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LABOR MANAGEMENT PARTICIPATION AND THE REPRODUCTION
(3F GENDER AND LABOR-MANAGEMENT RELATIONS
IN THE WORKPLACE

BY

Karen L. Lambourne

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Department of Sociology

1998

ABSTRACT

LABOR.MANAGEMENT RARTICIRATION.AND THE REPRODUCTION
OF GENDER.AND LABORFMANAGEMENT RELATIONS
IN THE WORKPLACE

BY
Karen L. Lambourne

The research problem was to explore the experiences of
the employees at XYZ Motor3‘within a labordmanagement
participation program. on the gender and class structures
at an automotive parts manufacturing facility. The plant is
located in the Midwestern U. S. and has been in operation as
an automotive manufacturing plant since before World War II
when “Woody” station wagons were manufactured. Interviews
were conducted with forty-two employees, fifteen women and
twenty-seven men, who represent the various employee groups
at the facility. Twenty-nine were union members, three
salaried workers, four supervisors, and six managers. A
two—stage coding of the interviews provided data on the
influence of the labor-management participation program on
the labor-management relations and gender structures at the
plant.

Using Acker’s model of gendered work (1992) and the
concepts of hierarchy in organizations, power and authority,
interview data were organized to illustrate the gendered and
labor-management structures in the organization. The

presence of gender and class structures permeated the

organization before and after the implementation of the
Employee Involvement program. Additionally, these
structures were reproduced through the symbols and
interactions of those at the plant. While the structure of
the organization did not change, there was some change at
the level of the individual. The EI program appeared to
lead to an increase in respect between individuals in each

of the personnel groups - managers, workers, and salaried

employees.

Cepyright by
KAREN LOUISE LAMBOURNE
1998

DEDICATION

I dedicate this to those who helped make this
dissertation possible - all those who are in my life now and
those who have gone. Thank you for your love and support.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Certainly no journey of this sort is ever accomplished
by oneself and so it has been for me. I would like to take
this opportunity to thank the Department of Sociology for
its financial and intellectual support. Also, it is
essential that I thank my family for their ever present
loving support while I have wrestled with this long-term
project. I also want to thank the professors in the
Department of Sociology at Michigan State University from
whom I have learned much about Sociology, being a feminist
researcher and excellent scholar. Special recognition goes
to Dr. Kevin Kelly who patiently chaired my dissertation
committee, to Dr. Chris Vanderpool for coming to my
financial and emotional aid, to Dr. Marilyn Aronoff for her
special guidance, and to Dr. Maxine Baca Zinn who taught me
so much about how to be an excellent scholar. I would be
remiss if I did not mention the gratitude I feel for the
encouragement and support I have received from other
graduate students. Just when I thought I was about to run
out of the energy needed to complete this project, one of
them would appear with a work of encouragement. Special
thanks to Jo Dohoney, Mary Burns and Mike Skladany for being

there through it all.

vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Tables

Chapter 1: Introduction .
Overview of the Problem .
Purpose of the Project and Research Questions

The Research Setting . . . .
Theoretical Framework . . . . . .
Methods and Philosophy . . . . . .

Research Findings
Organization of the Study

Chapter 2: Review of Literature .
Gender Inequality . . . . .
Class Power and Powerlessness
Organizations as Gendered Institutions

Division of Labor . . . . . . .
Scientific Management . . . . .
Labor-Management Participation Programs . .
History . . . . . . .
Cooperative Programs . . . .
Group and Team Efforts . . .

Quality Circles . . . . .

Problem solving Teams . . . .

Work Teams . . .
Self-Managed/Autonomous Work Teams . .
Monetary Programs . . . . . .

Broader Social Change Programs

Chapter 3: Methods and Methodology

Research Philosophy . . . .

Research Design . .

Research Design Implementation . . .
Case Study . . . . .
Interviews and Interview Settings .
Recruitment Procedures . . .

Research Sample Characteristics.
Qualitative Data Analysis

vii

Chapter 4: Case Study: XYZ Motors Automotive
Research Site and Plant Layout
Finish and Administrative Units

Mold Unit . . .
Workforce Demographics
Union

Labor-Management Relationship
Labor Process/Job Positions

Mold Unit . . .

Finish Unit

Administrative Unit
Employee Involvement .
Chapter Summary . .

Chapter 5: Gender at XYZ Motors
Introduction . .
Gender Divisions - Jobs .

Employee Involvement

Power and Authority . .

Images and Symbols . .
Symbols . . .

