Conciliation in Industry ViT ITH such brains as those of
Sir Josiah Stamp V V and Sir Alfred Mond at work upon the problems of industrial peace, something ought to happen soon, and we believe that it will. Much has been going on quietly. .
The speeches of Mr. George Hicks and Mr. Bevin at the Trades Union Congress at Edinburgh did not suddenly come out of the void. In their immediate context they were an answer to an appeal made by Mr. Baldwin a few days before, but already there was a " movement." The purport of those speeches was that trade unionists were quite ready to co-operate with Capitalism, but that the best thing would be for employers and employed to discuss the matter in individual trades ; no interference was wanted from politicians. This warning off of the politicians is often forgotten. It may account for Mr. Baldwin's unwilling- ness to produce more legislation for the coalmining industry.
In spite of the strong hint at Edinburgh that trade- by-trade negotiation was desired, Sir Alfred Mond and others have not despaired of bringing about a general discussion. The idea is, of course, not that such a discussion could settle details, but that it could provide principles common to all industries. Now a very important new fact has emerged. Sir Alfred Mond, Sir Josiah Stamp, Lord Ashfield, Lord Londonderry, Lord Aberconway and other great employers have proposed to the Trades Union Congress that leaders of industry on both sides should meet and talk. The Council of the Trades Union Congress will discuss the invitation on December 20th, and we sincerely hope that it will be accepted.
The Labour correspondent of the Morning Post says that the constitutions of the Confederation of Employers' Organizations and of the Federation of British Industries did not permit of these two bodies acting for employers at such a conference as is proposed. Hence an influential number of employers decided to issue the invitation to the Trades Union Congress above their own names. It is well known, however, that they have the support of a very large number of employers. We trust that the trade unionists will be able, if the invitation should be accepted, to say in precise terms exactly what they want in the way of general conditions. The vice of Labour proposals is vagueness, particularly at large meetings and demonstrations. As for the employers, we already have a clear enough clue .as to what is in the minds of Sir Alfred Mond and Sir Josiah Stamp.
Sir Josiah Stamp has inaugurated a scheme of co-opera- tion in the London Midland and Scottish Railway Company to which the men have unanimously promised their support. At each of a series of meetings a resolution was passed declaring that the scheme was in harmony with trade-union policy, and pledging the men " to further the business interests " of the company. The universal voting of such a resolution was an unprecedented thing. It could not have happened if certain old sources of suspicion and jealousy had not been removed by Sir Josiah Stamp—if he had not made it clear to the men that their own prosperity would advance at an equal pace with that of the company. Naturally, the wage-earners will not work harder merely to enrich other people. When, however,, they enter into a real partner- ship with their employers, the whole situation is changed. It is much better to let the wage-earner share directly in profits than to set up a system of !` limitation of profits." This is, of course, extremely well intended, but in practice the men would probably still suspect that there were unrevealed profits in the form of alloca- tions to reserve. When the wage-earners share directly in profits, the liberating and heartening principle of " the bigger the better " comes into play. Further, direct sharing necessitates exact statements as to the com- pany's financial position. The men must be made to feel, not merely that they will bo the beneficiaries of success, but that they are as truly responsible for obtaining that success as are the employers themselves.
The Departmental Committees which were set up on the L.M.S. two or three years ago arc now being asked to consider specific suggestions for improving the methods of dealing with traffic, preventing delays, avoiding damage to goods and increasing the efficiency of the service as a whole. The men will probably be brought into collision with some of their trade-union customs, but that is not to be regretted if it entails thinking out the whole situation. Sir Josiah wants to prove that the men can have something better. Their customs were framed in self-defence, and the men must not be asked tet abandon them finally till they see them plainly as something unnecessary and obstructive. An experi- mental period of unreserved co-operation between employers and employed would undoubtedly improve the conditions so much for the men that they would never want to return to the old ways ; but that ought to be proved to them before they are asked to burn their boats. Sir Josiah Stamp's plan of free discussion is aimed against the bad methods which kept the managing or thinking class separate from the hand- working class, and placed an almost unclimbable wall between them. That wall ought to be battered down till not a stone remains.
Sir Alfred Mond's views are specially well known to our readers, as we published an article by him on November 5th, entitled " Co-operation in Industry." His point is that there are three joint partners in industry —the shareholders, the management, and labour—and that all three are equal and essential parts of the organism. In his own business Sir Alfred Mond has put his ideas into practice, and they have been unreservedly accepted by the men. He has established a Central Labour• Department, by means of which opinions are exchanged between those who frame a policy and those who execute it. He has also established a series of Works Councils, which provide a link between the management and the remotest worker. There is thus an attempt to recover the personal touch which was lost when small industrial units grew into vast companies. Again, Sir Alfred has instituted a Workers Staff Grade, to which 50 per cent. of workers of over five years' service may be promoted. Membership of the grade bestows several privileges—the right to a month's notice, the right to a weekly wage instead of an hourly rate, a free holiday and so on. Lastly, there is the shareholding scheme, under which the employees can buy the com- pany's shares below the market price, and under which bonus shares will be presented to every man in pro- portion to the number of shares he has bought.
Employers who have been indifferent to their employees' standard of life have always got bad work in return, The new movement aims at ending low wages and long hours. The future is with high production, low costs; and high wages.
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