CHAPTER VIII 
EMPLOYERS’ ASSOCIATIONS 
\ 
The social problem of unionism cannot be understood 
through a study of unions alone. The unions are but 
one factor in a great struggle going on which involves 
the fundamental questions of social rights and social 
welfare. The other factor is the employer, especially 
employers organized into associations to resist the efforts 
of unionism. Over against the complex organizations 
of the workers are the equally complex and perhaps more 
extensive and more powerful organizations of employ 
ers. To grasp the problem fully, therefore, to get the 
other side and to comprehend the situation as a whole we 
need a knowledge of the employers’ organizations cre 
ated for dealing with, and especially of the militant 
associations organized for combating, unions—their 
structure, aims, principles, policies, demands, methods, 
and attitudes; and the conditions and events which grow 
out of the existence of these two great organic forces. 
The contest between unionism and employers’ associa 
tions has been largely one concerned with the rights of 
employers and of workers as embodied in law. As a 
basis for understanding it, therefore, as well as the 
general social problem of unionism, we need to get some 
idea of the legal status of unionism and the legal striv 
ings of both sets of organizations. This aspect of the 
subject will follow in a subsequent chapter.