Labor relations in the construction industry

239 Pages·013.408 MB·English

by  Call, Wayne W

This thesis, having been approved by the
special Faculty Committee, is accepted by
the Graduate School of the
University of Wyoming,
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Master of Arts____
"It ________
Dean of the Graduate School.
Date _¥§Z—22x__125Q.__
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Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
LABOR RELATIONS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
toy
Wayne V. Call
A Thesis
Submitted to the Department
of Economies and the Graduate School
of the University of Wyoming in Partial
Fulfillment of Requirements for the Degree of
Master of Arts
University of Wyoming
Laramie, Wyoming
May, 195©
LIBRARY
,
OF TH e
UNIVERSITY Of wf /MtS
M M C
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UMI Number: EP20046
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Hekf«, hau
PREFACE
The construction industry and other industries have many
of the same problems of labor relations. To deal with these
problems, much the same methods ean be used successfully as
have proven effective In other areas of labor-management re­
lations.
Hr. Bay H. Northcutt, Vice President of the Guy F. At­
kinson Company, has made the following observations*
"1. The most valuable factor in labor rela­
tions is confidence, and this is achieved only by
the strictest personal honesty and integrity, main­
tained over a period of years without lapses into
occasional double-talk or double-crossing. The
man who ultimately succeeds in developing any real
influence in labor relations must not only be com­
petent, and experienced but must be able to do some
fighting for either side and sometimes both, de­
pending upon which is the right side.
“2. Disputes and controversies must not be
settled without thorough deliberation and consid­
eration or without full knowledge of all the facts
or without analysis of the far-reaching effects of
many decisions and settlements. Settlements of
disputes and controversies should be made as quick­
ly as possible, however, to prevent unnecessary gen­
eration of strife and feeling. There are exceptions
when wisdom indicates a “cooling off” would Justify
deliberate delay. In sucih cases, however, delays
for the good of the cause must be carefully handled
to avoid the appearance of stalling.
“3. Always fight hard for what you believe
is right, tout if you are proven wrong accept de­
feat gracefully, get as much credit for accepting
your defeat, and thus contribute to better rela­
tions in the future.“ (1)
1. Northeutt, Ray H., Letter to the author on the subject:
“Labor Relations in the Construction Industry” dated Au­
gust 8, 1949. (See Appendix A for full context of letter.)
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ill
Robert N. Denham, General Counsel of the National Labor
Relations Board, has stated that honesty In bargaining Is a
requisite to peaceful relations between industry and labor.(2)
Major Charles T. Estes, a member of the Federal Media*
tlon and Conciliation Service, feels that one of the weak
links in the chain of labor-management relations Is often
the foreman, acting in the capacity of “go-between" between
•
the employee and the employer* The foreman has often been
chosen, not for his ability to handle men, but rather because
he was a superior workman with his tools. Major Estes states
that many labor problems arise because the foreman is unable
to understand the grievances and explanations of the em­
ployee. He eites the following as an example of the way In
which a minor grievance can grow to major proportions:
“When a person has a grievance— what does he
do? Naturally he goes home and discusses it with
his wife....she agrees with him. Then, he goes
about the plant and has various discussions with
his associates. Even if they don’t agree with him,
they don’t tell him so beeause they don’t want to
get into an argument, and so he goes blindly along,
assuming he is perfectly correct.
“Then he goes in to talk to the foreman, and
the foreman, about as we do, says, ’Yes, yes, BUT
....’ He hasn't learned that the conjunction BUT
is the most dangerous word in the English language.
“The employee looks at him with one thought
in mind, ’When are you going to shut up, so I can
tell you what is on my mind?'
2. Denham, Robert N., Remarks before the Pacific Coast Man­
agement Conference, Berkeley, California, October 19$ 1949.
*
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iv
"The foreman finishes his speeeh. Then the
employee says: 'I will start over again. 1 So he
does, and the foreman realizes that the employee
hasn't even heard a word he said. Now they get
thoroughly mad, because of their inability to com­
municate. Further, they eanvt see it as a mutual
problem, so each side goes on to tell the other
persons on his side, at each level of the griev­
ance procedure, what has happened, what the prob­
lem is, and what the answer is. The issue isn't
settled." (3)
By combining the suggestions of these three men — gain
the confidence of the parties by a history of fighting for
what you believe to be right, bargain honestly, and develop
better communlcations between the worker and his foreman —
greater peace ean be found in labor relations.
3. Estes, Charles T., "Stabilization of Our Economy Through
Better Labor-Management Relations." Annual Proceedings of the
Fourth National Forum of Labor. Agriculture.'and Industry.
Sponsored by the University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming,
August 2, 3* 4, 1948, p. 135.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The author wishes to express his thanks and apprecia­
tion to the following persons and organizations for their
cooperation and aid in preparing this report:
Messrs* Eldred H. Kuchel and Sam Rosen, Department of Econom­
ics, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming
Dr. John T. Dunlop, Department of Economics, Harvard Univer­
sity, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Mr. Ray H. Northcutt, Vice President, Guy F. Atkinson Com­
pany, Portland, Oregon
Mr. Matt Shields, Personnel Manager, Atkins on-Jones Company,
Richland, Washington
Mr. Bruno W. Prassel, Daniel Construction Company & F. H.
McGraw and Company, Chlldersburg, Alabama
The Associated General Contractors of America
Construction and Building Trades Department, American Fed­
eration of Labor, Washington, D. C.
Construction and Building Trades Councils of America
The National Labor Relations Board, Washington, D. C.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
PREFACE........................................ ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................... v
I. HISTORY OF LABOR REFLATIONS IN THE CONSTRUCTION
INDUSTRY ..................................... 1
S i z e ..................................... 2
Personnel and Labor Relations Offices . . . 5
II. STRIKES AND LABOR DISPUTES................... 8
III. JURISDICTIONAL STRIKES AND DISPUTES.......... 26
IV. COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS. . . . . . . 43
Coverage................................. 46
Employment and Discharge ................. 50
Settlement of Grievances .......... 51
Arbitration............................... 57
Wage Seales.......... 58
Effective Dates ........................... 60
Effect on Existing Contracts ........... 61
No-Strike Clauses ......................... 62
Settlement of Jurisdictional Disputes . . . 66
Overtime................................. 67
Holidays................................. 68
Hours .................... 69
Shift W o r k ............................... 71
Payment of W a g e s ......................... 72
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vii
CHAPTER PAGE
Reporting P a y ........................... 7A
Emergency W o r k ......................... 75
Apprenticeship ................... 76
Union Security Provisions ............... 79
Conformance with the L a w ............... 82
Foremen . ............................. 85
Special Conditions ..................... 89
V. TAFT-HARTLEY AND THE BUILDING TRADES . . . . 120
VI. CONCLUSIONS................................. 133
APPENDIX A - Ray H. Northcutt Letter on
"Labor Relations in the Construction
Industry"............................... 138
APPENDIX B - Bruno W. Prassel Letter . . . . 143
APPENDIX C - An Outline of Personnel
Procedures and Duties ................... 146
APPENDIX D - Los Angeles Jurisdictional
Procedure............................... 177
APPENDIX E - Morrison-Knudsen Company, Inc.,
Labor Agreement for Wyoming............ 182
APPENDIX F - Wage Scales................... 192
APPENDIX G - Statement by Richard J. Gray
before a Congressional Committee,
May 25, 1948 . ....................... 194
BIBLIOGRAPHY............................... 210
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