Interactions at Work . .

Mental Work to construct and Reconstruct a Gendered

Understanding of Work .
Chapter Summary .

Chapter 6: Worker Experience of Class Power
Class Symbols . .

Language

Authority/Control/Power

Clothing . .
Hierarchy of Jobs .
Labor-Management Conflict

Opposing Agendas

Blaming the Victim .

Trust . . .
Employee Involvement . . .
Changes in Stratification . .
Chapter Summary .

Chapter 7: Gender, Labor-Management Relations and

Participation . . . . .
Research Findings . . . .
Gender . . .

Worker Experience of Class Power
Critique of Acker’ 3 Conceptual Model
Importance of the Research .
Implications for Future Research

viii

73
74
74
83
85
86
87
87
88
92

97
103

105
105
106
119
125
135
136
143

150
157

158
159
159
165
168
172
175
176
188
191
193
210
215

217
218
219
221
224
225
226

Appendix A: Interview Schedule
DJC and Non-DJC Questions . . . . . . 232

Appendix B: Introduction to Interview/Informed Consent 238
Appendix C: Employee Coordinator Position Description . 240

Appendix D: Collective Bargaining Agreement Between XYZ
Motors and Union Local 890: Article III/Management

Rights . . . . . . . . . . . 242
Appendix E: Employee Involvement Goals, Objectives, Pledge,
and Issues Boundaries . . . . . . . 243
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . 244

ix

Table 1:
Table 2:
Table 3:
Table 4:
Table 5:

Table 6:

LIST OF TABLES
Summary Interviewee Demographic Data
DJC Activities reported by Gender
Power and Authority
Change in Power and Authority by Gender
Skills Developed in Employee Involvement Program

Union Jobs: Entry Level Wages

71

120

126

133

143

174

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

OVERVIEW OF THE PROBLEM

Racial, class and gender inequalities are found in all
social institutions. They are not only ubiquitous, they are
persistent and appear resistant to change. Additionally,
these inequalities intersect to shape the experiences of all
individuals in every aspect of their lives no matter which
sex, race, or class they are and this occurs in the
workplace. Inequalities are reflected in the type of work
done by women, men, people of color, and white-collar and
blue-collar workers. The most desirable jobs are
predominantly occupied by white males. Tomaskovic-Devey
(1993) has utilized the following characteristics to
identify jobs which are considered to be desirable and they
are: skills, power, and the whether the jobs are connected
to an internal labor market. Another characteristic which
contributes to the desirability is the level of wages. The
higher the wages, the more desirable the job tends to be and
it is more frequently occupied by men, particularly white
men. Those who are employed in desirable jobs or who occupy
positions of privilege in society, may actively work to

maintain such advantage or privilege.

While it may be true that those in desirable positions
may work to maintain their advantages, for most of history,
the oppressed have engaged in activities designed to improve
their lives. The emergence of unions in the 19303 in the
United States was an attempt by workers to change class
inequalities and resulted in various degrees of change. The
amount and type of resistance to dominance by the capitalist
or managerial class varies depending on the broader context
in which such resistance takes place. For example, the sit-
down strike was a valuable tool for unions in the 19303 when
there was a dearth of labor (Lerner:199l). Strikes were not
as effective after World War II because there was a surplus
of labor so other forms of resistance, such as slow downs,
were used. These methods of resistance are examples of the
way in which workers exercise their power.

Gender inequality is just as pervasive as inequalities
between management and other workers in an organization.
Women and feminists have been working for centuries to
change gender inequalities and as in class inequalities,
change has occurred with various outcomes. Some changes
that have occurred are: the right for a woman to own
property in her name, access to birth control, the right to
vote, and the opportunity to pursue employment in areas that

have been traditionally occupied by men. The influx of

women into previously all male occupations has resulted in
an increase in the number of women who are represented by
unions. The fact that more women are represented by unions
is important for this study because the research site is a
unionized auto parts manufacturer, XYZ Motorsl, ‘where women
comprise 28% of the union membership.

In addition to gender and class inequality, racial
inequality is also prevalent in the workplace. .For this
particular research site, racial inequality was interesting
for two reasons. First, the racial composition of the
research site is approximately 99% white. Second, there are
only ten2 minority workers at the plant and four of them
were interviewed. Therefore, since there are not a
significant number of minorities employed at XYZ Motors or
included in the sample, what can be said about this
particular research site is that the absence of minorities
tends to reinforce the whiteness of this workplace and the
experiences of all the workers at XYZ (Frankenberg:l993).

