j DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR, ) CANADA 
 
 HON. G. D. ROBERTSON, MINISTER OF LABOUR 
 
 mju. 
 
 ETIN No, 1. INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS SERIES 
 
 Joint Councils in Industry 
 
 NiVERSITY OF CALIFORNI 
 LOS ANGt* 
 
 MAR I? 1959 
 
 Issued as a Supplement to the LABOUR GAZETT 
 FEBRUARY, 1921 
 
 PRINTED BY THOMAS MULVEY, PRINTER TO THE KING'S MOST 
 
 EXCELLENT MAJESTY 
 
 OTTAWA
 
 DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR, CANADA 
 
 HON. G. D. ROBERTSON, MINISTER OF LABOUR 
 BULLETIN No. 1. INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS SERIES 
 
 Joint Councils in Industry 
 
 Issued as a Supplement to the LABOUR GAZETTE 
 FEBRUARY, 1921 
 
 PRINTED BY THOMAS MULVEY, PRINTER TO THE KING'S MOST 
 EXCELLENT MAJESTY 
 OTTAWA
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PACIE. 
 
 Canada 
 
 Royal Commission on Industrial Relations 5 
 
 National Industrial Conference 5 
 
 PLANS IN OPERATION 
 
 Objects .* 6 
 
 Basis of Representation 6 
 
 Qualifications of Representatives ._ 6 
 
 Meetings 7 
 
 Standing Committees 7 
 
 Procedure 7 
 
 Minutes 7 
 
 Matters Dealt With 7 
 
 Results 7 
 
 Saskatchewan Civil Service Joint Council 8 
 
 Canadian Railway Board of Adjustment No. 1 9 
 
 National Joint Conference Board of Building and Construction Industries 9 
 
 Joint Action in the Men's Clothing Industry 10 
 
 Industries in which Joint Councils have been introduced 11 
 
 Manitoba Joint Council of Industry 11 
 
 Employees' Committees 12 
 
 Great Britain 
 
 The Whitley Committee Plan 12 
 
 Organization of Employers and Work-people 12 
 
 Endorsation by the Government 13 
 
 Industries having National Joint Councils 13 
 
 Mining and Transportation 14 
 
 Subjects Dealt With 14 
 
 Carton Foundation Suggestions 14 
 
 Building Industry 15 
 
 Approval of Federation of British Industries 15 
 
 Commission on Industrial Unrest 15 
 
 WORKS COMMITTEES: 
 
 Constitution of Works Committees 15 
 
 Industries which have adopted Works Committees 16 
 
 Constructive Work of Joint Committees 16 
 
 Subjects Dealt With by Works Committees V. 16 
 
 United States- 
 Report of Executive Council American Federation of Labor. 17 
 
 Resolution of Reconstruction Congress of American Industries 17 
 
 Report of Commission of Employers 17 
 
 Report of President's Industrial Conference 17 
 
 Joint National Industrial Councils 18 
 
 International Joint Council in Printing Industry 18 
 
 National Industrial Council in the Electrical Construction Industry 
 
 National Industrial Councils in Longshore and Marine Industries 19 
 
 WORKS AND SHOP COMMITTEES: 
 
 The Colorado Plan 19 
 
 Leitch Industrial Democracy Plan 20 
 
 Committee Systems of National War Labour Board 20 
 
 An Agreement in the Clothing Trade 20 
 
 Works Council Laws of Continental Europe 
 
 Norwegian Workers' Committee Act 21 
 
 German Works Council Law 21 
 
 Austrian Works Council Law 22 
 
 Concluding Observations 22 
 
 Selected List of Publications . . . . f 24
 
 Joint Councils in Industry 
 
 IN view of the increasing desire on the part of both employers 
 * and employees for information in connection with plans for 
 securing a permanent improvement in the relations of employers and 
 workers, the following notes have been compiled on the principles 
 and practices governing Industrial Councils and Works Committees 
 in Canada, Great Britain and the United States: 
 
 CANADA. 
 
 It will be recalled that in April 1919, a Royal Commission 
 known as the Royal Commission on Industrial Relations, was 
 appointed by the Dominion Government "to consider and make 
 suggestions for securing a permanent improvement in the relations 
 between employers and employees" and "to recommend means for 
 insuring that industrial conditions affecting relations between em- 
 ployers and employees shall be reviewed from time to time by those 
 concerned, with a view to improving conditions in the future." In 
 order to secure the necessary basis for recommendations along these 
 lines, the Commission was authorized to "obtain information as to 
 the character and extent of organization already existing among 
 bodies of employers and employees respectively" and to "invest- 
 igate available data as to the progress made by established Joint 
 Industrial Councils in Canada, Great Britain and the United 
 States." The Commission on Industrial Relations, itself a body 
 representing the public, employers and employed, held sessions in 
 all the large industrial centres from the Pacific to the Atlantic and 
 considered the proposals and views of any persons or associations 
 who cared to appear before it. In the report submitted by the 
 Commission, it was stated: "There is urgent necessity for greater 
 co-operation between employer and employed. The great obstacle 
 to such co-operation is the suspicion and distrust with which in 
 many cases each regards the other." A recommendation was made 
 in favour of the formation of Joint Industrial Councils and Works 
 Committees; the Commission also advised "that the Government 
 should interest itself in the development of these councils and that 
 a bureau should be established under the Minister of Labour 
 which would compile all available statistics on this subject, under- 
 take publication of developments in this and other countries, main- 
 tain officers who would be available to give assistance and act as 
 liaison officers between employer and workers where desire is ex- 
 pressed to create such Councils, and render such other assistance as 
 may be required." The report states, however, that the commis- 
 sioners 1 "are under no illusions as to industrial councils constituting 
 a universal panacea for all industrial troubles. Their usefulness will 
 depend upon the spirit in which they are adopted." 
 
 In accordance with a recommendation of the Royal Com- 
 mission on Industrial Relations, a National Industrial Conference 
 was held at Ottawa in September 1919, of representatives of em- 
 ployers and employees and of the public; the subject of Joint 
 Industrial Councils and Works Committees was discussed, a reso- 
 
 Royal 
 
 Commission on 
 Industrial 
 Relations. 
 
 National 
 
 Industrial 
 
 Conferenc
 
 lution being unanimously adopted approving the formation of Joint 
 Industrial Councils as a means of furthering greater co-operation 
 between employer and employees. 
 
 Plans in Operation 
 
 Among the plans which have been put into effect in Canada, 
 with the object of giving some voice in management to employees, 
 there are many modifications and variations as to methods, and 
 although the principles involved differ but slightly, it is observed 
 that the objects of the different joint industrial councils and com- 
 mittees reported to the Department are, generally speaking (1) to 
 provide means whereby on the one hand employees may crystallize 
 their thoughts, and present their views to the management, with 
 respect to wages and working conditions, and on the other hand 
 to provide the management with a means whereby it may better 
 know the preferences and appreciate the points of view of the 
 workers ; (2) to provide means for exchanging ideas and suggestions 
 and to develop further a spirit of co-operation; in short, to secure 
 the largest possible measure of joint action between employer and 
 employee in any matters pertaining to their common welfare. Some 
 committees are charged with the administration of trust funds and 
 sickness benefits; others again deal with questions of policy 
 relating to wages, hours, employment, working conditions, work 
 practice, safety, sanitation and health. The number of employees 
 coming within the scope of joint councils and committees, as at 
 July 1920, is reported as approximately 145,000. 
 
 B <> of The basis of employee representation on joint committees in 
 
 Representation. Canada varies between one representative for each ten workers, and 
 one representative for each hundred workers, but the average seems 
 to be about one representative for each thirty employees. In most 
 cases the employee representatives are nominated and elected by 
 secret ballot, and in practically all cases an equal mimber 
 of representatives of the management are appointed by the 
 management. In some cases, provision is made for a 
 chairman appointed by the management; in others, the chair- 
 man is appointed by the full board. Similarly the secretary 
 is sometimes appointed by the management, and in other cases two 
 secretaries are appointed, one by the management and one by the 
 employees. A plan which appears to be distinctly approved, is to 
 have the director of personnel, the supervisor of welfare, or the 
 employment manager, act as secretary of the committee. In some 
 plants where women are employed, provision is made for a special 
 representative elected by the women only; but in most cases the 
 representatives are elected by various groups, such groups being 
 arranged either for geographical convenience, or by crafts within the 
 plant. One large company has a permanent secretary paid by the 
 employer. 
 
