from any waterfront they happen to drift to. Many ports operate as free labor markets, serving as dumping grounds for the fluctuations of other industries at the expense of those regular, skilled men who follow longshoring as their trade.

The first step taken to regularize the work was to adopt the policy of "enough men but no surplus." To make this principle effective, the existing surplus of men in 1921 was eliminated, largely by preventing floaters from returning to the beach once they left it, and through a system of deliberate examination into the qualifications and claim of every waterfront worker.

A second policy adopted is that of equalized earnings. Most waterfronts operate on a day-by-day picking system, with the definite policy of survival of the fittest, resulting in a favored few making excessively high wages, the body of the men doing moderately well, and a considerable fringe being forced to supplement their meager earnings on the waterfront by other casual work or through relief sources in order to exist.

The mechanism devised to carry out these policies calls for each company employing as many registered men as it can attract through promise of reasonably steady work as its nucleus of company men, with all companies drawing upon a single pool of men held in reserve at the central dispatching hall to meet peak needs. And the men are further divided into ship workers and dock workers, a definite trade skill dividing the two.

The system of dispatching men begins with the collection of information by steamship companies through wireless reports of ships' arrivals and receipt by mail of stowage plans of kinds and quantities of cargo, its distribution by hatches, ships' gear, time and place of docking, and consequent number of men needed.

The stevedore company gives preference to its company men who are organized into fixed gangs; then calls upon a body of reserve or "hall gangs" to meet extra demands, these being usually dispatched in the order of lowearnings gang first, thereby automatically equalizing earnings. An extra list of longshoremen is drawn upon for replacements and additions to gangs, and from which to organize extra gangs as peak work requires. Then there is a "casual list" of men applying for registration who are tried out and, as need for more registered men arises, are taken on the waterfront.

Dock workers or truckers are dispatched in similar method; company truckers are given first call; the trucker extra list is dispatched in rotation, thereby equalizing earnings, and a casual list of applicants are furnished peak work and advanced to registration as opportunity offers.

Of utmost importance is the statistical information on earnings, personnel, demand for men, personal injury accidents classified by causes, etc., which is open to men and management, probably unique among the ports of the world. The result is that decisions between the longshoremen and employers are now based on fact and reason instead of opinion and emotion.

The most striking and beneficial result from decasualizing the waterfront

by eliminating the surplus and distributing the work has been greatly to increase the average monthly earnings of the men (without increased cost to the ships) from a monthly average of $59 for the longshoreman and $40 for the truckers in January, 1921—the point of greatest surplus of men—to a steady, maintained average of $140 to $175 per month for the former and $100 to $135 for the latter.

On the other hand, there are still two serious weaknesses. The first is a tendency, among a considerable minority of the men, to abuse their job security by failing to "hit the ball."

The second weakness is the frequency and severity of personal injuries, aggravated by the evils of "sue or settle," because longshoremen on board ships can't be covered under state compensation laws, by decision of the federal Supreme Court, thrice repeated.

Though abuse of job security and "sue or settle" have not been successfully overcome, certain other minor weaknesses have been met effectively; for example, the human tendency in time of conflicting issues to resort to expedients instead of holding to principles to accomplish ends has been stemmed by both men and management; a growing habit of a few representatives of the men to take over details of management was met by reiterating the principle that the joint committees shape policies and review management's operations of them, but management must carry on; necessary, though tempered, discipline has been applied, employers and men being subject to penalty for violations of standard practice. As yet there has been no resort to arbitration; the use of espionage is unthinkable under the present plan of direct dealing, both men and management being convinced that "the best one ever gets from resorting to such tactics is the worst of it." A weakness which was feared, but has proven groundless, was the possible abuse of the very considerable new-found power among the employee representatives; the men have fully measured up to their responsibilities.

Though this twofold experiment has been carried on for nearly five years, it must still be considered in the light of an experiment, for employment conditions here favored the employer, and it will be necessary to pass through a period of shortage of labor to determine the measure of stability and reasonableness of longshore labor on this waterfront. When that test comes, as it must, the proportion of the men who have learned to use the economic power which is theirs in time of shortage of labor wisely and moderately, as the employers have done, will be the measure of success of this plan.

By this experiment, Seattle's waterfront is stabilized. In that stability is the promise that there will come steadily increasing efficiency, which in the best sense means the maximum benefits to employees, employers, and the community alike through the elimination of waste. For the same spirit of cooperation which made possible stability will inevitably bring about better management and more efficient operation.

Whatever intrinsic merit or lack the plan may have, the facts are that leadership was required to launch it, and also leadership has grown apace under it. The employers took the lead under the wise guidance of one of their number who occupies the unique position of standing at least as high in the esteem of the longshoremen as any of their own leaders. The men have responded to that leadership and also have made distinct contributions of their own.

Evidence of the growth in the number and quality of leaders, both employers and employees, is found in the gradual realization of an industrial philosophy on this waterfront, that coercive control (fear of the loss of the job) must steadily make way for educative control, which is enlisting the interest of men in production and of management in human well-being, thereby dwarfing conflicts between the two and enlarging their common interests.

