Labor Expert Herzog Joins Littauer Staff

Bringing extensive experience in the field of labor relations to Harvard, Paul M. Herzog has joined the Littauer School of Public Administrations as the new Associate Dean. Herzog was Chairman of the National Labord Relations Board from 1945-53, and served on various Labor Advisory committees in New York State before the war.

While working with the NLRB, Herzog gained an acute insight into the problems of labor and management. "Essentially the job was one of administrating the laws established by the Congress which affect labor. During the first two years of my span in the post I worked with the Wagner Act and spent the remaining six with the Taft-Hartley law.

Herzog who plants his feet firmly in the Democratic side of the fence does not notice any change in governmental attitude toward labor since Eisenhower entered office. "A lot of labor people are saying they notice a change in the labor policy, but I haven't seen any."

Vigorous Interaction

Concerning former Secretary Martin P. Durkin's resignation from the Cabinet, the tall sharp-featured Dean commented, "This is a world of vigorous interaction, and Secretary Durkin's resignation whether it was right or wrong, has set forces in motion.

"So far Eisenhower has tried to be nice to the A. F. of L. and the rest of the unions, but if labor continues to irritate him there's a good chance that legislation unsympathetic to the unions will go through. The very thing they fear will begin to occur."

Durkin's resignation sprung from a dispute over changes in sections of the Tafe-Hartley law. Herzog and the four other members of the NLRB used that law in making over 10,000 decisions on specific labor issues over the past five years. Remaking about his opinion of the law, Herzog said, "If I had thought it was a slave labor law I wouldn't have stayed on six years to administrate it. On the other hand if I had thought that it was perfect, I wouldn't have testified before Congress this spring for changes in it."

Study in Grey

According to Herzog marking decisions on labor questions is usually an extremely difficult task. "Labor problems cannot be defined in black or white. It's rather a study in grey. Most of the questions that come up, other than those on moral issues, are 60-40 propositions and the balance could go either way depending on the person doing the reasoning. We never get anything so clear as a 90-10 set-up."

Increase Liason

As the new Associate Dean of the Littauer School, Herzog will be handling policy matters on an academic level for the first time. He graduated from Harvard in 1927; went to the University of Wisconsin as an instructor; and came back to Cambridge to get a law degree in 1933.

In his new post he hopes to enhance and stimulate the operations of the Littauer School. Specifically he plans to increase the liason between Littauer, other graduate schools of public administration, and other departments of Harvard.

An affable and personable man, Herzog looks forward to gaining student friends and learning some of their views, perhaps so that he can help the next generation of public administrators understand what the next generation of constituents is thinking.