 It is generally provided in the various constitutions that the 
 plan of representation of employees shall in no way abridge or 
 conflict with the right of employees to membership in any labour or 
 or other lawful organization. 
 
 Qualifications j n mos t ca ses, employees must have one year or more contin- 
 
 Representatiyes. uous service with the company and be at least 21 years of age to
 
 Meeting*. 
 
 Standing 
 Committees. 
 
 become eligible for election as an employees' representative. An 
 ex ception is made in the case of women representatives for whom in 
 certain cases the minimum age is 18 years. As a rule, no foreman nor 
 any official having definite authority to hire or discharge 
 is allowed to represent the employees. Most regulations specify 
 that it is necessary for an employee representative to be a Canadian 
 citizen or of British birth, but in one case an employee is eligible 
 if he has his first papers, and in another, United States citizens are 
 eligible. 
 
 Meetings of the councils or committees are as a rule held once 
 a month, but provision is generally made for special meetings to be 
 called when necessary. In some cases the council meetings are 
 held during the employer's time, but there are cases where meetings 
 are after working hours. Generally, meetings are held on the prem- 
 ises of the company. 
 
 In some cases, the constitution of the joint industrial council 
 provides for standing committees to deal with such matters as 
 health, safety, sanitation, recreation, libraries, athletics, res- 
 taurants, ambulances, and entertainments, but in the majority of 
 cases, sub-committees are formed to deal with these and other spe- 
 cific matters, disbanding when their report is made to the council. 
 
 The constitutions of several joint industrial councils provide Procedure. 
 that matters which, cannot be adjusted between individual em- 
 ployees and their foremen may be submitted to a shop committee, 
 and failing a mutually satisfactory arrangement, may be referred 
 to a general council and thereafter in the absence of a suitable 
 agreement, to arbitration, the decision of the arbitrators to be 
 binding. In some cases, however, no procedure as to arbitration 
 has been thought necessary, the decision of the chief executive 
 officer being final. In practically all cases, provision is made for 
 fullest investigation, and from the information to hand, it would 
 appear that it is verj^ seldom that matters cannot be satisfactorily 
 handled by the shop or plant committees or councils. 
 
 As a rule, minutes of the council and committee meetings are 
 kept and means provided for publishing them in order to inform 
 employees as to matters under discussion and as to decisions made. 
 In some cases, the minutes are published in the house-organ or plant 
 newspaper. In other cases, the minutes are kept in the office of the 
 secretary, available for inspection at any time. 
 
 The subjects dealt with by the joint committees include 
 absenteeism, ambulance work, apprentice regulations, athletics, 
 benefits, bonuses, buildings, canteens, church work, comfort, 
 co-operative stores, education, employment, equipment, gardens, 
 group insurance, health, holidays, hours, materials, methods, organ- 
 ization, piece rates, production, promotion, publicity, quality of 
 production, recreation, rules, safety, salvage, sanitation, thrift, 
 Victory Bonds, wages, working conditions, and many other matters. 
 
 The results of the operation of these joint committees or councils 
 in industry have been commented on very favourably by employers, 
 as the following reports from some of the larger firms in this country, 
 which have put into operation extensive plans for industrial organ- 
 ization with employee representation, will show: 
 
 Minute*. 
 
 Matteri 
 Dealt With.
 
 8 
 
 The Bell Telephone Co. of Canada, Ltd. report improvement 
 in service rendered, due to keener interest shown by employees in 
 work and closer co-operation with Company officials. The form- 
 ation of plant councils throughout this Company and the joint 
 meetings between the representatives of employees with the man- 
 agement are said to have been greatly beneficial to both parties . 
 One of the largest rubber manufacturers, operating several factories, 
 states that the general impression among the managers is that 
 headway has been made in the matter of volume and quality of 
 production and that there has resulted a noticeably beneficial effect 
 on labour relations in general between management and employees, 
 great advance having been shown in the willingness of employees 
 to co-operate and be fair in the settlement of all questions: The 
 Gray-Dort Motors, Ltd., state that results of the councils have 
 been surprisingly beneficial; The Gutta Percha and Rubber Ltd., 
 state that there has been a favourable reaction in regard to 
 the matter of labour turnover and distinctly feel that the relation- 
 ship between management and employees has improved as a result 
 of the council meetings: the president of the Employees' Com- 
 mittee of the Works Council states that the Joint Council has estab- 
 lished harmony in all relations between the management and the 
 working force of the Company; Imperial Oil Ltd., state that a spirit 
 of mutual respect and a better disposition to appeal to the sense 
 of fairness are becoming apparent; International Harvester Co., of 
 Canada Ltd., state that labour relations in general are unquestion- 
 ably better; Kerr Lake Mining Co., Ltd.,&re thoroughly convinced 
 that joint discussions are of material benefit not only to the men, but 
 also to the interest of the Company; The Manitoba Bridge & Iron 
 Works Ltd. state that their labour turnover has been reduced 50 
 per cent, since a council was started, although they do not claim 
 that this has resulted altogether from the institution of the council; 
 Massey Harris Co., Ltd., state that the councils have more than 
 justified themselves and representative employees express the 
 opinion that "works councils remove all grounds for dissatisfaction, 
 suspicion and discontent;" Robb Engineering Works, Ltd., look 
 upon the committee arrangement as having proved very satis- 
 factory from a|l view-points; The Spanish River Pulp & Paper 
 Mills, Ltd., have been making a very close s<tudy of the matter of 
 joint committees, believing that committees would be good for the 
 employees as well as for the company. 
 
 In the spring of 1920 there was organized the Saskatchewan 
 Saskatchewan ^.j g erv i ce j o i nt Council. The Council, representing the Gov- 
 
 s^rvice ernment and Civil Service employees, is composed of three deputy 
 
 ministers and three members of the Saskatchewan Civil Service 
 Association. The Council may appoint such committees as may 
 from time to time be deemed advisable and may call officials or 
 employees before it to give information regarding any matter under 
 consideration. Recommendations of the Council are referred to 
 the deputy head of the department concerned and to the Civil 
 Service Commissioner. Matters dealt with include complaints as to 
 salaries, allocation of work, holidays, sick-leave, the operation of the 
 staff dining-room and similar matters.
 
 In the month of August 1918, a joint board known as the Can- 
 adian Railway Board of Adjustment No. 1, was formed by agreement 
 between the railways of Canada and six of the railway employees' 
 brotherhoods "to avoid disputes or misunderstandings which would 
 tend to lessen the efficiency of transportation service in Canada 
 during the war." It was further agreed that this arrangement 
 should continue in effect after the war, unless either of the parties 
 desired to terminate it. The operations of the Board during the 
 war proved to be so effective that the arrangement was continued 
 by mutual agreement and is still in effect. 
 
 The Board consists of twelve members, half selected by the 
 railways and half by the executive officers of the respective railway 
 brotherhoods concerned, namely : Brotherhood of Locomotive En- 
 gineers, Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, Order 
 of Railway Conductors, Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, Order 
 of Railroad Telegraphers and International Brotherhood of Main- 
 tenance of Way Employees. 
 
 All office expenses in connection with the Board of Adjustment 
 are borne equally by the Railway Association of Canada and the 
 organizations of employees. 
 
 The Board meets regularly at stated times each month and 
 continues in session until all matters before it are considered. 
 