This study is important to undertake because in recent
years there has been an increasing interest in programs that
involve workers at various levels of the organization in

decision-making. There are a variety of reasons that a firm

 

1. This is a pseudonym.

2. Eight of the ten are Latinos, six men and two women, and
the other two minorities are African-American men.

3

might consider this type of work organization. For example,
increasing competition in the global economy has propelled
businesses in the United States, and especially
manufacturers, to consider new strategies to improve quality
and competitiveness, and to increase productivity. Over the
past ten years, firms have tried many innovative approaches
to achieve these outcomes including implementing advanced
manufacturing technologies, improved work systems, and
investment in human systems. An emerging theme is the idea
that investing in human systems is equally as important as
investing in new technology. Phrases such as "people are
our biggest resource" reflect the increasing importance of
this theme to American businesses. Although management may
verbalize that human resources are very important, this does
not necessarily mean that the owners or stockholders are
truly interested in improving the quality of life for the
employees. On the contrary, this approach usually means
that the organization is looking to the human resources to
find ways to increase profits.

In recent years, labor-management cooperation programs
have been one response used by businesses in the United
States as an attempt to improve quality, increase
productivity, and to increase a firm‘s investment in their

human resources. These programs have been implemented in a

variety of organizations from large to small, and from
Fortune 500 companies to local bookstores. Some of the
larger organizations that have implemented participative
programs are: General Foods, Proctor & Gamble, Texas
Instruments, Xerox, Mazda Flat Rock, and Corning
(Zwerdling:l978, Witte:1980, Lazes & Costanza:l984,
Kobe:1988, Ludwig:1986, Klingel & Martin:l988, and
Hoerr:199l). Smaller organizations that have used labor—
management cooperation programs are: Pacific Northwest
Bell, Mountain Bell, Grayworks, Compaq Computers, CalComp
Inc. (a Lockheed company), Rohm & Haas Bayport Inc., and
Harley-Davidson Motor Company (Peterfreund:l982; Taylor,
Friedman & Couture:1987; Chelte, Hess, Fanelli, &
Ferris:l989; Webber:l990; Barrett:1988; Nichols:1987; and
Sepehri:1987).

Labor-management participation or cooperation programs
vary from location to location. Some commonalities are that
most of the programs involve committees which are organized
to work on issues related to quality or productivity.
Membership on the committees is usually, though not always,
voluntary. That is, those who wish to participate may do so
and those who do not want to be on a committee may opt not
to participate. .Additionally, most committees are installed

in a top down manner; that is, the group has no formal

authority in the organization except to make suggestions
(Lawler:1986, Ford:l988, Lambourne, et.al.:1992). The
union's role is one of consultation rather than active
involvement. These programs may also be identified by
various names such as quality circles, quality of work life
programs, problem solving teams, and self-directed work
teams (Lambourne, et.al.:1992; Cohen-Rosenthal &
Burton:1987).

The circumstances that induce various organizations to
implement participatory programs tend to be either economic
or social (Gaudier:1988). In some cases, businesses have
turned to this new way of conducting their day-to-day
operations because of a critical financial situation, as a
way of saving a company from having to cease operations, to
find a way to cut costs, or to keep them from bankruptcy
(Schuster:l983, Cohen—Rosenthal:1993). In addition,
cooperative programs have been implemented as a response to
increased international competition (Nadler and
Lawler:l983). Management may also introduce participative
or cooperative ventures for a variety of other reasons, such
as a way to improve quality and overall organizational
effectiveness, or to increase productivity (Cooke:1989;

Lawler & Ledford:1982; Goodman:1980; Delaney, et.al.:l988).

Programs have been suggested by workers and unions as a way
to provide workers with more stable employment (Cooke:1989).
Cooperative programs have also been introduced for
social reasons. First, these programs may empower workers

by allowing them an increased voice in their daily work
lives, to give them the opportunity to use skills and
knowledge they might not otherwise use, and to improve
labor-management relations overall (Cooke:1989,
Goodman:l980). Additionally, management may desire to
improve communications throughout the organization and may
use a cooperative program to attempt this (Peterfreund:1982;
Cooke:1990). .Also, such programs may be implemented to
obtain an increase in employee commitment and reduce
employee absenteeism (Hackmannzl986, Cooke:1990,
Goodman:l980). A.final social reason for implementing a
labor-management participation program is increased job
satisfaction (Lawler & Ledford:1982; Goodman:l980).

