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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 1963)
2 D THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21. 1963 MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFOHD. OREGON CCooseir mbcairlks m. Libir-Moiniigeinnieinift Plain By GEORGE C. HARLAN Unittd Prtit International Kaiser Steel Corp., the "maverick" of the steel indus try, is embarking on a labor- management experiment which could provide a blue print for the future of all in dustrial labor relations. On March 1, the big west coast steel producer, which broke industry ranks in 1959 to sign a separate strike-ending labor contract, puts into effect a precedent-shattering chare the savings plan. The 7.000 mill hands at Kaiser's sprawling F o n t a n a, Calif., works voted last month to ap prove it. ' The Kaiser agreement takes an added significance because 1963 is a wage bargaining year for the basic steel indus try. The plan's success or failure in ending bitter wrangling over wage rates and in cush ioning the impact of the lengthening shadow of auto mation will be watched close ly by the other steel compa nies as well as all industries with a strike-scarred history. Highlights of the monthly chare - the - savings Kaiser agreement are: -All plant employees will THREE MEN INVOLVED David C. Cole (center), Paterson, N.J. lawyer and a mem ber of President Kennedy's labor-management advisory committee, is one of chief architects of Kaiser Steel's sharo-the-savings labor contract. The contract goes into effect March 3 and may have influence on indus- receive 32.3 per cent and the material costs at the Fontana company 67.5 per cent of any cost savings, figured on a basis of the 1981 labor-plus- TOMORROW A HOLIDAY? 4 Good Time 1 1 to have your 1 1 eyes examined 1 Washington's Birthday I Friday, Fibnury 22 J Dr. Noles Optometrist! have served ovr half a million resident! of ths Pacific Northwest in the past 58 ver. You, too, can consult Dr. Noles Optomttrist with confidence! CompUU Ey Examination No Appointment Needed Convenient Credit Wo glvo HiVi" Green Stamps MX 5Zt& ijt COLUMBIAN OPTICAL CO. MID'ORP SHOPPING CINTER 772-9990 Casual Shipping with Convenient Parking Drs. Omar J. Nolcs and William Hodson mill. Cash benefits will accrue regardless of whether the company Is making a profit andor whether savings stem from Increased or better work, new equipment, im proved methods, better ma terials, or any other reasons. -Employees automatical 1 y will get any wage increases negotiated by the rest of the steel industry. While the Kaiser local will not negotiate wage scales it will be free to bargain on non-economic mat ters. -Mill workers idled by plant automation would be placed In an "employment re serve" and paid at the rate of their old jobs until a new Job opens up at the compar able pay scale. Continue Plant -Existing Incentive plans will continue in effect but a worker will have the option to forfeit his incentive in re turn for a lump sum payment. Some workers with "out-of-line differentials" will not participate in the sharing plan payments. -The four-year pact is sub ject to annual review and re vision by the company and the union. Will the Kaiser plan set a future industry-wide pattern? No one yet Is prepared to say, but the other steel companies have made no secret of the fact that they hope not One of the chief architects of the accord, David L. Cole, told United Press Internation- try wage bargaining. United Stcclworkcr's President, David J. McDonald (left), said it would be discussed during reopened con tract talks in the summer. U.S. Steel Chair man Roger M. Blough (right), recently ex pressed doubt it would have much impor tance (UPI) al that the plan was drafted to fit Kaiser's "peculiar" situ ation as a single, fully inte grated (ore - to product) steel operation. He questioned the applicability of the formula in its present form to such big steel companies as U. S. Steel with their multi - mill struc ture. Concept Sound Cole, a member of Presi dent Kennedy's Labor-Management Advisory committee, said he feels the Kaiser plan could be tailored to other steel firms and industries be cause the "basic concept" is sound. Cole, who divides his lime between practicing law in Paterson, N.J. and acting as a neutral peacemaker in thorny labor disputes, said his mail in recent weeks has been flooded with inquiries from a wide as sortment of companies asking how the Kaiser accord might be adapted to their respective operations. He said he has re ceived no such inquiries from steel concerns. But Cole said he has detect ed some change in steel man agement sentiment since its initial blanket condemnation of the plan. "They seem to feel it may be 'All right for Kaiser but not for us'," he said. Some steel officials have as sailed the plan chictly on the grounds that under it man agement abdicates its "basic right" to decide how income Is spent and must disclose con fidential cost data that unions You Can Count on Us . . . Quality Costs No More at Sears ays Only! Lowest Price Ever I (Mr i i i i I Choice of V Two Styles V - r i v o a is m