 Personal grievances or controversies on Canadian railways, 
 arising out of interpretations of wage agreements are handled by a 
 general committee of employees up to and including the chief oper- 
 ating officer of the railway concerned. If an agreement is not. 
 reached, the chairman of the joint committee of employees may 
 refer the matter to the executive officer of the organization con- 
 cerned, and if the contention of the employees' committee is ap- 
 proved, the matter is referred to the Canadian Railway Board of 
 Adjustment No. 1, whose decision is binding. All decisions of the 
 Board must be approved by majority vote of all members of the 
 Board. So far it is understood that decisions of the Board 
 have in all cases been made unanimous.* 
 
 A j oint body known as the National Joint Conference Board of the 
 Building and Construction Industries of Canada, was organizedin!920 
 to furnish a common meeting ground for the discussion of questions af- 
 fecting employers and employees in the building and construction in- 
 dustries. It is composed of five representatives selected by the 
 Association of Canadian Building and Construction Industries, and 
 five members selected by the representatives of the international 
 trade unions in the building trades. In connection with this Na- 
 tional Board, there are local boards which deal with disputes and 
 agreements in the building and construction industries; such 
 
 Canadian 
 Railway 
 Board of 
 Adjustment 
 No. 1. 
 
 National 
 
 Joint 
 
 Conference 
 
 Board of the 
 
 Building and 
 
 Construction 
 
 Industries. 
 
 *Results of each of the 87 cases dealt with by the joint board between August 
 7, 1918 and August 31, 1920, are tabulated in the Report of the Proceedings of 
 the Canadian Railway Board of Adjustment No. 1. published by the Department 
 of Labour, in the LABOUR GAZETTE, November, 1920.
 
 10 
 
 ooards or councils are already functioning at Ottawa, Toronto, 
 London and Hamilton, and their operations have accomplished 
 much in harmonizing and standardizing conditions of contracting 
 and of employment, and have secured a great measure of joint 
 action between employers and employees for the development 
 of these industries as a part of the national life, and for the improve- 
 ment of the conditions of all engaged therein. 
 
 The Ottawa local joint board consists of ten members, with 
 power to add to the number, five being representatives of the 
 Building Trades Council of Ottawa, and five being from the Ottawa 
 Branch of the Association of Canadian Building and Construction 
 Industries. 
 
 The Toronto local joint board consists of ten .members with 
 power to add to the number, two representatives being from the 
 Builders' Exchange, one from the Ontario Association of Electrical 
 Contractors and Dealers, one from the Toronto Society of 
 Domestic, Sanitary and Heating Engineers, one from the Inter- 
 national Master Painters' Association, and five from the Building 
 Trades League. 
 
 The London local joint board is similar in constitution to those 
 of Ottawa and Toronto. 
 
 The Hamilton local joint board consists of ten members, five 
 appointed by and representing the employers engaged in the 
 building industry, and five appointed by the Building Trades 
 Council representing the employees. 
 
 Meetings of the local boards are held as often as necessary, 
 regular meetings being held once a month. Matters which have 
 ^been dealt with include grievances of employees' unions and of em- 
 ployers, apprentice systems, jurisdictional disputes, agreements, 
 etc., and the work of the boards has proven very valuable both to 
 employers and employees, having been the means of averting many 
 strikes and of exercising in every way a beneficial effect on labour 
 relations in general between the building trades employers and their 
 employees. 
 
 Joint Aetion A system of joint action has been developed in the men's cloth- 
 
 ^J* ing industry in Canada, based on the system in operation in the 
 
 clothing plant of Hart, Schaffner and Marx, Chicago. A similar develop- 
 
 ment has taken place in the American clothing markets of Rochester, 
 Baltimore, Boston and New York. In Canada, in the cities of 
 Montreal, Toronto and Hamilton, the Amalgamated Clothing 
 Workers of America have boards representing the workers. 
 These boards are employees' organizations and do not represent 
 the employers. Each board has a manager who acts with the labour 
 manager of the associated clothing manufacturers in the adjust- 
 ment of disputes. The labour adjustment council, made up of 
 representatives of employers and employees, considers all matters 
 on which the business manager of the union and the general 
 manager fail to agree. If the members of the council do not reach 
 an agreement, the "impartial chairman" makes a recommendation 
 which is binding on both sides. In Toronto, there is an agreement 
 made by the union with the manufacturers.
 
 11 
 
 Among the industries and branches of employment in Canada 
 in which Joint Councils or Committees have already been in- 
 troduced are the following : 
 
 Abattoirs 
 
 Agricultural Implements 
 
 Automobiles 
 
 Bridge and Structural Iron 
 
 Brush Manufacturing 
 
 Building and Construction 
 
 Civil Service of Saskatchewan 
 
 Clothing 
 
 Engineering 
 
 Oil 
 
 Packing 
 
 Railways 
 
 Rubber 
 
 Telephones 
 
 Woollen Goods. 
 
 In the Province of Manitoba the Industrial Conditions Act 
 of 1919 provided for a "Joint Council of Industry" to consist of 
 five persons, two to be selected as representatives of employers 
 engaged in industry in Manitoba, and two to be selected as re- 
 presentatives of employees connected with industry in Manitoba; 
 the chairman to be an impartial person so far as employers and 
 employees are concerned. Members of the Council hold office 
 during the pleasure of the Lieutenant-Governor-in-Council. The 
 Lieutenant-Governor-in-Council may, upon recommendation of the 
 joint council, appoint persons with technical or special knowledge 
 to assist in respect of any matter which may come before it. 
 
 The Council has jurisdiction over businesses or corporations 
 giving rise to the relation of employer and employee, but does not 
 apply to agricultural pursuits or railways operated under the 
 Railway Act of Canada. Council may take the initiative in in- 
 vestigating questions relating to alleged unfair profits caused by 
 maintaining rates of wages which are not fair and reasonable, and 
 may from time to time make investigations as to the cost of living ; 
 numbers of persons employed in industry ; rates of wages paid and 
 other similar matters. Action may be taken upon complaint of 
 any person or organization, or whenever the Council has reason to 
 believe that an industrial dispute exists or seems likely to arise. 
 
 From the date of inception of the Council of Industry for the 
 Province of Manitoba, May, 1920, to January 21, 1921, sixty-nine 
 meetings of the Council were held and eighty interviews with 
 parties interested in cases dealt with. The findings of the Council 
 were announced in thirteen cases of industrial disputes; in five 
 cases, both parties agreed to abide by the decision of the Council 
 before the decision was announced; in one case, some of the re- 
 commendations were not adopted ; in another case, the finding was 
 rejected by the labour union which had referred the matter to the 
 Council ; and in all other cases agreements were entered into which 
 are said to be satisfactory to both parties, embodying the sugges- 
 tions of the Council. 
 
 The Council has also conducted investigations in connection 
 with rents, housing, unemployment, apprenticeship and industrial 
 education, cost of living and profit-sharing systems. 
 
 Industrie* 
 in which 
 Joint ttj 
 Councils 
 have been 
 introduced. 
 
 Manitoba 
 
 Joint 
 
 Council 
 
 of Industry.
 
 12 
 
 Employees' 
 Committee*. 
 
 Tht Whitley 
 Committee 
 
 PlkD. 
 
 Organisation 
 
 of 
 
 Kmployers 
 
 and 
 
 Work-people. 
 
 In addition to the various joint shop and plant committees 
 concerning which the Department has received information, 
 particulars have been received of many employees' committees, 
 some of these being in connection with employees' clubs or asso- 
 ciations, formed for the carrying out of. some object of mutual 
 service; as for instance, pension plans, social and athletic purposes. 
 Such a committee may form a valuable nucleus for a joint industrial 
 council. 
 
 GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 As a step towards lessening industrial unrest in Great Britain, 
 a Government committee, commonly known as the "Whitley" 
 Committee, after its Chairman, the Rt. Hon. J. H. Whitley, M.P., 
 put forward in 1917 proposals for fostering closer relations between 
 employers and employed.* 
 
 Briefly, the proposal outlined by the Whitley Committee was 
 that employers and employees in their respective national organiz- 
 ations should elect representatives to form a national joint council 
 for each industry. It was further proposed that these national in- 
 dustrial coumcils should promote the formation of district councils 
 and individual works committees. Outstanding features of the 
 Whitley Committee plan are: (1) the formation of national and 
 district councils and works committees composed in each case of 
 representatives of employers and workmen; (2) the selection of the 
 council members through the employers' and employees' organiz- 
 ations respectively; (3) the provision for regular meetings; 
 (4) the consideration of any proposals submitted for the regulariz- 
 ation of production and employment ; (5) the encouragement of the 
 study of processes, designs and research; (6) the regular consider- 
 ation of wages, hours and working conditions generally. 
 
