Show the war as a supreme test of effic efficiency lency BY EDWARD N HURLEY continued from issue of june the reports to the government show that from 10 to 20 per cent of the men in the mines are not working as they should in mines that are given sufficient car supply there are some employed emp loyes who agrenot are not working as steadily as they should some of these men fail to work their full eight hours when they do enter the mines others work only three or four days a week when they might work six under these conditions it is not a question at present of increasing the number of hours the mine operates per day but it is a question of the men working fuller time each day and working more days in the week you may say that this is primarily a matter for labor itself to deal with in part that is true but have you yourselves done dane all you can to remedy this condition the president of one big eastern pennsylvania coal mining company recently found that with a full run of cars a certain number of the cars were standing over at his mines every night and were not being loaded he took the matter up with his men in a meeting and explained to them something of the necessity to the nation at present of having increased coal production to carry on the war and brought home to them as best he could their responsibility to mine the coal after the meeting was over some of the english speaking miners came to him and said that if the country needed the coal they were willing to stay overtime and get other men to help load the cars that ware were left over each evening that incident n i t serves as an illustration of the spirit that can be roused in your men if they are properly approached they are just as patriotic as you or I 1 their sons and brothers are going into the trenches they will do their part as earnestly as any of us if they understand clearly what their duty is but it is first up to you the presidents and owners of coal properties to do your part by going to the mines person ally obtain first hand information and explain to your men the great need for increased production with full running time the mine wage scales are remunerative and the men can make good earnings wages are based on ahe the effort of the individual miner practically all of the coal in the united states is paid for on the piecework piece work basis at some rate per ton under these conditions if the miner wishes to increase his earnings he can do so by working more energetically and nearer full time in getting in chairman united states shipping board speech delivered before the national coal association philadelphia may alay 28 1918 creased efficiency from labor therefore there is no question of a fair days pay for a fair days work the man can get his fair days pay if he is willing to work I 1 wish to express my admiration for the united mine aline workers of america as a great labor organization that recognizes the piecework basis the united state shipping board emergency fleet corporation has established a rule that any piecework piece work rate set by any shipbuilder must stay in force during the period of the war the controversies between employers and employed emp loyes over the question of piecework piece work has been most serious and the employers in many cases have been chiefly to blame any manufacturer whether he be a producer of coal coa or any other commodity who sets a piecework piece work rate finds he has made a mistake and then reduces that rate is doing a great injustice to the workman A piecework piece work rate set by a manager superintendent or foremen is a contract that should be kept in force for at least one year furthermore if this piecework piece work rate is on a particular machine and the man or the operator should leave or be dismissed the man who succeeds him should receive the same rate A law passed by the government making it compulsory for a piecework piece work rate to remain in force for a given time from the date it is put into effect would be helpful to labor and industry it cannot be doubted that in many industries there will be a decided shortage of labor after the war not only in this country but in most of the countries of the world that country will best succeed which protects its workmen by improving their living conditions by providing for insurance against accidents and protection for their families and guaranteeing a fair return from their labor all under conditions that will be helpful to make the worker a better citizen the country taking those measures will be the country that will develop and produce the products mos most t economically and it will be performing a world service by producing goods at prices that will be fair to other nations unless we have efficient management and efficient employed emp loyes our country will be at a great disadvantage compared to countries which establish these improved conditions it is true that labor itself must do its full share in obtaining increased efficiency from mine labor and if the operators have committees in each district to increase the efficiency of mine operation the united mine workers should appoint committees to take up this matter of fuller working time and better effort on the part of mine labor in some effective manner mine operators and mine workmen should cooperate co operate in democratic fashion in the common cause of 0 winning this supreme struggle for derno denio cracy by obtaining increased production ot or coal some of the problems that you are meet I 1 ing in this industry we have had to meet in the building of ships and a brief outline 1 4 1 of our efforts to overcome them may affords afford 1 you some suggestions that will be of value alue in solving your own problems in the sphere of shipbuilding wee we builte built ninety one new wood and steel yards since last july most of the organization that built these yards and many of those working on our great new merchant marine are men who had never before dulli ships A vast force of men were put to work on yards and ships of all kinds new foremen and new superintendents were engaged engage many obstacles such as develop in a new net industry turned up but we constantly tried to improve our knowledge about the building buil din of ships one particularly serious problem faced us we found we did not have ciet foremen or layout men we started a number of schools to educate the men and teach the fundamentals of shipbuilding less than a year ago there were not men employed in american shipyards today we ve have skilled mechanics and laborers in our shipyards and additional addition almen men are employed in making