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 Collection
Identifier: R-MC 111

Jack Chernick Papers

Dates

  • 1953-1981, bulk 1960-1980

Scope and Content Note

The Jack Chernick Papers consist of approximately 14.5 cubic feet of material, comprising thirty-two manuscript boxes, spanning the period 1953-1981, bulk 1960s-1970s. They comprise the professional records of Jack Chernick, documenting his history from the early twentieth century until the late twentieth century. They also include the records of Rutgers University, the School of Management and Labor Relations (SMLR), formerly known as the Institute of Management and Labor Relations (IMLR), and numerous state and national corporations and unions. The Jack Chernick Papers are composed primarily of textual records such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, organizational records, publications, research files, and reports.

Arranged chronologically, I. Arbitration Cases, 1970-1981, bulk 1980 (eleven folders) chronicles Chernick's career as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association. This series includes official documents and correspondence related to individual cases which Chernick presided over. This series ties into the other series nicely asChernick clearly used his personal and professional knowledge from the collective bargaining agreements and research projects which he worked on to render his decisions.

Arranged alphabetically by subseries and chronologically thereunder, II. Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA), 1962-1980, bulk 1973-1978 (sixty-eight folders) describes Chernick's involvement with the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) nationally as well as in Middlesex and Union Counties. In order to give the researcher a thorough understanding of CETA this series has been broken down into ten subseries. These subseries are: CETP (Committee on Evaluation of Employment Training Program); MCCETA (Middlesex County CETA); Titles I - VII; and UCCETA (Union County CETA). This series includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, notes, publications, questionnaires, and reports. This series provides a detailed look as to how CETA programs were conducted nationally and locally as well as how Chernick and his contemporaries tried to improve upon the programs through their studies. Through the use of questionnaires, publications, and reports, Chernick was able to determine the successes and failures of the CETA programs and report back to the Manpower Planning Board Council as to how they could improve the workforce.

Arranged alphabetically, III. Collective Bargaining, 1956-1980 (173 folders) primarily chronicles Chernick's work in the field of collective bargaining in the public sector. Included in this series is the Fact Finding Study subseries which has been arranged numerically by the fact finding case number assigned by Chernick. Most of these materials deal with the Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC) which Chernick served on. This series also includes correspondence, legislation, newsletters, and reports. Along with the VI. Research Files series, it documents two of Chernick's passions, collective bargaining and research.

Arranged chronologically, IV. Correspondence, 1962-1979, bulk 1970-1973 (ten folders) describes Chernick's professional life at Rutgers SMLR. This series includes official letters and memos from deans at Rutgers and other professors or administrators at SMLR or other institutes of higher education, respectively, and memos from the US Department of Labor. Also included in this series is correspondence related to conferences, meetings, and seminars that Chernick participated in and attended. This series ties into the other series nicely in that it offers an intimate portrait of the SMLR and the role that Chernick played in developing its curriculum and research department.

Arranged alphabetically, V. Institute of Management and Labor Relations (IMLR), 1954-1979, bulk 1970-1979 (sixty-one folders) includes three subseries, Faculty, IR (Industrial Relations ), and Publications. This series includes articles written by Chernick as well as course materials he used in several of his classes. Also included in this series are correspondence, course materials of other IMLR faculty, meeting minutes, newspaper articles, and reports. This series offers a look into exactly the kind of work Chernick was engaged in at IMLR. This series really serves as the backbone of the collection from which all of the other series and subseries originate.

Also arranged alphabetically, VI. Research Files, 1953-1980 (171 folders) comprises much of the research that Chernick conducted while at IMLR. This series contains the subseries Canadian Industries, Labor Rehabilitation Project, Manpower, and Western Electric, which have also been arranged alphabetically. This series focuses on wages, unions, benefits, and worker education. Included within this series are proposals, reports, correspondence, memos, notes, questionnaires, pamphlets, and newsletters.

In addition, this collection contains four open-reel, analog audio tapes and their digital surrogates. Arranged chronologically, VII. Audiotape, 1968 March-April (four seven-inch reels, twenty-four compact discs) features employee interviews which correspond to the questionnaires located in the Western Electric subseries.

Extent

14.5 Cubic Feet (32 manuscript boxes)

Physical Location

Stored offsite. Advance notice of two working days required to consult materials in this collection.

Language of Materials

This collection is predominantly written in English; materials written in French are indicated at the series level.

Acquisition Note

Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries was given the Jack Chernick Papers on permanent loan by the Carey Library of the School of Management and Labor Relations.

