The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-08-05

1 WdSC oCdUlAAdIlOIl 1OIIIluld. l Ilc wa,
 is thus opened for more incentiv'
 plan wage agreements to be put int,
 effect, provided only that sucf
 agreements do not increase the leve
 of production costs appreciably, ol furnish the basis either to increase prices or resist otherwise justifiable reductions in prices.
 l Chief objection to most incentive plans from labor is that they are associated with speed-up plans or Bedeaux efficiency systems or that as soon as higher rate of produc- tion is obtained, the employer cuts back the piece work rate, thus leav- ing the employe worse off than he | was before.
 NO CUT-BACK
 Solution to that difficulty is ob- tained by agreement that incentive rates shall not be cut back for the duration of the war. Freezing piece work rates permits the worker to go all out on the job, with every as- surance his earnings will not be re- duced
 A second objection to incentive payments by piece-work employees Is that no benefit goes to the hourly rate or day-rate workers, though all of them are usually forced to perform more labor to keep up with increased production of the piece work employees operating under an incentive plan.
 Solution to that has been found by establishing a base production rate for a given department, then allowing all employees to share in a bonus at the end of the payroll period, the amount of the bonus be- ing determined by the percentage of increase in production over the base rate.
 Both of these innovations were incorporated in an agreement which the War Labor Board recently ap- proved, covering 1,600 employees of the National Automotive Fibre Company of Detroit. This contract, worked out with the c. I. O. United Auto Workers union, is almost a model incentive plan agreement. It is remarkable also in that it was agreed to by the U. A. w., which has been previously most fearful of any incentive plans which might re- suit in cut-backs in the auto plants. MAN-HOUR BASIS
 To set up the rate at the Ma tional Fibre plant, the total pro- duction per man-hour was deter mined on a given date, as a base. That standard was established for each department. The man-hour basis is used to take care of fuctu- ating employment. the hiring of additional men or the laying off of others for given periods and for any reason whatever.
 At the end of each payroll per- iod. the production for every de- partment is determined on the basis of man-hours worked. Production above the standard is measured in terms of credit hours. To deter mine the amount of the incentive payment, the number of credit AAOdAo 10 AiiNAVAPAACN by OllC AAOuA y rate of each employe, and that amount is added to his base pay.
 To put ceiling on the system, floor the protection of the em- ployer, it is provided that, if pro- duction goes 35 per cent above standard, payments shall remain fixed at that level, pending restudy.
 One of the points on which there is still minor dispute is the matter of differentiating between unit production costs" and unit labor costs" in determining whether an incentive plan increases costs. Unit labor costs may go up under an in centive plan, but because the em- ployer gets more production per man, per machine, and for the same overhead costs, his unit pro- duction costs may go down, and that is teh decic.ing factor for per- mitting an incentive plan to be put into effect without violating wage StabiliZation.