ADEQUATE REPRESENTATION OF EMPLOYEES 
establishment, this relation between the rank and file and the national 
leaders, in the opinion of some, has been closer and more genuine; 
and local adaptations or interpretations of agreements covering a 
larger area than a single plant have been possible. In some cases, 
however, this functionary has been subject to appointment and re- 
moval by district officers and thus possibly less responsive—since not 
responsible—to local shop sentiment. 
Employee representation as it has developed in the United States 
may appear to have improved upon this situation by providing for 
the secret election by employees from among their own number of 
representatives who are subject to removal by employees at the end 
of their terms, or earlier in the case of those plans providing for 
recall. It is possible that a body of representatives chosen in this 
manner may give a truer reflection of the attitude of the working 
force of an individual plant than that presented by a shop steward or 
a “walking delegate.” A working agreement arrived at between an 
employer and such a group, therefore, may perhaps more nearly con- 
form to the needs and desires both of the employer and his em- 
ployees than one negotiated between that employer, or an employers’ 
association, and the officers of a national union. 
This assertion assumes, of course, that nothing in such an arrange- 
ment deprives either side of power necessary to effect a satisfactory 
agreement. The merits of this assumption, we will consider in a 
later chapter! We need merely emphasize here the fact that em- 
ployee representation may enable both the management and the 
employees to understand more fully the attitude of the others be- 
cause of the more direct and frequent contact afforded, and that this 
in itself is conducive to more satisfying relations. It certainly is of 
no less value to the employees than to the employer to be assured that 
their spokesmen understand their desires and express them. 
Adequate representation of employees cannot be assured merely 
by the provision of election by secret ballot for relatively short terms. 
It is of fundamental importance that every separate interest within 
the working force shall be definitely represented. This calls for 
proper determination of many special matters usually included in the 
plan of representation respecting eligibility of voters and candidates, 
1 See Chapter XIII. 
109