 In the conclusion of its first and principal report, the Whitley 
 Committee observed: 
 
 The schemes recommended in this report are intended not merely for 
 the treatment of industrial problems when they become acute, but also, 
 and more especially, to prevent their becoming acute. We believe that 
 regular meetings to discuss industrial questions, apart from and prior 
 to any differences with regard to them that may have begun to cause 
 friction, will materially reduce the number of occasions on which, in 
 the view of either employers or employed, it is necessary to contemplate 
 recourse to a stoppage of work. 
 
 We venture to hope that representative men in each industry, 
 with pride in their calling and care for its place as a contributor to the 
 national well-being, will come together in the manner here suggested, 
 and apply themselves to promoting industrial harmony and efficiency 
 and removing the obstacles that have hitherto stood in the way. 
 
 The Whitley Committee further stated that it was the con- 
 sidered opinion of the members "that an essential condition of 
 securing a permanent improvement in the relations between 
 employers and employed is that there should be adequate organiz- 
 ation on the part of both employers and work-people. The pro- 
 
 *The reports of the Whitley Committee and of certain Communications 
 relating thereto have been re-printed by the Department of Labour , Canada, 
 and are available for distribution.
 
 13 
 
 posals outlined for joint co-operation throughout the several ^in- 
 dustries depend for their ultimate success upon there being such 
 organization on both sides; and such organization is necessary also 
 to provide means whereby the arrangements and agreements made 
 for the industry may be effectively carried out." 
 
 The recommendations of the first Whitley report were endorsed 
 by the British Government in the following terms: "The Goverfl- 
 ment desires it to be understood that the Councils will be recognized 
 as the official standing consultative committees to the Government 
 on all future questions affecting the industries which they represent 
 and that they will be the normal channel through which the opinion 
 and experience of an industry will be sought on all questions with 
 which the industry is concerned. It will be seen, therefore, that it 
 is intended that Industrial Councils should play a definite and 
 permanent part in the economic life of the country, and that the 
 Government feels that it can rely on both employers and work- 
 people to co-operate in order to make that part a worthy one." 
 
 During the period which has elapsed since the publi cation, in 
 March 1917, of the first report of the Whitley Committee, sixty-six 
 National Joint Industrial Councils have "been formed including 
 
 million workers in the following industries: 
 
 Number of Workers. 
 Jan., 1920. 
 
 Name of Industry. 
 
 Endorsation 
 by the 
 Government 
 
 Asbestos Manufacturing 3,000 Industrie* 
 
 Bread Baking, England 99,900 having { 
 
 Bread Baking, Scotland 8,000 National 
 
 Bedsteads, Metallic 7,700 Joint *< 3 
 
 Bobbin and Shuttle 4,500 Gcwwfc. 
 
 Boot and Shoe Manufacture 164,000 
 
 Building 705,000 
 
 Cable-Making, Electrical 26,500 
 
 Carpets 19,500 
 
 Cement 
 
 Chemicals, Heavy 30,000 
 
 China Clay 9,300 
 
 Civil Service (Administrative and Legal Departments) 300,000 
 
 Coir Mat and Matting 3,000 
 
 Cooperage 6,000 
 
 Dockers 
 
 Dyeing and Finishing Hosiery (Midland) * 
 
 Elastic Webbing, etc 4,000 
 
 Electrical Contracting 6,000 
 
 Electricity Supply 29,000 
 
 Entertainments 
 
 Flour Milling 25,00ft 
 
 Furniture 85,000 
 
 Gas Undertakings '.- 94,000 
 
 Glass V 36,400 
 
 Gold and Silver, etc 30,000 
 
 Government Industrial Establishments: 
 
 Admiralty 88,400 
 
 Air Ministry 
 
 Ministry of Munitions 
 
 Office of Works 6.000 
 
 Stationery Office 
 
 War Office 
 
 Heating and Domestic Engineering 71,000 
 
 Hosiery, English 67,000 
 
 Hosiery, Scottish .' 16,500 
 
 'Figures not available.
 
 14 . 
 
 Name of Industry. Number of Workers. 
 
 Jan. 1920. 
 
 Leather, Made-up goods 40.800 
 
 Locks, Latches and Keys * 
 
 Insurance * 
 
 Local Authorities (Manual Workers) 60.000 
 
 Local Authorities (Administrative, Clerical and Technical) * 
 
 Match Manufacturing 9,500 
 
 Music Trades * 
 
 Needles, Fish-hooks and Fishing Tackle 5,500 
 
 Packing-case Making . . . 24,000 
 
 Paint, Colour and Varnish 19,400 
 
 Pottery 70,000 
 
 Printing 208,000 
 
 Process Engraving 
 
 Quarrying ' 66.200 
 
 Road Transport 175,000 
 
 Rubber Manufacturing 67,800 
 
 Sawmilling 74,000 
 
 Silk 34,700 
 
 Soap and Candles * 
 
 Spelter 3,000 
 
 Surgical Instruments ^ 
 
 Tin Mining 5,500 
 
 Tramways 82,700 
 
 Vehicle Building 32,000 
 
 Wall-paper Making 3,000 
 
 Waterworks Undertakings 17,000 
 
 Welsh Plate and Sheet 26,000 
 
 Wire, Iron and Steel 15,000 
 
 Wool (and Allied) Textile 270,000 
 
 Woollen and Worsted 40,000 
 
 Wrought Hollow-ware * 
 
 District councils have also been established in many of the 
 foregoing industries, and works committees have been set up in a 
 large number of individual establishments. 
 
 Mining and In the important industries of mining and transportation, in 
 
 both of which there has been widespread unrest of late, the plan 
 enunciated in the Whitley Report has not yet been accepted. 
 
 D U e ak C with National industrial councils have dealt with a wide range of 
 
 subjects, including wages, hours of labour, holidays, disputes, con- 
 ciliation, welfare, safety, research, organization, statistics, educ- 
 ation, apprenticeship, unemployment insurance, workmen's com- 
 pensation and merchandise marks. 
 
 The Gat-ton A memorandum on the industrial situation issued under the 
 
 Foundation auspices of the Garton Foundation prior to the publication of the 
 
 Suggestions TrrL-^i f^\ - j. j L i / 
 
 Whitley Committee report is recognized as having been one of 
 the most notable contributions to the development of the new spirit 
 of co-operation. The writers declare : "It is essential to the securing 
 of such co-operation that labour as a party to industry should have a 
 voice in matters directly concerning its special interests, such as 
 rates of pay and conditions of employment. It is necessary to 
 create adequate machinery both for securing united action in the 
 pursuit of common ends and for the equitable adjustment of points 
 which involve competing interests. This machinery must be suffi- 
 cently powerful to enable both sides to accept its decisions with 
 confidence, that any agreement arrived at will be generally ob- 
 served." 
 
 *Figrures not available.
 
 15 
 
 The operatives in the building industry in Britain prior to 
 the publication of the Whitley Committee report had pre- 
 sented to their employers through thteir association a statement out- 
 lining a plan for the joint control of the building industry and affirm- 
 ing that "industrial peace must come not as a result of the balance 
 of power with a supreme court of appeal in the back-ground; it 
 must arise as the inevitable by-product of mutual confidence, real 
 justice, and constructive goodwill." 
 