While all the aforementioned reasons for implementing
labor-management participation programs are important, a
number of questions come to mind. What are the experiences
of the employees who work in a facility where a
participative program is in place? Especially, what are the
experiences of the working class men and women? That is,

what happens to women who are involved in these programs?

Are they full participants or are they relegated to
traditional organizational roles? Also, what is the
potential of such programs to impact the gendered nature of
the organization? Is there a flattening of the hierarchy?
What is the potential to impact the division of labor in an
organization? Do such programs impact the way in which
power is distributed in the organization? Do some workers
experience an increase in power while some lose? Again, if
power is redistributed, is it still redistributed on an
equal or an unequal basis with the men working on the shop
floor experiencing an increase in power while the women who
work there do not?
PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The compelling reason for engaging in this research
project, was to discover what the workers experienced when a
labor-management participation program is introduced. Of
particular interest were the experiences of the women at the
plant. The deeper my involvement in the project, the more
interested I became in the way the workers and management
interacted with each other and the ways in which those
interactions seemed to be changing. I began to wonder
whether these observed changes were also experienced by

those who were involved in the project.

It has long been assumed that organizations are gender
neutral. Traditional approaches to organization theory tend
to be blind to gender. They operate on the assumption that
"most of the workers in the public sphere are male and even
more important that it does not matter if they are not"
(Mills & Tancred:l992). That is, they have viewed all
workers as male without recognizing or considering that the
sex of the individual occupying any given position in an
organization is an important factor. Acker states that
gendered institutions provide advantages to men over women.
Four gendered processes identified by Acker have guided my
analysis. A.gendered process means that "advantage and
disadvantage, exploitation and control, . . . are
patterned through and in terms of a distinction between male
and female, masculine and feminine" (Acker:1992). It is
important to note that gendered processes do not operate in
a vacuum but are closely related to class. Therefore,
gender can only be fully understood in connection with
class.

The following research questions have guided my
analysis of this research.

1. In what ways is the organization gendered in

relation to the processes, practices, images,
ideologies, and distributions of power?

2. With the implementation of the Employee Involvement

program at XYZ Motors, what '

did the workers experience?

2.a. Did the workers perceive any change in the

distribution of power? That is, did access to

resources change? Does it increase or decrease? Who
experiences an increase or decrease in power?

2.b. Did the workplace become more democratic?

2.c. Did the implementation equally affect all members

of the organization? Did all employees, such as,

managers, hourly, salaried, union receive the same
benefits, or experience the same drawbacks?

To explore these questions, I engaged in participant
observations, document review, and conducted in-depth
interviews. The questions posed to the interviewees, were
designed to determine whether or not the employees
experienced any changes either as employees at the plant or
participants in the program. The questions were also
designed to gather information regarding the employees'
perceptions of the changes I had observed.

The employees were randomly selected from a list of the
complete employee roster with a few exceptions. I
specifically included members from selected committees
because they were the individuals who had been directly
involved in the program. .As I selected those to be
interviewed, I ensured that an adequate sample of the

various groups were selected, for example, union, salaried,

management, women and men.

10

THE RESEARCH SETT ING

I was hired in October 1989 as a research assistant on
a project funded by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation
Service (FMCS), a branch of the United States Government,
Department of Labor. The objective of the project was to
assist XYZ in implementing a socio-technical joint program.
Since I was hired as a research assistant, I expected that
most of my time would be spent doing background research and
attending meetings at the plant. As the project progressed,
I became more involved in training the union and management
participants, and the facilitation of meetings, and
eventually, became the on site project manager.

XYZ Motors is an automotive parts manufacturing plant
located in a nonmetropolitan Midwestern city with a
population of 6,000 in the city and 50,000 in the
surrounding area. At the beginning of the project, XYZ
employed apprOXimately 600 and was the second largest
employer in the area3. Due to a recent downturn in the
financial situation of the plant, there are now less than

350 employees‘. XYZ is one of two plants in the automotive

 

3. The largest employer is the State correctional system
with 7 prisons located in the geographic area.

4. In July 1994, an additional 40 employees were laid off.

This layoff occurred because of the elimination of the paint
line.

11

 

 

reinforced plastics division of a major tire manufacturer.
Division headquarters and the parent company are located in
two other Midwestern states.

XYZ manufactures reinforced fiberglass automotive,
small truck, and semi-truck panels and parts that are sold
primarily to General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. The
specific parts manufactured include tailgates, removable
roofs and tops for utility vehicles, front ends, bumpers,
and semi-truck front ends. Recently, efforts have been made
to shift the focus of business from automotive and small
truck parts to large truck business. For example, the plant
recently began manufacturing the semi-truck front end for
Volvo.