ORGANIZED LABOR'S COOPERATION WITH
RAILROAD MANAGEMENT

O. S. Beyer, Jr., Consulting Engineer, Railway Employees'
Department, American Federation of Labor

There has come into being on certain large railroad systems of the United States and Canada a new and important development in the relation between management and the organized shop employees. The significance of this development arises chiefly from the benefits it promises to the railroads in question in more efficient and economical operation, to the people using these railroads in improved service, and to the shopmen in better working conditions, steadier employment, greater wage income, and more harmonious relations with management. This new relationship is based upon the recognition of the standard voluntary unions of the shopmen, namely, those affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, as helpful and constructive in the maintenance and manufacturing operations of these railroads. In other words, the shopmen's standard unions, consisting of the International Association of Machinists, International Brotherhood of Boiler Makers, Iron Ship Builders and Helpers of America, International Brotherhood of Blacksmiths, Drop Forgers and Helpers, Brotherhood of Railway Carmen of America, Sheet Metal Workers' International Association, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and the International Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers enjoy a new status within the government of the railroads in question. Instead of simply limiting the activities of these unions to the negotiation of wage-rates and working rules they are assuming responsibility for shop production, quality of work, elimination of waste, safety, output, and service. They are doing this through well-organized methods of cooperation with management locally by shops, roundhouses, and car yards, and nationally for their railroads as a whole.

Briefly, I might point out that this important step forward in the relationship between these shop unions and railroads results from the following circumstances: first, the shop employees enjoy the right to select the particular labor organizations which shall represent them in their dealings with management, and management entertains no reservation about dealing with the shopmen's standard unions and their representatives; second, the unions so chosen by the men have gradually worked out with management an orderly system for the adjustment of all disputes, the handling of grievances, the determination of working conditions and wage-rates; third, as a result, a general state of peace and harmony in shop labor matters has been brought about over the various railroads under consideration.

When a demand for increased wages is made by a labor organization under the usual conditions of collective bargaining, and granted, it becomes the task of management to find the wherewithal to provide for this increase. The machinery of collective bargaining, as perfected to date, is really only partially complete, and this for the simple reason that it does not provide the labor unions the opportunity to help out along constructive lines so that a railroad will be the better able to provide such increases in wage income to which the employees may be entitled.

The proposal of the organized shop crafts of the Baltimore & Ohio; Canadian National, Chicago & Northwestern, and the Chesapeake & Ohio-the railroads where the union-management cooperative program is now in effect—is, therefore, to be of definite help in the economical, efficient, and safe operation of these railroads. The program of systematic cooperation which has been worked out to accomplish this is based on four principles. They are: first, acceptance by management of the standard shopcraft unions as constructive and helpful in running of the railroad; second, systematic cooperation with these unions for improved service to the patrons of the railroad; third, stabilization of employment; fourth, sharing fairly the gains of cooperation between the railroad, its employees, and the public which they both serve.

Cooperation between the unions of the men and management must be economically sound before the men will feel properly encouraged to do the best they can for their railroad. It is obvious that any help from the shopmen to increase production must not work so that they will be out of a job so much the sooner. Their contributions toward greater output and better service must be made to count in the direction of stabilizing shop employment and increasing their yearly wage income. This is really the keystone to the program of organized labor's cooperation with management.

Fortunately, as far as our railroads are concerned, there are many things which both the unions and management can do to stabilize conditions in the shops. Management, for instance, can apportion its expenditures for equipment maintenance more evenly throughout the year. This will prevent fluctuation in employment. The employees can help save materials so that more money

will be available in the end wherewith to meet the wage requirements of the railroad. They can also improve the quality of their work, and so enable the railroad to give better service. The result will be that new business will come to the railroads fortunate enough to enjoy the benefits of such cooperative effort. In fact, on the new basis the men themselves, through their union machinery, are enabled to participate en masse in the securing of additional traffic for the railroad.

It is interesting to note how potent an influence in the securing of additional business a program of cooperation and service really is. The following simple figures (Table I) compare on an index number basis the gross revenues during the last four years of all railroads in the eastern district, excluding the Baltimore & Ohio, and the gross revenues of the latter road:

It is really surprising how many things can be done by the management and employees working together for the purpose of providing steadier work, and fortunately the benefits resulting therefrom are mutual. In fact, they reach right out into the communities where railroad men live. They are not confined alone to the employees themselves, or to the railroad company. Hence the success of the shopmen in securing traffic for their railroad from the business men in their community with whom they are in relatively close contact as purchasers.

As the program of union-management cooperation continues to develop, it is becoming more and more apparent that some form of more accurately measuring the gains of cooperation than has yet been devised is necessary. The advantages to the shopmen from stabilized employment, together with better working conditions, fewer grievances, and so on have been so obvious there has been no pressing necessity to date for devising a system of measurement. The program upon which cooperation is based, however, has, inherent in its machinery, the capacity for working out this detail.

Above all else, I would like to point out that organized labor's program of intensive cooperation with management has proven eminently practical from the viewpoint of sound railway operation. A piece of evidence testifying to the vitality and usefulness to both men and management of the cooperative program