 Thus the time was ripe in Great Britain for the concrete pro- 
 posals of the Whitley Committee. The Federation of British In- 
 dustries, an organization of employers representing over 9,000 
 firms in every trade and industry and employing between three and 
 four million workers and over $2,000,000,000 capital, announced 
 "We are strongly of the opinion that the workers in every industry 
 should be given the fullest possible voice in the determination of the 
 conditions under which they are employed, provided this does not 
 encroach upon the operations of the commercial management or 
 lessen the proper authortiy of the foreman. . . . These recommend- 
 ations of the Whitley Committee have repeatedly been approved by 
 the Federation and we desire once more to state in emphatic terms 
 our approval of them and especially of the proposals for district 
 councils. The recommendations of the Whitley Committee, if 
 properly carried out, will give the worker a new and honourable 
 status. In the national council of the industry and in the joint 
 industrial council, his representative will sit on an absolute equality 
 with the employer's and will have an equal voice in determining the 
 general conditions subject to which industry is carried on. . .. 
 We believe, also, that in industries where circumstances permit of 
 their formation, works Committees will do much to make the 
 worker realize that he is acquiring a new status in industry." 
 
 A Government Commission on Industrial Unrest, reporting about 
 the same time as the Whitley Committee, approved the principle 
 of the latter's report, the commissioners for the north-west area 
 affirming it to be " a statesmanlike proposal of the best method 
 of dealing with unrest." 
 
 Works Committees 
 
 During the war, the problems of the dilution of skilled with 
 unskilled labour, the replacement of men by women, the fixing of 
 piece-rates and other methods of payment, and the difficulties in 
 regard to time-keeping and absenteeism, led to the establishment 
 many joint works committees to consider these matters, and many 
 of these bodies were later developed into general works committees. 
 The pit committees in the mining districts were organized on a 
 joint basis to increase the output of coal by ensuring better time- 
 keeping and proper facilities for work. Similar joint committees 
 were set up in the iron works at Cleveland and Durham, and in both 
 cases the scheme was declared to have increased production 
 substantially. 
 
 Since the adoption of the Whitley report, works committees 
 have been formed not only in industries possessing joint industrial 
 councils, but also in industries which have not yet established in- 
 dustrial councils. Where there is a national industrial council a 
 
 The Building 
 Industry. 
 
 Approval of 
 the Federation 
 of British] 
 Industries. 
 
 The 
 
 Commission 
 on 
 
 Industrial 
 Unrest. 
 
 Constitution 
 of 
 
 Works 
 Committee-
 
 16 
 
 Industrie* 
 which har 
 Adopted 
 Work* 
 Committees. 
 
 Constructive 
 Work of 
 Joint 
 Committees. 
 
 Subjects 
 Dealt with 
 by Works 
 Committees. 
 
 model constitution for works committees is drawn up providing for 
 representation of employers and employees at periodical meetings, 
 and this draft constitution is usually adopted by the works com- 
 mittees in the industry. 
 
 There are no statistics available as to the number of firms that 
 have set up works committees, but the British Ministry of 
 Labour reported in September, 1920, that there had been a large 
 increase in the number of works committees formed during the 
 previous few months, and the following industries are listed as 
 having adopted the works committee system: 
 
 Artificial Stone 
 Asbestos. 
 
 Bobbin and Shuttle Making. 
 Brewing. 
 Cement. 
 China Clay. 
 Elastic Web. 
 Flour Milling. 
 Gloves. 
 Gold. 
 Silver. 
 
 Horological and Allied Trades. 
 Gov't Industrial Establishments. 
 (Admiralty, Office of Works) 
 Matches. 
 
 Music Trades. 
 
 Needles and Fish-hooks. 
 
 Optical Instruments. 
 
 Patent Fuel. 
 
 Plate and Sheet. 
 
 Pottery. 
 
 Printing. 
 
 Quarrying. 
 
 Rubber. 
 
 Silk. 
 
 Spelter. 
 
 Tin-Making. 
 
 Wall-paper. 
 
 Wire. 
 
 In addition to the industries which had already formed com- 
 mittees, the following were reported to have the matter under 
 consideration : 
 
 Cable-Making 
 
 Cocoa, etc. 
 
 Coir Matting. 
 
 Gas. 
 
 Gov't Industrial 
 
 Establishments. 
 
 (Air Ministry). 
 
 Local Authorities (Non-Trading Services). 
 
 Local Authorities (Administrative, etc., Staffs.) 
 
 Sea-Fishing (Grimsby.) 
 
 Tramways. 
 
 Wool (and Allied) Textiles. 
 
 The Ministry of Labour states that "many works committees 
 have shown themselves capable of valuable constructive work in 
 addition to such activities as the removal of grievances, the im- 
 provement and supervision of working conditions" etc., and cites as 
 typical examples: an investigation into foundry costs, the report 
 on which the works manager described as the best memorandum 
 on the subject he had seen; an investigation into the system of 
 issuing tools and the improvement thereof; an inquiry into the 
 problem of fatigue in the industry and suggestions for improving 
 time-keeping and increasing output. 
 
 Among the matters reported as coming within the scope of 
 works committees are the following: wages, piece-work rates; 
 application of special legislation; awards or agreements; new pro- 
 cesses or change of process; grievances; application of rules; 
 grading of workers; dismissals; discipline; general shop conditions 
 and amenities; hours of work; meal hours; starting and stopping 
 times; overtime; arrangements for holidays; arrangement of shifts, 
 night-work; safety practices; medical and first-aid work; dining 
 service; shop comfort and hygiene; benevolent work; social act" 
 iviti es.
 
 17 
 
 UNITED STATES. 
 
 Turning to the United States, and bearing in mind differences 
 in the industrial organization of the two countries, the much less 
 completely organized parties in industry in the United States, and 
 the acceptance in Britain of collective bargaining as a part of the 
 normal machinery of industry, we find that the same spirit which 
 has found expression in Britain has been developing in America, 
 has been intensified by war conditions, and stimulated by British 
 experience. 
 
 The Executive Council of the American Federation of Labour, 
 in its report of June 1918, affirmed its belief "that in all large per- 
 manent shops, a regular arrangment should be provided whereby: 
 
 First, a committee of the workers would meet with the shop manage- 
 ment to confer over matters of promotion ; and whereby 
 
 Second, such committee could carry beyond the foreman and the 
 superintendent to the general manager or to the president any im- 
 portant grievance which the workers may have with reference to wages , 
 hours and conditions. 
 
 It is fundamental for efficiency in production that tne essentials 
 of team work be understood and followed by all. There must be oppor- 
 tunity for intercourse and exchange of viewpoints between workers 
 and managers. 
 
 The United States Chamber of Commerce called together a 
 Reconstruction Congress of American Industries at Atlantic City in 
 December, 1918. One of the resolutions passed at this meeting of 
 representatives of nearly four hundred industries contained the 
 following clause: "The most potent measure in bringing about 
 industrial harmony and prosperity is adequate representation of the 
 parties in interest ; existing forms of representation should be care- 
 fully studied and availed of, in so far as they may be found to have 
 merit and are adaptable to the peculiar conditions in the various in- 
 dustries." The Committee on Industrial Relations of this body 
 declared: "Employees should be accorded a voice in determining 
 the conditions under which their work is performed by the un- 
 trammeled election of plant and shop committees to deal with 
 these matters in conjunction with management." 
 
 In February and March, 1919,' a commission of employers, 
 designated by the Secretary of Labour, visited Great Britain to 
 study industrial conditions and methods of dealing with labour 
 reconstruction problems, and this commission examined the Whitley 
 system with special interest and care. In their report to the 
 Secretary of Labour, made early in April 1919, they stated that 
 enquiry developed that the British employers, when conversant 
 with the Whitley plan, were almost universally in favour of it; 
 also that British employers favoured trade union organization 
 among their workmen and favoured not only collective bargain- 
 ing, but closer touch with the employed. 
 
 An Industrial Conference, convened by President Wilson, 
 reported in January 1920, as follows: 
 
 The guiding thought of the conference has been that the right 
 relationship between employer and employee can be best promoted by 
 the deliberate organization of that relationship. That organization 
 
 Report of 
 
 Kxecutire 
 Council 
 American 
 Federation 
 of Labour. 
 
 Resolution 
 
 of 
 
 Reconstruction 
 
 Congress 
 
 of American 
 
 Industries. 
 
 Report of 
 Commission 
 of Employers. 
 