XYZ's past competitiveness has been based on its
reputation among the auto companies for producing parts of
the highest-quality, and has been the recipient of the Ford
"Q-l Award" and the GM award for excellence. This quality
ranking was due primarily to the performance of a highly
experienced work force with an average seniority of 16
years. With increasing global competition, the plant has
been facing a major challenge to find ways to improve
efficiency without adversely affecting the existing work
force. XYZ's competitors have been developing methods to

shorten the cycle time needed to produce finished molded

12

 

 

U.‘

 

parts. Recent bids for jobs submitted by XYZ have had to
take this trend into consideration.

While the experienced work force greatly contributes to
the competitive standing of the plant, the layout, work flow
and existing technology may detract from that competitive
standing. The plant, located on twenty-one acres, consists
of two five-story buildings and one two-story building on
twenty-one acres. The two five-story buildings are brick
and the original one was erected in the 18003. The two-
story building houses the molding unit and was constructed
in the 19703. Materials must be transported between the
buildings which house the molding and assembly departments5.
Additionally, the plant still relies upon manual sensory
processes such as visual inspection and hand-sanding of
resin-coated seams. XYZ was interested in reorganizing the
work into cells designed to maximize a continuous flow of
production, and the company expressed its interest in
implementing this reorganization through a labor-management
participation program.

There are seven robots being used in the plant and they

perform duties such as press loading, painting and adhesive

 

5. The terminology used to describe these two manufacturing
functions changed during my tenure at XYZ. The terms used
now are mold and finish units. This change occurred when a
new plant manager was hired and organizational restructuring
was implemented.

13

application operations. At the inception of the project, it
was a possibility that additional advanced manufacturing
technology would be purchased. Under the Employee
Involvement (EI) program, joint committees were to be
utilized to ensure that any new technologies selected would
be used in ways that augment employee skill and knowledge,
improve job health and safety, contribute to a positive work
environment, and improve production efficiency. The joint
committees were to be empowered to review and make decisions
about any new technologies considered for purchase and to
identify problems and solutions.

Both the management and the union at XYZ were committed
to the idea of forming joint committees and to working
together to continue the competitive position of XYZ in the
automotive parts market. .A progressive Local Union
President and Plant Manager realized the importance of
involving employees from all levels of the organization in
substantive areas of decision-making.

The expertise necessary to develop joint committees and
implement a labor-management participation program was not
available at the plant. Therefore, assistance was sought
from the Socio-Technical Institute (STI) and the Federal

Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS)6. STI had the

 

6. STI is a pseudonym. The Federal Mediation and
Conciliation Service is a branch of the Department of Labor.

14

--...
r

h

 

expertise and personnel to assist with this project, and
initial funding was provided through a grant from the FMCS.

Two types of joint committees were developed at XYZ.
One was the Plant-Wide Steering Committee and originally
consisted of 10 members and included: the President, Vice-
president, Chief Steward, and two bargaining committee
members of the local union; the Plant Manager, Human
Resource Manager, Production Manager, Quality Manager, and
Manager of Plant Engineering and Maintenance7. The second
type was a problem solving committee consisting of: five
hourly employees, 2 Production Supervisors (one from the
mold unit and one from the finish unit), and two engineerse.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

The theoretical frameworks used to analyze the data are
gender and class theory which provide a structure for my
observations and interpretations. A Marxian lens was
employed to consider how the workers experienced class

power. Additionally, I utilized Acker's (1992) four

 

7. .After about one and one-half years, the plant controller
was added to the Steering Committee and to keep the balance,
additional members from the union's top committee were
included. Also, the manager of Plant Engineering and
Maintenance left employment at XYZ. He was not replaced and
his job duties were absorbed by other managers at the plant.

8. This was the configuration of the initial problem
solving committee. Future committees did not include
supervisors as permanent members but they were available to
the committees whenever their expertise was needed.

15

processes to analyze the gendered nature of organizations.
These include the processes, practices, images, ideologies

and distributions of power.

Methods and Philosophy

For a feminist researcher, the methods chosen to
conduct research are not the key issue. Rather it is how
the methods are used that signifies whether the research is
feminist or not. If the research is conducted for and about
women, and is used to challenge women's oppression, then the
methods used, whether they are quantitative or qualitative,
are feminist. Additionally, of particular interest to
feminist researchers are issues such as trust and how close
the researcher is to the interviewees.

