The nation . n office knowsthat the place operates under a setof rules which organizes the workof all the employees. The size of thecrew on each job; the pace, schedul-ing and performance standards foreach assignment; the application ofseniority to promotions or layoffs;even the provisions for coffee andsmoke breaks, clean-up time and 131 other amenities — nil these and moreare laid clown by work rules. If there is no union, the employerdecides what the employees mustand must not do. If the employeesare organized, the rules or the con-ditions on the job are jointly de-termined; and under these
The nation . n office knowsthat the place operates under a setof rules which organizes the workof all the employees. The size of thecrew on each job; the pace, schedul-ing and performance standards foreach assignment; the application ofseniority to promotions or layoffs;even the provisions for coffee andsmoke breaks, clean-up time and 131 other amenities — nil these and moreare laid clown by work rules. If there is no union, the employerdecides what the employees mustand must not do. If the employeesare organized, the rules or the con-ditions on the job are jointly de-termined; and under these circum-stances the rules also include some-thing about what the employer mustand must not do. Work rules, be-cause they are tailored to local con-ditions and problems, are usuallynegotiated at the local level. The negotiations over rules are in-variably touchy. As soon as a unionstarts arguing about how the workshall be performed or how manymen shall be employed, managementhas its back up. Union opinion on. 1-rXJ^ 66- such matters is resented and resistedas an intrusion upon managementsauthority; striking a bargain usual-ly requires a good deal of persua-sion. Generally speaking, manage-ment thinks that every rule imposedby the union entails unwarrantedand unnecessary outlay. But management is not alonethese days in decrying union workrules as featherbedding. Many ob-jective observers think common phrase—union make-work rules — expresses this feel-ing. Work rules are increasingly ob-jected to on the grounds that theyforce inefficiencies upon industry,retain men who are paid for notworking, throttle production and ob-struct the introduction of labor-sav-ing (and cost-reducing) machinesand methods. Higher costs and pricesare thus directly attributed to theso-called burden of rules which un-ions have negotiated. Even thosewho have steadfastly supported la-bors right to organize and to bargain 132 for decent wages, hours and condi-tions are openly critical of th
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, bookidnation191jul, bookyear1865