 Report of 
 President WiUon'a 
 Industrial 
 Conference.
 
 18 
 
 Joint National 
 
 Industrial 
 
 Council*. 
 
 International 
 Joint 
 Council In 
 
 Printing 
 Industry. 
 
 should provide for the joint action of managers and employees in 
 dealing with their common interests. It should emphasize the res- 
 ponsibility of managers to know men at least as intimately as they 
 know materials, and the right and duty of employees to have a know- 
 ledge of the industry, its processes and policies. Employees need to 
 understand their relation to the joint endeavour so that they may once 
 more have a creative interest in their work. 
 
 In the United States, the organization of Joint Industrial 
 Councils on a national scale has been confined necessarily to indus- 
 tries in which the employers and workers are both organized na- 
 tionally. Two of the first industries to set up permanent joint 
 national bodies composed of representatives of employers and 
 employees were the printing and clothing trades. Employees in the 
 former industry are organized in one of the oldest and most con- 
 servative unions affiliated with the American Federation of Labour, 
 while the largest clothing workers' union is of comparatively recent 
 growth, with a large foreign membership. In addition to these 
 industries, some progress has been made in different branches of the 
 marine industry, and a joint council has been set up in the electrical 
 construction industry. 
 
 An International Joint Conference Council for the Printing 
 Industry and Allied Trades was set up in accordance with a reso- 
 lution passed in April, 1919, and ratified by four associations of 
 employers and five international trade unions. The scheme, there- 
 fore, covers the firms which do from 70 to 75 per cent, of the book, 
 periodical and job printing business of the United States. The 
 Council, which consists of ten members, is to be thoroughly in- 
 formed as to "conditions and interests of all parties in the industry 
 and in a position to suggest for ratification regulations which shall 
 
 eventually become the law of the industry In carrying 
 
 out its purposes, the Council is to function through local unions, 
 chapels and shop committees affiliated with the respective inter- 
 national unions, parties to this agreement, local allied printing 
 trades councils, and local associations of employers in the respect- 
 ive trades." 
 
 Among the activities which are included within the scope of the 
 Council are not only wage scales and specific wage agreements, but 
 the outlining of general trade policies which will secure the greatest 
 degree of co-operation and protect the interests of the public ; legis- 
 lation affecting the trade; methods for securing uniform hours and 
 shop practices; co-operation with the Government in regard to 
 selling prices; consideration and review of causes of disputes; 
 apprenticeship; improvement of processes and standards of work- 
 manship; safeguarding the rights of designers of improvements, 
 determination of the practicability of establishing wage adjustment 
 boards, and in fact, the consideration of any matter of "interest 
 to the trade whether industrial, educative, economic, legislative 
 or hygienic." 
 
 F. A. Silcox, Director of the Industrial Relations Department 
 of the United States Typothetae of America (one of the employers' 
 associations), stated early in 1920: 
 
 One of the chief accomplishments of the councils is intangible in 
 its nature. The representatives of the employers and of the unions, by 
 getting together in an informal way around the table and discussing 
 frankly, without heat or passion, the many perplexing problems in,
 
 19 
 
 which both groups are vitally interested, have developed an industrial 
 goodwill and respect for one another's opinions whicn are of material 
 assistance in laying the foundation for better industrial relations 
 throughout the entire industry. Their method is a joint investigation 
 of the facts. On the basis of the facts thus ascertained a constructive 
 programme is worked out. 
 
 Among the tangible results of the council have been the adoption 
 of a set of principles to guide local wage negotiations. These have 
 
 E roved useful in the several cases in which they have been tried out. 
 a one particular city Denver it was possible by the application of 
 the principles agreed upon to get a peaceful adjustment for the first 
 time in three years. 
 
 One of the most constructive acts of the council has been the 
 adoption of a resolution to the effect that the organizations represented 
 will voluntarily adopt the forty-four hour week throughout the country 
 on May 1st, 1921. The latest reduction in hours was brought about 
 through country-wide strikes costing both the employers and the 
 unions millions of dollars. From all indications the next reduction of 
 hours will eome about peacefully and without upsetting the industry . . . 
 Other subjects to which the council is giving attention are the stan- 
 dardization of contracts, the apprenticeship problem, the creation of 
 district councils, and wage uniformity. 
 
 In the electrical construction industry of the United States, a 
 national industrial council similar to that in the printing trades 
 was created in April 1920. The council consists of ten members 
 representing equally the National Association of Electrical Con- 
 tractors and Dealers and the International Brotherhood of Elec- 
 trical Workers. Provision is made for conciliation in case of dis- 
 putes, the council \o act as arbitrator if necessary, and for the 
 appointment of committees for special purposes. At the first 
 meeting of the council, consideration was given to such subjects as 
 uniform working conditions throughout the industry; standard- 
 ization of wages to be based on statistics of the cost of living and 
 other data to be collected; the prevention of improper combin- 
 ations of local contractors or unions, or both, to keep out outside 
 contractors or workers as the case might be; conciliation and 
 arbitration; joint district and local councils through which the 
 national council may function; and other questions of importance 
 to the whole industry. 
 
 As a development of the National Adjustment Commission and 
 the local commissions which were organized in the United States on 
 a basis of representation from employers' and workmen's associa- 
 tions, and which controlled wages 'and working conditions in the 
 longshore industry during the war, a plan was formulated for con- 
 tinued joint action by these bodies as well as by the similar organiz- 
 ations in the marine industries. Tentative agreements were drawn 
 up whereby a national industrial council was to be formed in each 
 case. These agreements arc subject to ratification by the various 
 bodies interested. 
 
 Works and Shop Committees 
 
 One of the earliest and best known works committee systems in 
 the United States, with the inception of which is associated the name 
 of the Hon. W. L. Mackenzie King, former Minister of Labour of 
 Canada, is the plan of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company which 
 was established in 1915. Representatives are selected from the five 
 divisions of the steel works or mining camps and these meet in joint 
 
 National 
 
 Industrial 
 
 Council in 
 
 the 
 
 Electrical 
 
 Construction 
 
 Industry. 
 
 National 
 Industrial 
 Councils in 
 Longshore 
 and Marine 
 Industries. 
 
 The Colorado 
 Plan.
 
 20 
 
 Lei to h 
 Industrial 
 
 Democracy 
 Plan. 
 
 Committee 
 Systems 
 of National 
 War Labor 
 Board. 
 
 An Agreement 
 in the 
 Clothing 
 Trade. 
 
 conference with an equal or smaller number of representatives of 
 the management at least once in every four months. Four joint 
 committees of twelve members each are elected yearly at one of 
 these conferences: one on industrial co-operation and conciliation, 
 for the consideration of any matter pertaining to the prevention and 
 settlement of industrial disputes, terms and conditions of employ- 
 ment, maintenance of discipline, company stores, etc.; the second 
 on safety and accidents; the third on sanitation, health and housing, 
 and the fourth on recreation and education. If the conciliation 
 committee fails to settle a dispute, the matter is referred to arbitra- 
 tion. Similar representation plans are in operation in several other 
 plants in the United States. 
 
 Another type of industrial committee found in the United 
 States is that formulated by Mr. John Leitch and modelled on the 
 American form of government. This comprises a House of Re- 
 presentatives composed of delegates elected by the workers; a Senate, 
 made up of superintendents and foremen, and a Cabinet consisting of 
 the highest officers of the company. This system provides an orderly 
 method of adjusting grievances and receiving suggestions, but there 
 is no provision for joint sessions of management and men and thus 
 one of the valuable features of the joint system is lacking. An 
 important factor in the Leitch plan is the semi-monthly dividend 
 based on increases in production. 
 
 Committee systems initiated through awa/ds of the National 
 War Labour Board or other governmental agency during the war, 
 provided for equal representation of employers and employed on 
 the committee, for both separate and joint sessions, and for collect- 
 ive agreements. In some cases, provision is made for arbitration of 
 disputed matters. 
 