Qualitative methods were selected for several reasons.
First, during the project, a number of surveys had been
administered by myself and other external consultants.
Hence, I was concerned that I would not obtain sufficient
participation from the employees. I was concerned that a
situation I call survey saturation had resulted. Thus,
conducting another survey might not be the best method for
collecting the data in which I was interested. .Also, many
workers had expressed a desire to talk to me directly rather
than sit through another survey. .As a feminist researcher,

it is important to respond to their expressed need of those

16

being researched. Second, workers are often suspicious of
surveys because the results are often used by management to
support the status quo or are used to obtain something from
the union or workers that management wants. The distrust in
quantitative methods resides in the belief held by many
workers that if it is something that management wants, it is
likely that the workers will not benefit.
RESEARCH FINDINGS

Analysis of the data reveals some interesting points.
First, the implementation of the labor-management program
influenced the working lives of the women and men at XYZ in
different ways. Some of the things I observed were expected
while others were unanticipated. While I had expected
managers to experience an increase in power, I did not
expect the same to be true for workers. Second, I expected
that if workers did experience an increase in power, men
would more frequently report an increase than women. Thus,
my expectations were that any increase in power would occur
along class and gender divisions.

ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

This study has been organized so that all components

contribute to the final analysis.

Chapters_2_and_3; Overview of the Study. In this

section relevant literature is reviewed such as, the

17

gendered nature of organizations, gender inequality, the
division of labor, and scientific management. Also in this
section will be a review of the methods and methodology
utilized. Included in the review of methods will be
sections on research design and implementation, and a
summary of the sample characteristics.

Chapter_4; Case Study. Included in this section will
be a detailed description of the research setting including
a history of XYZ Motors, the physical characteristics of the
plant, workforce demographics and an overview of the project
funded by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.

A Chapters_§_and_§; Qualitative Analysis. This section
will include the analysis of the participant observation
field notes, the document review, and the analysis of the
in-depth interviews.

Chapter_l; Conclusion. In this final section, I will
provide conclusions based on the theory or theories that
emerged from the data collected. Additionally, I will
present possible options for the future that may improve the
work place for all workers whether they are union or
management, women or men. Finally, I will recommend

possible research directions for future research.

18

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CHAPTER 2
REVIEW'OF LITERATURE

INTRODUCTION

The organization of work in capitalist enterprises
includes several common characteristics that are important
to understanding current organizational changes. First,
gender inequality, occurs in the work place and intersects
with race and class. It is important to understand that
gender relationships are power relationships and power is
unequally distributed in the workplace. A second
characteristic found in capitalist organizations is that the
organizations themselves are gendered. A third common
characteristic is the hierarchical division of labor which
is further shaped by the intersection of class and gender,
and Frederick Taylor's "Scientific Management". While the
hierarchical division of labor is shaped by the intersection
of race, class, and gender, for the purposes of this
analysis, only class and gender are used because there were
very few minorities employed at the research site and of
those, very few were interviewed or observed. The division
of labor by class and gender is important to consider
because it has consequences for all of society.

In addition to the literature mentioned above, it is
important to review the existing literature on labor-

management participation/cooperation, and industrial

19

 

 

democracy. While many authors have explored the impact of
such arrangements on class inequalities, there is a scarcity
of literature relating to the intersection of gender and
class in organizations that have a labor-management
participation structure.

GENDER INEQUALITY

Gender inequality is a fundamental way in which work is
organized in capitalism. Game and Pringle (1983) state that
the sexual division of labor is a "structural feature of
modern capitalism". That is, there is a division of labor
based on gender which means that women do women's work and
men do men's work (Game & Pringlerl983, Abbott &
Wallace:1990).

Although the division of labor by gender appears to be
universal and has occurred historically, in industrialized
societies the division is hierarchical and that hierarchy is
influenced by race and class. The result is that some
categories of women are on the bottom of the work pyramid
and some are near the top. Typically, women of color occupy
jobs that are accompanied by the lowest wages and working
conditions, that are less safe, and are more physically
demanding than that of many white women (Baca Zinn and
Dill:1994). Also, within the hierarchy some categories of

men are at the top and some are near the bottom.

