The results of the operations of this plan are reported by Mr. Rockefeller (in 1918) to be as follows: (1) Uninterrupted operation of plants and increased output; (2) Improved working and living conditions; (3) Frequent and close contact between employees and cers• (4) Elimination of grievances as a disturbing factor; (5) Good-will developed to a high degree; (6) The creation of a community spirit.
Mr. Rockefeller also declares that the °rep resentatives of the men in the camps and mills have assured me that all grievances have been adjusted to the satisfaction of the employees, are in process of adjustment or the employees have been convinced that their grievances were not well founded. The representatives have ex pressed their own unqualified endorsement, ap proval and appreciation of the plan, which at titude, they say, is that very generally of the rank and file of the men, who constantly value the plan more highly as they understand its working better." The application of this plan of co-operation to the Eagle (New Jersey) works of the Stand ard Oil Company occurred in 1918. At an election held on 27 March, 14 delegates were elected to represent the employees and the first meeting between these representatives and the officers of the company was held on 1 April. At the election, 92.2 per cent of the total number of wage-earners voted.
As in the West, the operation of the plan in Bayonne, N. J., is supposed to guarantee to each worker full justice and protection in all his rights. Future wage adjustments will be made in joint conference between the repre sentatives of the workers and the company's officials, while discharges and suspensions are permitted only under similar conditions as those which exist in the Colorado Fuel and Iron Com pany, and any employee who feels that he has been unjustly treated or who thinks he is sub jected to unfair conditions may through his elected representative appeal to the general superintendent, or even to higher officials of the company.
The so-called profit-sharing of the Ford plants has been in operation since 12 Jan. 1914 and has proved successful, not only by increasing the stability of the working forces but also by bringing about a marked im provement in the morale of the organization. At the time this plan was adopted, it was widely announced that Henry Ford had estab lished a minimum wage of $5 per day, but this statement was not strictly true as participation in the new rate of wage was confined to those who, in the opinion of Mr. Ford, were capable of
using it °within limitations." The actual mini mum wage, at the beginning of 1914, was fixed at 34 cents per hour. To those who could comply with the conditions imposed by the Ford plan, additional remuneration in the form of a share of profits was paid, the minimum share of 28% cents per hour bringing the minimum earnings to cents per hour, or the widely-advertised $5 per day. The em ployees considered as possible participants in the profit sharing were classified in three groups: 1. All married men living with and taking good care of their families. 2. All single men, over 22, of proven thrifty habits. 3. Men under 22 years of age, and women, who were the sole support of some next of kin or blood relative. These restrictions were estab lished because, as John R. Lee, one of the executives of the Ford Company, has stated: *it was clearly foreseen that $5 a day in the hands of some men would work a tremendous handicap along the path of rectitude and right living and would make of them a menace to society. So it was established at start that no man was to receive the money who could not use it advisedly and conservatively; also, that when a man seemed to qualify under the plan and later developed weaknesses that it was within the province of the company to take away his share of the profits until such time as he could rehabilitate himself.* To assure each operative just treatment under the new wage scheme, a large corps of specially trained investigators was employed to carry out the follow-up work upon which continuance in the profit sharing necessarily depended, and so successfully has the plan operated that, by the spring of 1916, about 90 per cent of the entire force were receiving their share of the profits. This naturally means that there has been a great improvement in the personnel of the organization. Thrifty habits have been developed; intemperance has largely ceased to be a considerable factor; domestic conditions have materially improved, while the increase in physical attributes is shown, not only in the reduction of the number' of ab sentees but also in the productive achieve ments of the workers.