VJjfcV 43c Pair in Seamless Mesh Fill vour hosiery drawer now! Sheer, f (altering mesli nylons in sizes 8 10 II. Seamlmi Plain Knit Jiifl riclit for sprint! Sheer bareleg loveliness, daytime or evening. Sites 814 to 11. Hurry! While Quantities Last! 29 Spring's Mosl Important Shades Royal Beige is a lively golden lone for browns and neutrals. Royal Taupette is a mnart row-touchtj shadow beige, lovely willi your rretly paMcl; V ALL FIRST QUALITY . Sears Never Sella Sronds r Irregular CHARGE YOUR NYLONS on Scar Devolving Charge Shop at Sears and Save Sallafaellon Guaranteed or Your Money Bi ...SEARS JACKSON ST. PHONI 773-661 REE PARKINS OPIN MONDAY AND FRIDAY 0 30 A.M. TO P.M. long have been clamoring to see. Shortly after the new form ula was made public United Steelworkers President David J. McDonald said it would be "discussed" during reopened contract talks this summer. U.S. Steel Chairman Roger M. Blough expressed doubt recently that the Kaiser plan would figure in any settle ment growing out of the ne gotiations. It is generally thought that McDonald will hold off seek ing to deal other union mem bers in on the shared savings benefits until he has had time to gauge the potential gains from the pact. Cole rejected the notion that the Kaiser agreement is a "give-away." He pointed out that the plan still leaves the company about two-thirds of any gains in production cost savings and that its incentive features should lower costs and pep up output perform ances. Plan Is Guaranteed Should tnis summer's wage talks break down and plunge the industry into a prolonged shutdown, the plan will place Kaiser in an enviable position. Since the agreement elimi nates bargaining on money is sues, Kaiser will not be a par ty to these discussions. In ef fect, the plan is a four-year guarantee against production interruptions arising from eco nomic issues and offers a po tent sales argument to cus tomers who are anxious to avoid costly steel stockpiling as a hedge against threatened labor troubles. There is, however, one joker in the pact that could work against Kaiser. The company could be losing money and yet still be paying out savings benefits to work ers. But this situation only could develop when its plant is operating far below capa city and at the same time the few workers still on the job increased their per man-hour efficiency. Industry Wails It is doubtful that the Kaiser formula, even if it proves a resounding success, will be swallowed whole by other companies. But some backers of the plan feel that its feature aimed at allaying growing labor fears over automation eventually may win industry-wide acceptance. The Kaiser accord stipu lates thai workers whose jobs are wiped out by automation would go into an "employ ment reserve" or labor pool where they would be paid at the rate of their old jobs for at least the average hours worked a week in the plant for not more than a year. The company figures these work ers would have to be carried in the pool not longer than five or six months before the normal attrition would open up new Jobs for them with pay equivalent to their old positions. This provision is designed to encourage workers to wel-1 review to air any grievances come technological changes. I and the calling in of the three As Cole expressed it: "You ! public members who helped cannot expect cooperation for shape the plan in the event the efficiency if that cooperation i agreement is near collapse. If leads ultimately to walking the streets." The four year settlement also provides for an annual either side is disenchanted with the plan at the end of the four years it can be scrapped. Cole, who labored nearly three years to help bring the formula into being, said that failure to give the experiment a "fair chance" for success would be a grave disservice to the cause of better labor management relations. Interpreter Pleads 'Guilty' To Many Crimes By JOAN SWEENEY Los Angeles -!UPD- Dolores Campillo Martin has pleaded guilty to so many crimes she's lost count of them. And she's pleaded innocent to everything from murder to arson. She never committed any of these crimes. But as an interpreter in the Los Angeles county courthouse, it is her job to act as the voice for Spanish and Italian speaking defendants in court. After she is sworn to testi fy, the platinum blonde, 25, translates the statements of witnesses and defendants into English for the court and vice versa. And often she finds herself performing a similar service between lawyers and their clients. Miss Martin takes her re sponsibilty to the defendants very seriously. "I try to find out something about the case," she said, "so 1 can tell the defendant be fore hand what he is charged with and explain what it means legally.'1 Apparently her, work has made quite an impression, be cause she said that now peo ple come up to her in the courthouse halls and ask her to defend them. Miss Martin's work is not confined to criminal matters. She also works in civil courts including domestic relations. Most of Miss Martin's work is with Spanish-speaking peo ple. 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