Abstract

The Jack Chernick Papers consist of primarily textual records that chronicle Chernick's career as an arbitrator, educator, labor commissioner and researcher over a period of more than thirty years. They document Chernick's accomplishments as a mediator for the American Arbitration Association, his professional interest in, and efforts in support of, the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act, and his service with the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission. The Papers also underscore Chernick's contributions to the development and growth of the Rutgers University School of Labor and Management Relations (SMLR), where, as a professor of industrial relations and a member of key faculty committees, he oversaw both graduate and research programs and helped design a collective bargaining curriculum.

<emph render="bold">Biographical Sketch of Jack Chernick</emph>

Jack Chernick played an integral role in the history of the School of Management and Labor Relations (SMLR), formerly known as the Institute of Management and Labor Relations (IMLR), of Rutgers University. Most likely born in Manitoba, Canada, around 1908-1915, he went on to earn a BA from the University of Manitoba in 1939. Shortly thereafter, he received an MA and PhD from the University of Minnesota in Labor Economics, Economic Theory, and Statistics in 1942 and 1949, respectively. (1)

Chernick's roots in the research field began early on. Immediately following his BA he worked as a research assistant on an economic survey of Manitoba. This survey became the first in a long list of publications that Chernick would author. He later went on to conduct other studies and publish reports while lecturing at the Universities of Kansas and Minnesota. Chernick was an instructor at the University of Minnesota from 1942-1943 and 1945-1947, a lecturer at the University of Manitoba from 1943-1945, and an assistant professor at the University of Kansas from 1947-1951. (2)

Before coming to Rutgers, Chernick worked as an associate director in the Case Analysis Division of the Wage Stabilization Board of Region 8 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (3) Chernick joined Rutgers in 1953 as a professor of industrial relations, helping to organize and teach courses on collective bargaining and research techniques as part of the University's Extension Department which preceded both IMLR and SMLR. During the economic recession of the late 1960s-1970s, and especially after the passage of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) in 1973, Chernick served as a field researcher for the Committee on Evaluation of Employment Training Program (CETP) and the Manpower Planning Board in both Middlesex and Union Counties. While at Rutgers he served on various committees including the IMLR Executive Committee and Curriculum Committee, as well as chairing the graduate program and Research Department at IMLR. As a Fulbright Scholar in France, 1961-1962, he studied the French economy, labor movement, and social programs. (4) While there he also spent time in the Ministry of Labor and the Institut des Etudes Sociales du Travail. (5) During the 1973-1974 school year, he returned to France on a sabbatical leave to conduct more research. In 1977, he initiated a manpower training certificate program proposal aimed to educate employers and enforce CETA compliance in the work force. After retiring from teaching at Rutgers he remained a professor emeritus at the university.

During his tenure at Rutgers, Chernick published over twenty articles and several books including Economic Effects of Steady Employment and Earnings (1942), The Guaranteed Annual Wage (1945, 1955), and Newark, New Jersey: Population and Labor Force (1967).

Chernick also belonged to and served as a field researcher in many professional associations. These include the Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC), Industrial Relations Research Association (IRAA), American Economic Association, and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). During 1959-1960 he served as the President of the IRRA, New York Chapter. Later, he was the Chairman of the Minimum Wage Board for Beauty Culture Operators in 1963, and for Hotel and Restaurant Workers in 1967. He also served on labor arbitration panels for the American Arbitration Association, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, and New Jersey State Board of Mediation. (6)

Not much about Chernick's personal life is known except that he was married and had three children, who in 1970, were aged 17, 23, and 25 years. Additionally, Mrs. Chernick had taught French since 1963 at the local high school. While in France in 1961-1962 the Chernick children attended French primary and secondary schools thus acquainting Jack Chernick with the French education system and adding on to his already thorough knowledge of the American education system. (7)

Throughout his professional career, not limited to the time he was at Rutgers, Chernick was a pivotal force in collective bargaining, wages, and employer/employee education and research. As a result, the struggle between workers and employers from the 1950s-1980s is well documented and can be used as a framework for research to decrease the schism between labor and management.

Notes

(1) Jack Chernick, Resume, circa 1953, 1. (2) Ibid., 1-2. (3) Ibid., 2. (4) Monroe Berkowitz, Forging Linkages: Modifying Disability Benefit Programs to Encourage Employment, (New York: Rehabilitation International: 1990), 183. (5) Jack Chernick, Directorship of Junior Year in France Application, 1970 February 13, 2. (6) Jack Chernick, Resume, circa 1976, 1. (7) Chernick, Directorship Application, 2.

