The Wilmington morning star., 1945-01-11

(The following is the text of Ger
eral Manager P. F. Halsey's state
ment yesterday, explaining Noru
Carolina Shipbuilding Company la
Dor policies in the Narional La
Dor Relation Board hearing benz
held in the Federal courtroom a
the customhouse.)
(a) Method of estimating labol
requirements and requ1sltlonln&
labor.
l. Estimated labor requirement:
are worked out by the Productlof
Department and are based on pro
duction schedules. Upon acquiring
new contracts, the manhours IN
volved are estimated from the bes1
information available, such as con
tract plans, specifications, past per
Torrance on comparative jobs, etc.
This. in conjunction with the con,
tract schedule, will indicate n e
number of employees needed to &C.
tuany dc the job and when they
will be needed; also taken into
consideration are prevailing absen-
tee rates, turnover rates, hours per
week to be worked, factors regard
ing seasonal employment, etc.
Changes in schedules and changes
in design require frequent modlfl-
cation in the predicted labor re-
quirements. The estimated labor
requirements, as worked up by the
Production Department. are fur
nished to the Personnel Division
and other departments involved, to
be used as a guide for making
plans for employment, training, ia
cilities, etc. No men are actually
hired from the estimated require
ments.
Actual labor requirements are
based on actual "on-the-job' needs
of the various departments. They
are under the control of the Fore
man or Department Head who req
uisitions labor on Form memo. 7
which states definitely the number
of employees needed, experience
qualifications desired, when mer
should report for work, or any 9th
er information of helpful nature
to the Personnel Division. Thi.
form is cleared through the Super
intendent of the division and is
then passed on to the Personne.
Division, who will supply the labor
by means of transfers or new en-
ployment.
In order to conserve labor, it has
been our policy, wherever possible,
to take care of departmental la.
Dor requirements by means Of
transfers. Changes in design, par
ticularly radical changes like d
change in model of a ship to be
built, cause entirely different de-
partmental labor ratios and, Wher'
ever possible, this is effected by
transfers. This not only conserves
labor but decreases turnover and
helps employees morale, since EN-.
ployes know that in spite of chang
es beyond our control they will be
taken care of if possible. Some en-
ployees will quit before consider
ing a transfer because it is not
always possible to transfer them
at the same rate of pay; some will
transfer directly; others may take
an interim training course on Com
pany time here in the Yard before
actually starting on production in
the department to which they are
transferred. Emergencies requiring
additional help are taken care of
by temporary transfers or loans
between departments.
(b) Procedure for determining
transfers and Examinations.
l. When the Personnel Division
receives information that schedules
are to be changed, careful analysis
is made in collaboration with the
Proc uction Department as to the
estimated requirements in the vari-
Gus departments to determine
where lack of work will occur and
where t h e e WILL be additional
needs for labor. For those depart
ments where a lack of work will
occur, the situation is discussed
with the Superintendent involveds,
who in turn discuss it with their
Foremen; the Foremen in turn con-
suit with their Supervisors, and
together they review their apprais-
al or rating of the employees under
their supervision, so that they final
ly have a list of their employees
arranged in the order of their val
lie as employees of the Company.
An effort is made to list those
least suitable for retention so that
they will be the ones first termi-
mated. These lists are checked with
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