EMPLOYEE REPRESENTATION MOVEMENT 
Employees of the United States Post Office Department were 
organized during 1921-22 into “welfare” councils—later called “serv- 
ice” councils—for improvement of working conditions and “to bring 
about closer cooperation and better understanding among the public, 
the officials, and the employees, thereby making a better and more 
efficient postal service.” This was done as a result of a survey of 
labor conditions by Dr. Lee K. Frankel, vice president of the Met o- 
politan Life Insurance Company, made at the request of Postmaster 
General Hays. In 1923 Dr. Frankel was succeeded as director of 
service relations in the postal department by Mr. Henry S. Dennison, 
president of the Dennison Manufacturing Company. 
The post office councils are significant not only because they il- 
lustrate the application of the representation idea to a large govern- 
ment department, but also because they were developed with the ac- 
tive cooperation of several unions of postal employees. These 
unions were expressly “recognized” in the central organization which 
was created, a national council consisting of two representatives from 
each of the following associations, the first four of which are com- 
posed of persons in executive and supervisory positions: 
National Association of Postmasters (of first and second class post offices) 
National League of Postmasters (of third and fourth class post offices) 
National Association of Supervisory Employees 
National Council of Supervisory Officials of the Railway Mail Service 
National Federation of Post Office Clerks 
United National Association of Post Office Clerks 
National Association of Letter Carriers 
National Rural Letter Carriers Association 
National Federation of Rural Letter Carriers 
The Railway Mail Association 
National Association of Post Office Laborers 
The chairman of this national council is the director of service rela- 
tions, an appointee of the postmaster general. The executive secre- 
tary is elected by the council from its membership. 
Upon the basis of model constitutions which were first approved 
by this national council, there had been established, by November, 
1925, 807 local councils in first and second class post offices and 330 
county councils in offices of the third and fourth classes, There is 
also a “departmental” council for the 2600 employees at headquar- 
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