Frank P. Zeidler's View on Public Sector Labor Relations as Milwaukee's Last Socialist Mayor, 1948-1960
Victor G. Devinatz
DOI: 10.2190/CN.31.4.c
Abstract
Frank P. Zeidler, Milwaukee's last Socialist mayor, considered a labor supporter by the city's private sector labor unions, was not regarded as an ally by the public sector labor unions. Zeidler believed that public sector unions should neither have the legal right to strike nor the right to settle interest disputes with arbitration if a collective bargaining agreement could not be achieved. Initially, such positions appear to contradict Zeidler's socialist politics but, upon further examination, are quite consistent with Zeidler's particular brand of socialism, known as "municipal Socialism." Under this philosophy, even though the Socialists depended on the working class and the labor unions for votes at election time, no sector of the labor movement, or even the working class as a whole, takes precedence over the effective administration of the city.
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