Evening star., 1932-08-29
WORKERS SHIELDED FROM BLOW
OF DEPRESSION BY STEEL PLANT
Spread of Employment, Rotating and
Home Gardening Phases Of Program
by United States Corporation.

Copyright. 1892, by the Associated Press1
NEW YORK, August PIN response
to requests from many parts of the coun-
try, Myron c. Taylor, chairman of the
United States Steel Corporation, in an
interview on the subject of unemploy-
ment, spoke of the success that has met
the campaign of Americas largest in
dustrial unit. in distributing work
among its 100000 employees.
This program has succeeded in the
present emergency, in the opinion of
Mr.. Taylor. because it is the most equi-
table plan that can be devised which
apportiOnS the work available that all
may have some occupation, in such
fair way that it is bound to be accept
able to all
Shortly after the serious declines oc-
Cured in the values of securities in
1929. it appeared to the management
of the United States Steel Corporation
that these we're forerunners of even
tual roadjustments which would directly
affect the operation of the corporations
plants. and that, unless provision
against it were made. unemployment
would inevitably follow"
At that time the executives of the
corporation and the operating officials
of the subsidiary companies arranged
for the plan of rotating service of en-
ployes in order that all employees of
the steel corporation would get such
rotatable portion of full employment as
it was possible to offer.
Mr.. Taylor said that in his own mind
he had, in 1929. figured on q business
relapse which might bring steel produC-
ton down to- so per cent of capacity.
but neither he, nor apparently any one
else. could have anticipated a Shrinkage
to only IA per cent of capacity, such as
registered by the industry as whole in
recent weeks. But severe as has been
this decline in business. calling for the
production of only one ton of steel
when under normal conditions the rate
would be closer to six. the corporation
has adhered to its program of dividing
the work. 1t has been obliged to reduce
wages, but only after drastic economics
in all other directions and except for
a comparative few who either left for
other fields of employment, died or
were retired under the pension plan,
the steel family has been kept intact
The most eloquent sermon ever de-
livered," said Mr.. Taylor, might be
written about the unselfish and Coop
erative spirit shown by employees in their
willingness to split up the available
work among themselves and to share
their loaf with one another"
While distributing the available work
among its employees has been difficult to
accomplish among its mill workers, the
problem was even more complex. Mr..
Taylor said, in its application to the
executive and Salaried forces. 1t is par
ticularly difficult to adjust this group
to that principle, for in times of de-
preston that class really is more vital
to the corporation in its sales efforts
and in carrying on its more difficult
operations than it is in times of greater
prosperity.
The operating and technical person.
mel, too, have to be kept together in
order properly to solve fuctuating re-
quirementS and are vital to the restora-
ton of operations to a normal scale
This staff is irreplaceable within any
reasonable time, he explained, and the
situation in these groups has been
treated in other ways to bring them
into harmony as nearly as may be pos
sible with the other classes of employees.
When the program of dividing up the
work was placed before the directors
of the corporation, they agreed it
should be done, although it was CAL
eulated that the cost might be high.
At the last meeting of the board Mr.
that, in its financial result, the plan of
rotation of labor had not been uneco-
nomical.
Early in the depression, however, it
became apparent that this principle of