t - International Brotherhood Of Electrical Workers

ID
The Journal of ELECTRICAL WORKERS and Operators
ment and nmonig labor unionists oi tihe
Sehat. l.a Follette. Snl!.Iforn Owen gitl
labor side.
''Soni engieerai, supe lvilsor. lint. fetemen
who colae to TVA froin private, nonunioin
cone Ins quite. nattllly l.et .ined
their olld Contelll.pt fur this olaliei (l
labor nonsnn, of governmlenet hluninitlrianisnL
To thein efficiency wa' Ihe inly
other well-known pl.ogessives. It may he
sali to be an expriessiil of the progiress iv
I..I..venI.nit. It fig tll 'd Is .esearch agency
in S .a.tr Norris's efforts to get passed
tih, Act thiat later, hi .cale the TVA Act,.
Its publcaions range uvir a wide list .f
shiltctt. including iitiaive ant d referred
letter word in the ditionllar, They
were obstinate. did n.t comply with th,
.nlulnm, coo~perlatVi's aind the utilities
puoey, and n...I e troul.le, l .tsl, .
have b.e.n 'lermnitlted, that is to say,
tiled. Not for lak f ability, but blecause
As illiustiii :i of the partnirship
fIhey. yI will a'k you to hsai with ie
they dild .ot. , .l.ul nod.t fit iln. On the
other sid, ...some high union oflicials, whose
word was law in nthir er fts, nation-wid"e
while I dLscih.ie briely something of
ith ctooperrative nloventt on tile Calll,
dibim National Ruilways, which we haive
did not fancy ... erging their alntiaratic
power with (tht, l Ulioll ih this 'Oaperstive
set-up and the)y have caused trouble,
e'spPianly in jiulitiie tnla iattes.
"Again, thousands of men joined a
union of thir craft for the first time.
They were a inac.instled to unioli discipline.
When they found they .ould not
do as they ,ipkaed as 'fre ir' they
made toluble r their aledesl. IIHere let
me note a thing of which the public
knows little, namely, that the great
Ilmoins manhtain it discipline over their
inentih of ttemnddo us importance to
the efficienc, of industry. But, of course,
in so doing, union officials have their
headaches".
The anther finds that the experilent
has gone along effetively Mr. King
made many visits to the TVA properties
and talked with both tehnicians and
labor uionionst We lIantarie hlis
findings:
iai. nla-nilnagliuenlt oopieatlirni' is
one of those teehnical d.esriptivt phrases
with an academic flare which means little
to the average arder, but the wmold and
all to those who know what it is almut.
Put in homespun. we can understand why
folrward-looking administrators, englneers
and labo leaders are so elated about
it and declare it to be the mist .ilpe(poant
feature of the TVA Labonr Relaions
Policy. They call it 'A milestone If progreoss
and 'A new era fur lablr.'
"Thus far in our machine age, managemn
t- that is, general nanal.ers, engi
nler., mastelr mechanics and superintendents-have
told labor what to do and
how to ido it. Skilled era ftsmen, plus orn
mon labor, turned out the product whether
it was a box of matches or a hundredmillion-dodlar
hydiroelectric dan. Managemnent
took the blue prints, scheduled
the work, organinzed the force and ran
the show. ft was master-servant. The
servant irafLtme i nlight have valuable
ideas on lay-out, procedure, safety. saing
maletiIs. machine ope0 ation or a
thousanid othir things. No maItter they
kept still as; a rule. Management was
nlanatmjonlt and knew.
"The TVA policy makers, haI another
idea. They held that there were among
the workers mainy craftimen who had
eyes and ideims. They asked, Why not tap
this reservir if brains and give both
encou rage.i.ent and rcogniti toi ask
labor to sit in at the coiuncil taldl and
participat in management? It would be
helpful to both make the job a partner.
ship affair. It was so decided and i written
eto regard is our greatest asset.
