The National Association of Corporation Schools reported, in November 1918, that a recent survey of profit-sharing schemes showed that 39 plans had been abandoned, 10 because of labor troubles and strikes; seven because the employees were dissatisfied; five because the employers found that they operated un satisfactorily,• five because of failure under diminution of profits; four on account of lack of appreciation on the part of employees; two because of changes in business' management, and one because the employees sold out their stock on a war market. The reasons for eight abandonments was not stated.
The Corporation School Bulletin states (November 19181 that while it is difficult to eliminate all the obstacles enumerated, they may be gotten around, and "in this,> it con tinues, "we are making some progress through careful study of the operating conditions and of the factors and fundamentals underlying each particular business. We are learning through our mistakes. Workmen are being classified and consideration is being given to what is just and fair to each class of em ployees. The reward is being fixed in pro portion to certain definite desired accomplish meets, in regard to output, the cost of tion and other factors the value of which to the firm concerned can be figured. In consequence it will be possible to determine just what the share of each class of employee should be in producing' the desired results and to reward accordingly — a decision which, in its turn, must lead to the reward of individuals in each class in proportion to the individual results obtained by workmen, foremen, superintend ents, salesmen and managers, together with a greater confidence on the part of both em ployers and employed in the intrinsic justice of the movement itself." A comparatively recent development of the profit-sharing ideal is in operation in Louis ville, Ky., where, in addition to paying em ployees as good compensation as would be paid for the same class of work in any other in dustry, all workers receive a division• of the total net profits, 50 per cent being placed to the credit of "the regular surplus or reserve fund from which dividends for the stockholders are declared, while the remaining 50 per cent is divided in three equal parts: One-third being allotted to the executives, one-third to the manu facturing and recording division and one-third to the sales division. In distributing the allot ment to the workers and clerical force, the weekly or monthly wage of the individual is used as a basis for calculation, the assumption being that a man who is paid a weekly wage of $25 is of more value than the man who re ceived $18 a week, and, therefore, is entitled to a proportionately greater share in the profits. This is, perhaps, one of the simplest and most generous forms of profit-sharing reported. From this 50 per cent participation plan the rate of distribution ranges down to about 2 per cent of the earnings of the employee..
The Rockefeller plan for the maintenance of industrial peace developed as the result of the serious labor troubles which were encoun tered by the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, in 1913. To prevent a repetition of these dis
turbances, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., representing the Rockefeller interests, the largest stock holders in the company, visited the mines, quarries, steel works, timber properties and other activities of the corporation, and, after familiarizing himself with actual conditions, with the assistance of the company's sociological department, drafted a plan for a form of in dustrial democracy that has operated so success fully that a similar system of workers' repre sentation was provided for the employees of the Standard Oil Company, in March 1918. The unique feature of the Rockefeller plan is that it provides the machinery through, which griev ances and suggestions as to working conditions may be brought to the attention of the proper executives. While this is a matter that can more easily be arranged in smaller concerns, it represents one of the most serious problems with which large corporations have to deal, and Mr. Rockefeller is the authority for the statement that this method of meeting this difficulty has operated satisfactorily to the operatives as well as to the officers of the company. Under this plan, employees are given representation through delegates elected by secret ballot, and these representatives are not only empowered to settle with the officers of the company any grievances which may arise from time to time, but also participate in the regulation of all mat ter of welfare through joint committees on in dustrial co-operation and conciliation; safety and accidents ; sanitation, health and housing, recreation and education. Regular district conferences between the employees' representa tives and the company's officers are held, and it is guaranteed that, on these occasions, all mat ters of concern to the workers shall be dis cussed. The plan provides elaborate machinery by which the rights of an employee who has a grievance may be properly safeguarded, means being arranged through which disputes that cannot be settled otherwise may be taken as far as the president of the company, if neces sary. The discharge of employees is also ar ranged under agreement with the employees' representative and can be only for causes pre viously agreed upon and posted where each worker may become familiar with the condi tions. These include: (I) Violation of the law; (2) Violation of prescribed safety rules and regulations; (3) insubordination or use of profane or abusive language; (4) Absence from duty without notice except for sickness or other causes beyond the operative's control; (5) Harboring disease that may endanger the health of others; (6) Changing working places without orders or prowling around the works from assigned places; (7) Falsifying or refusing to testify in investigations of accidents or for false statements at time of application or physical exam ination• (8) Neglect or carelessness resulting in damage to railroad equipment; (9) Robbing railroad journal boxes of waste; (10) Wilful neglect in care or use of company's prop erty; (II) Obtaining material on fraudulent orders.