Arrangement Note

The Jack Chernick Papers were, for the most part, arranged by Jack Chernick and his secretaries. Chernick annotated most of the documents in this collection so that filing would be easier for his secretaries. Additionally, his secretaries had clearly labeled folders with an easily discernible order hence, for the most part, this collection is still in its original order.

The Jack Chernick Papers are arranged in the following series:

  1. I. Arbitration Cases, 1970-1981, bulk 1980
  2. II. Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA), 1962-1980, bulk 1973-1978
  3. III. Collective Bargaining, 1956-1980
  4. IV. Correspondence, 1962-1979
  5. V. Institute of Management and Labor Relations (IMLR), 1954-1979, bulk 1970-1979
  6. VI. Research Files, 1953-1980
  7. VII. Audiotape, 1968 March-April

Related Collections

The eight books authored by Chernick are available at the Rutgers University Libraries. Additionally, see books authored by Chernick available at other university libraries including but not limited to: The Joint Safety Program of the Forstmann Woolen Company and Local 656, Textile Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO, 1948-1956. Union-Management Cooperation for Safety (1957), by Richard H. Wood and Jack Chernick, available at Cornell University Library; Economic Effects of Steady Employment and Earnings, A Case Study of the Annual Wage System of Geo. A. Hormel & Co. (1942), available at the Cornell University Library, New York Public Library, the NYU Libraries, and Princeton University Library; and A Guide to the Guaranteed Wage (1955), available at the Cornell University Library and Temple University Libraries.

Bibliography

Berkowitz, Monroe. Forging Linkages: Modifying Disability Benefit Programs to Encourage Employment. New York: Rehabilitation International, 1990. Chernick, Jack. Directorship of Junior Year in France Application, 1970 February 13. Jack Chernick Papers (R-MC 111). Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries. ———. Resume, circa 1953. Jack Chernick Papers (R-MC 111). Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries. ———. Resume, circa 1976. Jack Chernick Papers (R-MC 111). Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries.
  • Berkowitz, Monroe. Forging Linkages: Modifying Disability Benefit Programs to Encourage Employment. New York: Rehabilitation International, 1990.
  • Chernick, Jack. Directorship of Junior Year in France Application, 1970 February 13. Jack Chernick Papers (R-MC 111). Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries.
  • ———. Resume, circa 1953. Jack Chernick Papers (R-MC 111). Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries.
  • ———. Resume, circa 1976. Jack Chernick Papers (R-MC 111). Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries.
  • Berkowitz, Monroe. Forging Linkages: Modifying Disability Benefit Programs to Encourage Employment. New York: Rehabilitation International, 1990.
  • Chernick, Jack. Directorship of Junior Year in France Application, 1970 February 13. Jack Chernick Papers (R-MC 111). Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries.
  • ———. Resume, circa 1953. Jack Chernick Papers (R-MC 111). Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries.
  • ———. Resume, circa 1976. Jack Chernick Papers (R-MC 111). Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries.

General

(1) Jack Chernick, Resume, circa 1953, 1.

General

(2) Ibid., 1-2.

General

(3) Ibid., 2.

General

(4) Monroe Berkowitz, Forging Linkages: Modifying Disability Benefit Programs to Encourage Employment, (New York: Rehabilitation International: 1990), 183.

General

(5) Jack Chernick, Directorship of Junior Year in France Application, 1970 February 13, 2.

General

(6) Jack Chernick, Resume, circa 1976, 1.

General

(7) Chernick, Directorship Application, 2.

General

(1) Jack Chernick, Resume, circa 1953, 1.

General

(2) Ibid., 1-2.

General

(3) Ibid., 2.

General

(4) Monroe Berkowitz, Forging Linkages: Modifying Disability Benefit Programs to Encourage Employment, (New York: Rehabilitation International: 1990), 183.

General

(5) Jack Chernick, Directorship of Junior Year in France Application, 1970 February 13, 2.

General

(6) Jack Chernick, Resume, circa 1976, 1.

General

(7) Chernick, Directorship Application, 2.

Processing Note

This project was assisted by a grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State.

Title
Guide to the Jack Chernick Papers, 1953-1981, bulk 1960-1980 R-MC 111
Status
Edited Full Draft
Author
Kristy Buchalla
Date
March 2006
Language of description note
Finding aid is written in English.
Sponsor
This project was assisted by a grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State.

Revision Statements

  • April 2009: Modifications made by Caryn Radick and Chris Ellwood

Part of the Rutgers University Archives Repository

Contact:
Rutgers University Libraries
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
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New Brunswick NJ 08901-1163
848-932-7510
732-932-7012 (Fax)