The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-07-17
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC j. HAsKIN. Director.
Washington, D. c.
HOW CIlEYELAND TREATs I.ABoR


now attracting widespread attention
by its numerous ingenious plans for
sugar coating, If not actually solving.
the labor problem So many different
schemes for making workers content
ed and happy have been put into prac-
tice in its factories, that Cleveland has
become virtually a working laboratory
of Industrial management. AS such.
it is visited and inspected by employ
ers and students of economics from all
parts of the country.
The movement for better industrial
conditions really started here before
the war. and has been gaining rapid
momentum ever since, so that now 1t
is a poor day in Cleveland which does
not produce some new kind of factory
cooperation or bring a new employer
to the progressive ranks. That there
is still a large conservative contingent
which shows no disposition to break
away from the old master-and- man
methods Cleveland does not deny, but
it is able to point with just pride to
group of at least three hundred man
ufacturing concerns that are doing
lot more for their employees than SIM
ply paying them their wages.
This group of Cleveland employers
away ones breath. They tell you with
amazing frankness that the employe
is justified in kicking-that he has
not been given the kind of deal he
ought to have had, and that the pres
ent existence of an acute labor prob
lem is more the fault of the employ
ers than the employees. Believing this,
these men are doing all in their power
to remedy this fault, to gain the con-
fidence of their employees, and to lift
factory work above mere toll and
drudgery.
Employees Represented.
For example, one of the chief fea-
lures of their new industrial religion
is employees representation. This ex-
lists in nearly every Cleveland factory
of the modern variety, but in no tWo
factories is it exactly alike. The most
comprehensive of these working mod
els is plan devised by John Leitch
when he was citizen of Cleveland,
which he called industrial democ-
racy." 1t is an exact copy of the
United States government shaped ana
pruned into factory form. There IS q
house of Representatives, elected by
the employees; a senate composed,
usually, of the department heads; a
cabinet consisting of the higher fac
tory executives; a supreme court TO
keep congress in line with the shop
constitution, and a president, VINO is
the head of the concern: AS repre-
sentatives in congress, the employees
naturally have a full share in the
business of FIXING working hours,
wages, and working conditions.
Variations of this theme are found
in many Cleveland factories, some
times minus one of the upper 6od1es,
and sometimes minus the president
veto power. Occasionally employees
mass meetings take the place of the
house of representatives, and In one
or two instances a planning board has
been substituted for the senate. One
=, nd ha
of holding a popular referendum al
the end of each year to decide
whether the system in use shall be
continued. or rejected for another.
In still other factories the employees
are represented by shop committees
which have the privilege of stating
their views on everything pertaining
to the relations between the employees
and the management. While they DO
not introduce any laws, like the mouse
of representatives. their words al e
listened to with respect. One large
Dlant has a shop committee for each
departrne nt, which submits ITS rec
or1n1 en- dations to the head of the de-
partment or to the factory manager
IL the matter is sufficiently important
In another large establishment the
ernDloyes are divided into three groups
-foremen, sub-foremen and a COM
unittee of workers. These three groups
in turn. meet and choose the mem
bers of a welfare committee "hlcH
deals directly with all questions aris-
ing between the employees ana tne
manag cement.
Helped Garment Workers.
Perhaps the most striking employees
representation is found in the perIna-
nen+ hoard of arbitration maintained
nv +be cleveland manufacturers of
/ vgonaen's wear and the International
Ladies' Garment Workers union rms
hoard has succeeded for the first time
in the history of the garment trade in
making the garment industry perIIa-
nent instead of a seasonal one, with an
annual wage for each class OF WORK
ers. and a weeks vacation every year
with pay.
AS result of this new movement
for better industrial relations, also
/ the candy manufacturers of CleVe-
/ land, of which there are a great many,
| have likewise decided to try to string
their candy-making along during the
! entire year instead of rushing 1t thru
| in a couple of seasons. The big sea
sons for candy are just before Christ
mas and just before Easter, at which
/ periods the candy industry has always
taken on large numbers of employees,
only to let them go as the demand
! slackened. Now many OF the candy
manufacturers are making all of their
| nara cdhuleS uuIiH5 nc SAN
thus retaining the majority of their
employees the year around.
| That the movement for better labor
! conditions has taken permanent root
in Cleveland is shown by the attitude
of the local chamber of commerce.
which has recently issued a report on
| Labor Relations in Cleveland-A
Declaration of the Principles Estab-
fishing a Proper Basis Therefor" in
which it holds these truths to be self
evident:
An Industrial Creed.
That the prosperity of any COM
munity is dependent upon the success
of its enterprises That the success
of any enterprise in turn is largely de-
pendent upon the degree of co-cpera-
ton maintained between employers,
employees and investors, and upon the