20

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The division of labor based on gender is frequently
identified as the sex segregation of the work place. Reskin
& Hartmann state that sex segregation is universal and may
be defined as "any observed difference in the distributions
of women and men across jobs categories" (Reskin &
Hartmann:1984, Abbott and Wallace:1990, Wolf and
Fligstein:1979). While this gendered division of labor may
universally occur, it is socially constructed because in
different societies and stages of history, the tasks done by
each gender have changed (Abbott and Wallace:1990; Game and
Pringle:1983). Additionally, the organization of labor is
at the center of race and gender inequalities (Baca Zinn &
Thornton Dill: 1994, Game & Pringle: 1983). It also
"institutionalized discrimination of various forms...to
which people of color, women, and people of the working
class are particularly subjected" (Ngan-Ling Chow:1994).
Thus, a gendered division of labor serves to perpetuate
traditional power relations (Acker:1988). Further, the
division of labor based on gender benefits capitalists
because women tend to be paid less than men who are doing
the same work, and this can increase profits. This is
important to consider since capitalists are motivated to
increase their surplus value through a decrease in labor

costs (Acker:1988).

21

The labor market tends to be vertically and
horizontally segregated by gender (Barrett:1990, Abbott and
Wallace:1990). The vertical division of labor generally
disadvantages women relative to men in pay and working
conditions and people of color to white people. The
horizontal division of labor demonstrates a concentration of
women and women of color in particular types of work
(Barrett:1990, Baca Zinn and Thornton Dill:1994). That is,
as a result of horizontal segregation, women tend to work in
a "narrow range of occupations and in lower-status jobs
within occupations", and women of color "on average receive
the lowest wages, hold the worst jobs, and are more likely
to be unemployed" (Abbott and Wallace:1990, Baca Zinn and
Thornton Dill:1994). Thus, as a result of horizontal
segregation, women tend to be concentrated in different
industries than men, and even when they do work in the same
industry, women tend to work in different jobs or to have
different opportunities (Barrett:1990, Reskin &
Hartmann:1986, Baca Zinn & Thornton Dill:1994, and Wolf &
Fligstein:1979). One example of such segregation is the
fact that women are less likely to be found in supervisory
positions (Wolf & Fligstein:1979). While women are often
supervisors in departments where the workers are all or
almost all women, when they are in positions of supervisory
power, which have been traditionally held by men,

22

subordinate men may resist women's authority (Reskin &
Padavic:1988, and Padavic & Reskin:1990).
CLASS POWER AND POWERLESSNESS

While it is theoretically impossible to separate gender
and power, a review of the literature on power in
organizations provides useful definitions. One type of
power exercised in the workplace is class power. Lazonick
(1990) states that "(s)ocial power is rooted in social
dependence.” That is, the worker who does not own the means
of production, is dependent on the capitalist to secure
employment. Hence, it is the capitalist who holds the
balance of power. It is not only the capitalists who hold
the balance of power in relation to the workers, but also
managers who are agents of the capitalist owners of the
means of production. Traditionally, managers are considered
to have power in the workplace, but this is not to say that
managers are all powerful and the workers powerless. It
does mean that they are not in a position to influence much
of what occurs in the organization. For example, workers
have little input regarding what will be produced, what
service will be provided, or even over their own jobs.
However, workers do have the power to exercise various forms
of resistance. That is, they have human agency and are not
totally powerless. Although, this is the traditional
organization of power relationships within a capitalist

23

organization, it does not mean that a shift in power cannot
occur.

Before discussing this potential shift, it is essential
to define power in organizations and contrast that to
powerlessness. Several authors have provided extensive
definitions of power and power in organizations and for
many, power is presented in terms of zero-sum. That
essentially means that when one person gets something they
want, another must give something up. "In the broadest
sense, power is the human capacity to accomplish something--
and to do so even against the opposition of others"
(Rueschemeyer:1986). For Weber, power is the likelihood
that one individual, or even a group, will be able to elicit
the desired outcome, or get one's own way, in spite of
resistance (Weber:1946, Ford:l988). Perrow (1986) follows
this line of thinking and defines power as:

"...the ability of persons or groups to extract

for themselves valued outputs from a system in

which other persons or groups either seek the same

outputs for themselves or would prefer to expend

their effort toward other outputs."

Hence power can mean that an individual or group has control
over something or someone. As Wolf and Fligstein define it,
"(power is) control over resources, people, and things".

Along this same line of thinking, Kanter also defines

power as the ability to obtain a desired goal or outcome.

She further states that power means that an individual or

24

group has "access to whatever is needed" and the individuals
in an organization who are powerful are "the ones who have
access to tools for action" (Kanterzl977). She does not
mean that power here is the same as hierarchical domination.
Therefore, power may be more closely related to "autonomy"
than to control over others (Ibid.). Therefore, those who
are powerful in an organization are those who have the
ability to act or who have access to the tools necessary to
take action or to motivate others to get a desired outcome
(Wallace:1989).

