books in industrial relations and labor economics, including several—such as his Wage Determination under Trade Unions (1944), Industrial Relations Systems (1958), and the co-authored volume Industrialism and Industrial Man (1960, with Kerr, Harbison, and Myers)—that are widely regarded as classics in the field. But Dunlop's reputation as the leading figure in the IR field rests on much more than notable scholarly publications.1 Starting at an early age, he also became actively involved in the world of industrial relations practice and policy, and today he stands as the nation's leading academic expert on both. Dunlop's entrance into the “real world” of industrial relations began with his appointment as Director of Research and Statistics for the War Labor Board in 1943, and then quickly deepened and broadened with a plethora of high-level assignments. As a result, he has had personal contact with every President from Truman to Clinton, as well as the top echelon of business and labor leaders for several decades. Over the years, for example, Dunlop has taken a leadership role in administering four national wage-price stabilization programs; helped resolve a number of national emergency disputes under Title II of the National Labor Relations Act and the Railway Labor Act; headed dispute resolution programs in nationally sensitive sectors, such as missiles, space, and atomic energy; helped draft public sector bargaining laws in several states, and for 23 years (so far) headed the dispute resolution program for Massachusetts police and fire; served as an arbitrator, mediator, or umpire in hundreds of private and public sector collective bargaining disputes; helped end long-running organizing disputes; helped craft first-time agreements for migratory farm workers and Harvard University clerical workers; served as U.S. Secretary of Labor in the Ford Administration; and accepted appointments to a number of national commissions in the labor and employment area, including chair of the Commission on the Future of Worker-Management Relations (Dunlop Commission) in 1993–94. Given Dunlop's preeminent stature in the IR field, six decades of experience at the highest level of policy and practice, and the transition from one century to another, I concluded the time was right to ask him for an in-depth personal interview in which he could offer reflections on his career and perspective on important issues and events in industrial relations. He agreed, and I interviewed him at Harvard on December 11–12, 2000. Presented below are his remarks, organized into six sections: personal background and early career, wage-stabilization programs, dispute resolution, unions and collective bargaining, public policy, and reflections. Many readers may disagree with Dunlop on one or more points, or take a different perspective on key issues, but few will finish this interview without feeling admiration and respect for his many accomplishments and valuable service to the nation.