The plan was submitted to a referendum of the employees in all the company’s coal and iron mines, and adopted by an overwhelming vote. Before this general vote was taken, it had been considered and unanimously approved by a meeting of the employees’ elected representatives. At that meeting I outlined the plan, which is described below, as well as the theory underlying it, which theory is in brief as follows:
Every corporation is composed of four parties: the stockholders, who supply the money with which to build the plant, pay the wages, and operate the business; the directors, whose duty it is to select executive officers carefully and wisely, plan the larger and more important policies, and generally see to it that the company is prudently administered; the officers, who conduct the current operations; and the employees, who contribute their skill and their work.
The interest of these four parties is a common interest, although perhaps not an equal one; and if the result of their combined work is to be most successful, each must do its share. An effort on the part of any one to advance its own interest without regard to the rights of the others, means, eventually, loss to all.
The problem which confronts every company is so to interrelate its different elements that the best interests of all will be conserved.
VI
The industrial machinery which has been adopted by the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company and its employees is embodied in two written documents, which have been printed and placed in the hands of each employee. One of these documents is a trade agreement signed by the representatives of the men and the officers of the company, setting forth the conditions and terms under which the men agree to work until January 1, 1918, and thereafter, subject to revision upon ninety days’ notice by either side.
This agreement guarantees to the men that for more than two years, no matter what reductions in wages others may make, there shall be no reduction of wages by this company; furthermore, that in the event of an increase in wages in any competitive field, this company will make a proportional increase.
The agreement provides for an eight-hour day for all employees working underground and in coke ovens; it insures the semi-monthly payment of wages; it fixes charges for such dwellings, light, and water, as are provided by the company; it stipulates that the rates to be charged for powder and coal used by the men shall be substantially their cost to the company.
To encourage employees to cultivate flower and vegetable gardens, the company agrees to fence free of cost each house-lot owned by it. The company also engages to provide suitable bath houses and club houses for the use of employees at the several mining camps.
The other document is an “Industrial Constitution,” setting forth the relations of the company and its men. The Constitution stipulates, among other things, that “there shall be a strict observance by management and men of the Federal and State laws respecting mining and labor,” and that “the scale of wages and the rules in regard to working conditions shall be posted in a conspicuous place at or near every mine.”