Evening star., 1920-02-24

(and the labor leaders here cooperate
perfectly with the fabor manager0);
and in some industries the labor
manager has become SO essential an
element that he has been taken into
the management as vice president
with the other three great depart
ments of industry: production, finance
and sales.
Pnves Way for Welfare Work.
The labor manager also plays an
important part in all of the activities
connected with safety. sanitation.
housing and welfare work. ! spoke
in another article of the hostility of
workmen in the steel industry to well
fare work-they even call It hell
fare work, because they think it an
effort to substitute trivial favors for
essential justice. Under the labor
manager there can be again a proper r
approach to welfare work. Here is
the word of the ma pager OF one large
factory:
zone Of the most important func-
tions Of our labor department IS well
fare work-givinE advice and ma
terial assistance to unfortunate en-
pinyes. improving the '.orkinL con-
ditions in the shops maintaining rest
rooms and libraries. etc-but this is
not done for the purpose OF more
easily depriving the workers Of their
rights to be represented in all matters
in which their interests are involved
Working men are quick to resent fts
substitution of favors for justice.
Welfare work. however. in connection
with general fair dealing is very
effective in securing good will. es-
pecially if it increases the personal
contact between the officials OF the
company and the employees"
do not wish to imply that the
pathway of the labor manager is
"roses all the way" Far from It.
than half believe that ne is worth his
salt F'oremen. superintendents and
other production officials find It hard.
as William NJ. Leiserson of Rochester.
one of the most experienced of labor
experts. testifies. ito give. up their
traditional authority to what they
consider impractical young men with
conside ation in the treatment Of
la abor''
Is Not a Cure-An.
No. the old system dies hard,
Enterprises where the labor mana
ger has been introduced and where
the new cooperative spirit has begun
to express itself surely find ultimate
results in increased production. AS
an American efficiency engineer puts it
Permanent success In increasing
productiveness is invariably accom-
panied by an intensive cultivation Of
the personal problem. The manu-
featuring plant seeking increased out
put should have as it's purpose the
highest development - mental, moral
and spiritual-of each and every per-
son connected with the organiza ton :"
One Of the greatest causes Of in
efficiency in industry is a high labor
turnover and the kind of sabotage in
which the workers hold back on pro-
duction. The labor manager who de-
votes his whole time to the study Of
these problems and to ways for cur
ing them has been found to be of the
greatest service in remedying these
evils.
In fact the increased efficiency re-
sulting from genuine effort to study
the personnel problems in a shop or
mill is SO evident that many employ
ers have introduced the system, with
the idea that it will solve all the prob
lens Of labor. But it is no cure all
1t is only the beginning of the long
process of cooperation, the beginning
Of new relationship. and unless the
employer is willing to go forward
with the introduction Of more demo-
cratic methods Of management
throughout he will not for long reap
the rewards of the new experiment.
Big Field for Young Men.
Specialization in labor management
is Of no. sporadic growth, nor does it