 Still another system is found in the clothing plant of Hart, 
 Schaffner and Marx, Chicago. The basis of the scheme is an 
 agreement with the. trade union in which almost all the employees 
 are organized. A distinctive feature is the provision for arbitration 
 by an "impartial chairman" who presides over the "trade board" 
 and decides questions on which the representatives of the manage- 
 ment and the workers fail to agree. As a final court of appeal there 
 is a "board of arbitration" of three members, one chosen by the 
 company, one by the employees and the third by the other two. 
 These boards have jurisdiction over all matters that arise under 
 the agreement including grievances, rates of wages, hours of labour, 
 recognition of unions, questions of discipline, etc. Decisions 
 rendered by the boards are incorporated in the agreement and thus 
 is built up a body of law for the government of the industry. The 
 Hart, Schaffner and Marx plan has -had nine years' successful 
 experience, being established in 1911. It differs from some other 
 plans in providing for collective bargaining with the union, but 
 there is little scope for constructive activities relating to production 
 welfare, education, etc. 
 
 It is authoritatively stated that over 250 plants in the United 
 States had in operation some form of works committee or other 
 type of "industrial democracy" at the end of 1919. 
 
 In November 1919, the United States Bureau of Labour 
 Statistics reported that information had been received regarding
 
 21 
 
 about one hundred and sixty companies which had works com- 
 mittees of some sort operating in their plants. "In almost all cases 
 where an opinion was expressed, the plan was working satisfactorily 
 although a muiiber qualified this opinion with the statement 
 that it had not yet been in effect long enough to permit of a determin- 
 ation as to whether, it would result in better relations permanently. 
 Several companies state also that while it was feared at the outset 
 that there might be a tendency to elect the more radical members 
 of the force as representatives, the general tendency had been 
 toward selection of workmen who were fair-minded and unpre- 
 judiced." 
 
 WORKS COUNCIL LAWS OF CONTINENTAL EUROPE 
 
 While the present study is confined to Joint Councils in In- 
 dustry in Canada, Great Britain and the United States, it will not 
 be out of place to make brief mention of the works committee move- 
 ment in European continental countries. 
 
 The Workers' Committee Act, recently passed by the Nor- Norwegian 
 wegian Parliament, is applicable to all industrial enterprises num- worker?' 
 bering at least fifty employees, or connected with the transporta- Act" 
 tion, telegraphic or telephonic service. Workers' committees are 
 to be appointed at the request of one-quarter of the employees, 
 the members being elected by workers over 21 years of age. The 
 functions of the committees will include the consideration and dis- 
 cussion of working conditions, remuneration, shop or welfare in- 
 stitutions, etc. Before arriving at any decision in such matters, 
 employers will be required to submit their plans to the committee 
 for approval. The committee is entitled or if either party wishes 
 it, obliged to mediate in all disputes arising out of the conditions 
 of labour, or the dismissal of workers. The Act will go into force 
 immediately. 
 
 In Germany, following the close of war, a Works Council Law was German 
 submitted to the National Assembly; after much discussion, it was works 
 passed on January 18, 1920. This law provides for the compulsory Law? ' 
 setting up of works councils in all establishments employing twenty 
 or more persons, whether manual workers or salaried employees. 
 The law is applicable also to agricultural and to home workers. 
 All manual and non-manual workers, without distinction of sex, 
 who are 18 years of age and in possession of their civic rights, may 
 vote at the election of works councils. Members of the works 
 councils must be German citizens over 24 years of age, who have 
 finished their vocational training and have, at date of election, 
 worked at least six months in the establishment and at least three 
 years in the trade or occupation in which they are engaged. Mem- 
 bers of the works council are elected for a term of one year but 
 their re-election is permissible. It is evident from a number of 
 the provisions of the law that there is no intention of driving the 
 trade unions from their chosen field of activity, but that the Gov- 
 ernment has desired workmen's councils only in addition to, and 
 co-operating with, the trade unions. 
 
 Works councils are required to co-operate in the introduction 
 and application of new methods of work and in the promotion of
 
 22 
 
 industrial peace ; to ensure the execution of any award accepted by 
 the interested parties ; to deal with shop regulations ; to safeguard 
 the workers' right of combination; to receive complaints; to co- 
 operate in matters relating to health and safety, and to take part 
 in the administration of pension funds and other welfare institu- 
 tions in the establishment. 
 
 Austrian In Austria, there came into force on July 25, 1919, a law 
 
 Council Law. making the establishment of works councils obligatory. The func- 
 
 tions of the councils are comprehensive. They attend to the con- 
 cluding, maintaining and interpreting of collective agreements, and 
 in doing so, have to co-operate with the trade unions. Matters 
 concerning wages which have not been arranged by collective agree- 
 ments, are likewise entrusted to the councils. They are author- 
 ized to examine pay-rolls and to control the payment of wages, to 
 participate in the management of all welfare institutions and to 
 act as boards of appeal with respect to the dismissal of manual 
 workers or salaried employees. Provision is made for a monthly 
 joint conference to discuss improvements in the plant and ma- 
 chinery and the general administration of the establishments. In 
 commercial businesses, where at least thirty salaried employees and 
 manual workers are employed, as well as in all factories and mines, 
 the council is entitled to demand that a balance sheet shall be sub- 
 mitted to it once a year, otgether with a profit and loss account, and 
 statistics of wages. In jonit stock companies, the council is entitled 
 to elect two of the members of the board of directors. Employees 
 over 18 years of age have the right to elect members of the council, 
 such members being persons of 24 years of age and upwards, who 
 have been employed for at least six months. 
 
 CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS 
 
 In Great Britain, the proposal of the Whitley Report was that 
 national industrial councils should be established first and that 
 they should promote the formation of district councils and works 
 committees. This suggestion is the logical result of the fact that 
 in Great Britain the important industries are organized in national 
 employers' associations and trade unions which cover almost entire 
 industries. On this side of the Atlantic, there is no such complete 
 organization and the procedure followed in Great Britain is less 
 applicable. The result is that joint action on the part of employers 
 and employed in Canada and the United States is generally de- 
 veloped first in the plant or shop. 
 
 In a few plants in the United States, there were experiments 
 along these lines before the war intensified the labour problem, 
 but the great majority of the schemes now in operation in the 
 United States were adopted during the war or since the Armistice. 
 The National War Labour Board, the Shipping Labour Adjustment 
 Board, the Fuel and Railroad administrations and other govern- 
 mental agencies accepted the principle of joint action and provided 
 for the installation of plant and shop committees in their awards, 
 or encouraged their formation in other ways. 
 
 Canadian and American experience with voluntary organized 
 works committees varies from the plans which are based on labour
 
 23 
 
 organization and collective bargaining to those in which trade 
 unions are not recognized, and though there may be collective deal- 
 ing with the representatives of the workers, there is no "collective 
 bargaining" in the sense which labour usage has given to that 
 term. 
 
 One of the most valuable features of the plant, or shop com- 
 mittee, is its provision for regular meetings and joint discussion 
 by the representatives of both parties freely chosen and protected 
 against discrimination for any opinions expressed in the joint con- 
 ference. Separate sessions are provided in nearly all cases so that 
 there may be even greater freedom of discussion. Serious and 
 prolonged strikes and lock-outs have arisen from petty causes which 
 might have been adjusted if the matter had been approached in the 
 proper manner. The inventive mind of the intelligent workman 
 can put at the service, of the employer a technical knowledge and 
 critical faculty of inestimable value, and the management can give 
 the employee an insight into the problem of obtaining raw materials, 
 credits, marketing, etc., that will provide a truer perspective of the 
 whole business of production. 
 
 Joint shop and plant committees and councils are still in an 
 early stage of development, and training is necessary for the re- 
 presentatives on both sides. In order that they may be successful, 
 the employees and the management must, moreover, come together 
 in a spirit of co-operation. Their usefulness will depend 
 upon the spirit in which they are adopted. An attitude 
 of suspicion, paternalism, or indifference, will nullify the benefits 
 of the most carefully prepared plan. The system of employee 
 representation, therefore, should be thoroughly democratic. The 
 records should be accessible to the workers, and the rules easily 
 amended after approval by the joint committee. 
 