boilers engines winches etc we have a department of aduca education biond anil training whose task it is to train workmen foremen and superintendents the training of the various kinds of shipbuilders ship builders in the yards is accomplished by putting the zen men to work on production jobs under the supervision this yard ya per vision of a yard instructor instructor has full charge of gangs abi while the jobs they do are se they are learning but lecter for their educational sequence the effi e are adlof all of them production jobs TO chency of a green gang under training vo average about 80 per cent of a finished mecco niece man yard instructors are skilled knowle 0 ics acs to whom has been given a of teaching method this knowledge which is gained in a training center bof signed to teach the skilled mechanics to instruct the mechanic is given div ao an ide 1 to and how no of instructional management the the across effectively get instructions instruct to Orso difference between a yard that is trained and a production foreman job about th e the former knows how to go 90 dot of teaching whereas the latter does have that knowledge 1 the first training center was skilled s sent at newport news to it were they mechanics selected from the yards yere were given a six weeks course of training eight hours a day during the last part of this djs course they were obliged to spend forty hours in the actual handling of gangs of green men yard instructors are drawn from a variety of trades such as ri ship fitters ship carpenters caulkers caul kers etc while each one teaches a different line the instructor training which they get is essentially the same twenty two plants have sent men for training as yard instructors two hundred sixteen of these men have completed their training and seventy four are now in training in addition to the training center established in newport news there are now several others established namely at I hog island chester pa at the submarine yard at newark N J and two special centers for the training of electrical welders at schenectady N Y in the general electric company and at new york in the quasi are arc company the training departments in the yards which are responsible for the training of new men are established as separate departments under the director of yard training he has under his direction a staff of yard instructors so far thirteen yards have put in training departments one yard instructor tor can train about men per year the period of training for a green man varies from two to eight weeks one yard has already training enough yard instructors in the training 6 centers to turn out weekly skilled mechanics within the yard in addition to the training of green men there exists the problem of taking men who are already skilled in allied trades but have never worked in shipyards and making them into shipbuilders ship builders this is called a trade conversion course and consists essentially senti ally of determining what supplementary work ork a skilled mechanic from the allied trades must have in order to give him the necessary knowledge to do shipbuilding work rk careful studies of this conversion process and the instruction necessary have been een made and special trade conversion inductors are employed in a number of plants to meet this situation if we ive could do this in the shipbuilding ind industry idu stry awe if we could develop in a year the build building hig of wooden ships which has been a edg lost art if our workmen in many yards ave increased creased in efficiency more than 25 per der cent through this method in the past few ew months it can be done in other indus nes we did it by improving the manage t where we have efficient management we 0 have efficient workers akers you cant expect to have ave efficient ancient workmen in an inefficiently managed eed shipyard nor can you expect good result our ur shipyard workers generally are as fine a body of men as is engaged in any industry in this country they are a patrio tic industrious group and while in many yards they are not as efficient as we would like to have them they are learning daily and are increasing their output when the history of our shipbuilding program is written the american workmen the men who really built the ships will be e the men deserving of any credit that may be due if we have thus been able to start anew the building of ships and in a years time have organized a great new industry employing almost as many men as yours if we are throwing away the old standards and setting up new ones if we are breaking records every day if we are devising new meth to improve our management and increase the effectiveness in the shipyards I 1 trust that you men will rouse yourselves to new efforts will take a fresh view of your industry and will obtain a sufficient production of coal in spite of all the difficulties that may beset you and will give the government your thorough going support in carrying on the war these are the results that the nation will inevitably expect from you and I 1 am sure you will not disappoint the american people we are building ships not alone for the war but for the future of world trade remember that once their part in the winning of the war is ended a large number of them will be engaged in bringing back to home and industry the victorious soldiers and in transporting el to europe the materials necessary for reconstruction of normal life freed from the menace of avaricious autocracy these vessels will serve the commerce of other nations equally with our own and we are going to have a vast fleet let there be no doubt about that we have many men in our organization who know how to build ships tireless able workers who have their heart in this job and we have in our organization also another man I 1 wonder if you have heard of him he is the master shipbuilder of the world I 1 refer to charles M schwab the building of ships the mining and distribution trib ution of coal the production and conservation of food products and other important war necessities are all vital to the nations needs during these trying times no great task can be undertaken if quick action is to be obtained without the making of some mistakes we may make mistakes but we are moving forward and getting results we cannot go far wrong with the american people united and working for victory if each of you will do your part putting your country above everything else we will win we have a country worth working and fighting for and we have a leader worthy of our best support a great ameri can the command er in ch chief I 1 ef of the army and navy woodrow wilson |