A lew years ago, in I,14, I had been
thinkling of what had bIeen :.eoplished
thruogh the CO.l.ttti. nhrvltcliet ts iS
f..t.d tI pie.si. n (o)t tiIt, lalthino it t..I
Ohio Railhoad, threlgh lihe wise and fllaseellt
adniOstitaion of its peside t,
l)ianiel Willard. Almost simltaneusly
with that thought, Mr. Berit eweli, whom
oi all know as presi.lie't of tihe Railwa
GORDONI M FREEMAN
Eln yoes' l)epartnent , slggested to l
the inauguration of a similar i loveleltl
bnteriolional Represitnlie, I I E W
Seeretary Tennessee Valley Trades and on the Canadian National R ilways. Tlhe
L.dua ('o a ti i-ai He ihns u d l idea was ailluring becase it seemed
achwI yemll
sOulnd anld was in heephtg with the .. nor
enlightened and progressive irlations be-
in lth concluding statemnen t of the twoen capital and labto. Mr. Jewell was
pol icy
foitrutmiteiy a!sistei in his proposa:l, anl
In view of the fact that this experiment in subsequent inauguraLliolln, by Captainl
in a aw ltype of governeiint c orporation Be ye, land to both of these gentleieni
now ill eect over a per ii of fol yea rs ihe C(anadian National Railways owes
h.s involved representatives of 12,001 lulch . Sufflee it to say, lndl to mlail
A. F. of i. uniolists, and in view of the
fact that the Internationali B .rother.hood
of Electrical W orkers has been identified
with this process eontintuiosly and effectively.
we believe that Mr. King's pamtphiet
will get a wide reeption, with o...
own eadets,
"The Tennessee Valley Authority is
providing it most constructive and inspiring
examnple of genuin{e mo'dern dimocraey
at. work in its more u-ndament al
aspeets. The Labor RMlotions Policy created
by both anageoimeuin and labo, is
one of its most ,,notable ahlievements."
Mr. King describes the following subjiers
in his notable pamphlet:
The Public Power Movement
The Origin of the TVA Pulicy MLaor
ThPe Provisions of the Labor Policy
Joint Administration ounler the Policy
Diseipline
Wtges, Hours and Conditions
Health and Safety
Results of the Labor Movement Cooperatti
on
Attiacks upon TVA
Possible Future Achievements
We note that Gordon oM. Freeman international
representative of the International
Brotherhood of Kleetrieal Work
era, and ..cretary of the Tennessee Vxalley
Trades and Labor Council, is also the
.liaison .nin between in.lageelmt .. and
labor in the valley.
The National Popular Go.vern.e nt
League was founded in 1913I in Washington
by Mr. King. The league has had
the sponsorship of eminent public men in
American life, including Senator Nm'lis,
= a
I uiig tory short, (hilat we cornmmencei the
cooperlative miovement in the shops of
thie Canadian Natioml Railways. lIt sI
far a, the c.um.l)tiy tlI the men worle
eineralned, the objetives were:
i. Continuity of employment.
2. A lore kinlly and satisfactory re-
,lieinship l[. ...... he trailway on ithe
elo hand andl our shop enployees o., the
pt her.
3 An iAmprovement ill output withl reiuced
unit costs.
4. The introduction in our shop administration
of the br idns of our Ien,
and the provision of an outlet for their
ingenuity.
5. A more accurate eoneeption on each
side of the other's point of view.
After a few year8 of trial, I assert as
far as the railway is concerned. and I
think those who repreellt our men ,oidd
speak similarly, that all of these objectivs
have been measurably achieved,
and certainly the resulits have been well
worth the ffort Sinee the inceptiloii af
the plan, 6,:158 snggestions have been
nlade looking owitl id imnproved shop
conditions anl output, of. which far the
gre'test proportion originated with thO
ruyn. Of these suggestions, 73 per ,ent
Ihave been ae.pted. 15 per ccit at' still
nider considerat .ion, and only 12 per cent
iejeted. This I regard as an amllazing tostlt.
0f incaleulabhle benefit to both sides
Most of the pr.roinis. , many of which
o1f mnajot imlpotnllce, would ntvel
have come to light had It not been for the
partnership novengent
Sil IHENRY TIHORNT1ON.