 It is not possible, nor is it .desirable, to suggest any hard and 
 fast rule as to how such joint bodies should be constituted, or what 
 their precise functions should be. These are matters to be worked 
 out by employers and employees in collaboration. 
 
 The Department of Labour has on file particulars of the 
 various plans for joint committees or councils in industry which 
 have been developed in Canada, as well as information regarding 
 similar plans which have been organized in Great Britain and the 
 United States. This information will be furnished to employers 
 and employees on request, and in addition, the Department is in 
 a position to furnish such technical assistance as may be requested 
 in connection with the adoption of any plans for joint industrial 
 councils or plant and shop committees.
 
 24 
 Selected List of Publications Relating to Joint Councils In Industry. 
 
 King, Hon. W. L. M., C.M.G., Industry and Humanity; a Study of Principles underlying 
 
 Reconstruction. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., New York, 1918. 
 
 Report of Commission on Industrial Relations in Canada, June 1919, Department ol Labour, Ottawa. 
 Report of National Industrial Conference, Ottawa, September 1919. Department of Labour, Ottawa. 
 Cole, G. H. D. Self-Government in Industry. G. Bell & Son, Ltd. London, 1917. 
 Corless, C. V. The Whitley Scheme; a Step toward Democratizing Industrial Relations. (Reprint of 
 
 of paper read at annual meeting of the Canadian Mining Institute, Montreal, 1918.) 
 Deeley, W. J. Labour Difficulties and Suggested Solutions. Benn Bros., London, 1919. 
 Carton Foundation. Memorandum on the Industrial Situation after the War. London, 1916. 
 Goodrich, C. L. The Frontier of Control; a Study in British Workshop Politics. Harcourt, Brace 
 
 & Howe, New York, 1920. 
 
 Great Britain. Committee on Relations between Employers and Employed. Interim Report on 
 Joint Standing Industrial Councils, 1917. 
 
 Supplementary Report on Works Committees, 1918. 
 Second Report on Joint Standing Industrial Councils, 1918. 
 Report on Conciliation and Arbitration, 1918. 
 Memorandum on Industrial Councils and Trade Board?, 1918. 
 Final Report, 1918. 
 
 (The above reports of the Whitley Committee were reprinted by the Department 
 of Labour, Ottawa, and copies are available on application.) 
 Renold C. G., Workshop Committees; Suggested Lines of Development. Reprinted as a supplement 
 
 to "The Survey,;' New York, October 5, 1918. 
 
 American Shop Committee Plans; a Digest of twenty plans for Employees' Representation, intro- 
 duced by the following American Companies: Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Beth- 
 lehem Steel Co., Bridgeport Brass Co., etc.; Bureau of Industrial Research, N.Y., 1919. 
 Baker, Ray Stannard. The New Industrial Unrest. Doubleday, Page & Co., Garden City, New 
 
 York, 1920. 
 
 Bassett, Wm. R. When the Workmen Help You Manage. The Century Co., New York, 1919. 
 Clarke, Neil M. Common Sense in Labor Management. Harper Bros., New York, 1919. 
 Forster, H. W. Co-operation with Employees. Independence Bureau, Philadelphia. 
 Frankel, L. K, Ph. D., and Fleisher, A.. Ph. D. The Human Factor in Industry. MacMillan Co., 
 
 New York, 1920. 
 Hart, Schaffner & Marx. Labour Agreement; Industrial Law in the Clothing Industry. Compiled 
 
 by Earl Dean Howard. Chicago, 1920. 
 
 Leitch, John. Man to Man; the Story of Industrial Democracy. B. C. Forbes, New York, 1919. 
 Leiserson, W. M. Employees' Representation in Management. Department of Labour, Washington, 
 
 1919. 
 
 Marot, Helen. The Creative Impulse in Industry. E. P. Dutton, New York, 1918. 
 National Industrial Conference Board. Works Councils in the United States. Research Report No. 
 21, New York, October, 1919. 
 
 A Works Council Manual; Research Report No. 26, N.Y., February, 1920. Supplemental 
 to Research Report No. 21. 
 
 New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce. Bureau of State Research. Shop Committees and In- 
 dustrial Councils. Newark. N.J., July, 1919. 
 Rockefeller, John D., Jr. The Colorado Industrial Plan. 1916. 
 Stoddard, W. L. The Shop Committee; a Handbook for Employer and Employee. The MacMillan 
 
 Co., New York, 1919. 
 Tead, Ordway, Ph. D., and Metcalf, Henry C., Ph. D. Personnel Administration. McGraw, 
 
 Hill Co. New York, 1920. 
 Tolman, Wm. H., Ph. D. Social Engineering. A Record of Things done by American Industrialists. 
 
 McGraw, Hill Co.. New York, 1909. 
 U. S. Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation. Works Committees and Joint Industrial 
 
 Councils. A Report by A. B. Wolfe, Philadelphia, 1919. 
 Williams, Whiting. What's on the Worker's Mind. Chas. Scribner & Sons, New York, 1920. 
 
 Numerous articles of interest on the subject are scattered through the files of the following 
 periodicals : 
 
 The Labour Gazette, Department of Labour, Ottawa. 
 The Labour Gazette, Ministry of Labour, London, England. 
 Industrial League and Council Journal, London, England. 
 
 The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Philadelphia, Pa. 
 Factory. A. W. Shaw, Chicago. 
 
 Industrial Management. Engineering Magazine Co., New York. 
 The Survey. New York. 
 The United States Monthly Labor Review.
 
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 Halifax, 
 New Glasgow. 
 Sydney. 
 
 NEW BRUNSWICK: 
 M one ton. 
 
 QUEBEC: 
 Hull, 
 Montreal, 
 Quebec, 
 Sherbrooke, 
 Three Rivers. 
 
 MANITOBA: 
 Brandon, 
 Dauphin, 
 Portage la Prairie, 
 Winnipeg (6). 
 
 ALBERTA: 
 
 Calgary, 
 Drumheller, 
 Edmonton, 
 Lethbridge, 
 Medicine Hat. 
 
 ONTARIO: 
 
 Belleville, 
 
 Brantford, 
 
 Chatham, 
 
 Cobalt, 
 
 Fort William, 
 
 Guelph, 
 
 Hamilton, 
 
 Kingston, 
 
 Kitchener, 
 
 London, 
 
 Niagara Falls, 
 
 North Bay, 
 
 Oshawa, 
 
 Ottawa (2), 
 
 Pembroke, 
 
 Peterboro, 
 
 Port Arthur, 
 
 Sarnia, 
 
 Sault Ste. Marie, 
 
 St. Catharines, 
 
 St. Thomas, 
 
 Sudbury, 
 
 Timmins, 
 
 Toronto (2), 
 
 Windsor. 
 
 SASKATCHEWAN: 
 
 Estevan, 
 Moose Jaw, 
 North Battleford, 
 Prince Albert, 
 Regina, 
 Saskatoon, 
 Swift Current, 
 Weyburn, 
 Yorkton. 
 
 BRITISH COLUMBIA: 
 
 Cran brook, 
 
 Fernie, 
 
 Grand Forks, 
 
 Kamloops, 
 
 Kelowna, 
 
 Nanaimo, 
 
 Nelson, 
 
 New Westminster, 
 
 Prince George, 
 
 Prince Rupert, 
 
 Revelstoke, 
 
 Vancouver (2), 
 
 Vernon, 
 
 Victoria. 
 
 Through these offices, the Provincial Clearing Houses at Vancouver, Calgary, 
 
 Regina, Winnipeg. Toronto, and Montreal, and the Interprovincial Clearing 
 
 Houses at Winnipeg, Ottawa and Moncton. employers and workers in all parts 
 of the Dominion are placed in direct touch with one another. 
 
 The strvice is without charge either to applicant or employer. 
 
 THE EMPLOYMENT SERVICE OF CANADA is organized to help you. If 
 you want men or women, skilled or unskilled, or if you are seeking employment, com- 
 municate your wants to the nearest Employment Office.