Henry P. Melnikow

Henry P. Melnikow (August 6, 1892 – May 8, 1963) was an economic consultant to unions involved in labor, and represented numerous labor unions in finding compromises between unions and workers. He was a professor at the University of California, where he instructed extension courses for workers in industry. He was the director of the National Labor Bureau and dedicated close to fifty years of his life to the service of organized labor in California and protecting and promoting the rights of workers. In his later life he gave speeches at many UC schools supporting workers rights.

Background Henry P. Melnikow was born in 1892 in Kyiv, Russian Empire, where his father was a shopkeeper.

Significant contributions and legacy Henry Melnikow was the director of the National Labor Bureau in San Francisco, He argued for the longshoremen and seamen before the National Longshoremen's Board from 1934 to 1935, and he submitted a case for the San Francisco Typographical University, arguing "that wages must increase if workers are to share in increase of productivity and industry resulting from improvement in Machinery and technique." He died while working on a way to solve a similar problem of quality of employment and job rearrangement that was caused by new automation and improvements to technology. Melnikow is remembered for his significant contribution to labor programs, and it was said in the UCLA Newsletter that his contributions to this area are "Historic importance to the field of labor relations." He is remembered for his enthusiasm and energy in helping improve the working conditions many working men and women throughout California and the United States.