The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1918-01-04
Continued from Page One

wages and hours and conditions of
employment, industry has been par
alyzed from time to time, and hun
ger and want have reigned supreme,
not so much because of conflicting
interests as because of very foolish
misunderstanding
"Many employers" he said, "have
stubbornly held out against a shorter
workday, only to discover, after they
had suffered seeming defeat and
were at the mercy of the union,
that the shorter workday raised the
efficiency of the employees and
greatly increased the output. Others
have had the same experience in
strikes for higher wages. Unfair
wages are not only unfair; they are
unwise, and long-visioned employers
are becoming to see it."
Zone of the great causes Of
Strikes" Mr.. Williams added "has
been the discharge CT some employees.
Employers have generally considered
it their right to discharge any one
they wished, and they have delegated
this right to their foremen and su-
perintendents. Now they are be-
ginning to see that discharging en-
ployes is one of the most expensive
ulxuries that an employer can in
dulge in.
"Only recently has the cost of
breaking in new employees begun to
be reckoned. 1t has been hidden
formerly in the initial cost of pro-
duction and thus escaped the en-
ployer's attention. Now the labor
turnover the ratio of the number
of men hired in a year to the total
number Of employees in an industry
at a given time, has come to light
as an amazing waste.
Henry Ford found that he was
hiring fifty thousand men Per year
in 1918, while only employing thir-
teen thousand or fourteen thousand
at any one time. He figured the
cost Of breaking in a new man aver
aged $40. By tackling the human
problem in the various ways he did,
especially by instituting profit shar-
ing so that each employee had an
employers interest in the company.
this labor turnover was almost COM
pletely eliminated.
''ln many industries the labor
turnover averages 800 or 400 pei
cent. In some of the chemical in
dustries it exceeds 700 or 800 pei
cent, which means that the average
employe holds his job only three OF
four weeks. This is frightful waste
1t means more than the cost OF
breaking in new men, for no mar
can be at his best where his job
is so uncertain. He may go through
the mechanical motions required, but
he can have no interest in the result
And even in the toughest of labor
in shoveling dirt or carrying bricks
this element of personal interest in
the outcome is sure to tell. From
the moment man is hired an any
capacity some sort of trusteeshir
should be considered established, with
some sort of protection against the
whims Of his immediate superior.
NO ones mind can work at max
imum efficiency in an atmosphere
Of insecurity. A mans job should
be considered sacred and he should
not be deprived of it without due
process of reason. The right to
discharge should be taken away
from foremen and immediate super
visors. Their authority should be
limited to suspension and their YER
diets should be reviewed by some
unprejudiced superior.
"Many a competent man is dis
charged. through anger or irritation
on the part of his immediate boss.
If the employer realized that it
would cost him $40 to hire another
he would think twice before permit
ting the change. Employers may be
stubborn in declaring their rights,
but they are generally given credit
for willingness to follow their own
interests when these interests are
once clearly perceived. And in the
long view, the interests of employer
and employe are mutual.
at is doubtful if it is often adj
visable to discharge even incompe-
tent men, for an incompetent man
on one job is quite likely to be COM
petent on another. Transferring
employees from department to de-
partment, until in some place they
eventually take hold is more eco
nomical system.
Unemployment and uncertainty of
employment are staggering wastes
of man power. American industry
cannot afford either. Our indus