Nierenberg and Ross (1985) define power as the "ability
to influence people in order to achieve those things you
want or think should be done”. They actually introduce an
expansion to the definition of power saying that there are
sources of power besides one's position and authority. Some
of these are: one's talents, intelligence, knowledge, and
character. Another point to make about this form of power
is that it may not be recognized by the person who has it
(Pfeffer:1981). For example, because knowledge or expertise
is not directly observable like height or weight,
individuals may not be aware that they possess it.
VAdditionally, others may not be aware of that individual's
knowledge or skill. .Although managers may hold the reins of
power, it does not mean that more power cannot be shifted to
the workers. This shift of power to workers, if it is to

25

 

.-w——- ‘__ ‘_ - ‘ ~ -— -‘--.. - n...

occur, may not be accomplished without some resistance from
managers because of their unwillingness to give up power
(Kanter and Stein:1979).

Friedson also utilizes the concept of access but he
approaches it from the view that power lies with the
individual who is able to allocate resources (1986).
Therefore, within an organization, this applies to those who
have the ability to allocate resources to others. Usually,
this allocation is one which passes from someone at an upper
level of the organization to someone at a lower level. In
other words, resources are allocated from the top of the
pyramid to the bottom or from the capitalist owners to the
managers to the workers. Therefore, the individual who has
the authority to actually distribute or dispense resources
is the one with the power within that particular situation
or organization.

An important component to consider when discussing
power in the workplace, is decision making. That is, it is
important to consider who makes decisions and what kinds.
This is important because the individual who has the
authority to decide which resources may be utilized and by
whom has power within the organization. Organizations may
use ”standard operating procedures and rules rather than
engaging in rational decision making on a continuous basis"
(Lazonick:1990i.

26

The concept of authority is also important in any
discussion of power because when the distribution of power
has been legitimated over time, it is "denoted as authority"
(Lazonick:l990). Weber identified three different types of
legitimate authority: legal, traditional and charismatic.
Weber (1946) defines legal authority as:

"any given legal norm may be established by

agreement or by imposition, on grounds of

expediency or rational values or both, with a

claim to obedience at least on the part of the

members of the corporate group."

This definition of authority would encompass all those who
are members of an organization, and includes the rules of
the agreement. The distribution of power can be legitimated
over time and when this happens, it is "denoted as
authority” (Lazonick:l990).

Traditional authority is that obedience owed to the
"person who occupies a position of authority by tradition or
who has been chosen for such a position" (Weber:1946). In
other words, workers will obey the orders of a manager or
foreperson out of "ingrained habituation” (Ibid.). The
relationship occurs when those who are in the position of
authority exercise their right and the workers believe they
are expected to obey (Ibid.).

It is important not just to look at power but to look
at its counterpoint, powerlessness. For Blauner (1964), an
individual is powerless when she/he is an "object controlled

27

and manipulated by others or by an impersonal system". That
is, the individual does not have the capacity to act but can
only react to orders, machines, other people in the
organization, or the situation. This powerlessness comes
from one's class which is the result of one's relation to
the mode of production which in capitalism is private
ownership (Eisenstein:1977). As discussed earlier, the
hierarchy in capitalism places the workers at the bottom of
pyramid which is a powerless position. Therefore, they have
little control over the process of production, i.e. what or
how a product is manufactured, or any active role in
decision making. Also, they do not have access to
resources, nor are they in a traditional or legal position
of authority.

The previous discussion of powerlessness is not to
state or imply that workers are powerless and can only react
to their surroundings. As a feminist researcher, it is
necessary to recognize human agency and the important place
that has in my analysis. Workers devise ways to resist or
negotiate to get their way.

ORGANIZATIONS AS GENDERED INSTITUTIONS

Beyond the division of labor based on gender, it is
essential to view organizations not as gender neutral
institutions but as gendered institutions (Acker:1990,
1992). To say an institution is gendered means that gender

28

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is present in the processes, practices, images and
ideologies, and distributions of power in the various
segments of social life (Acker:1990). Deeply embedded in
organizational control processes is the concept of gender
neutrality and this neutrality is actually the suppression
of knowledge about gender (Acker:1992). Organizations are
one place where the production of race, gender and class
relations are intertwined (Acker:1990, Baca Zinn and
Thornton Dill:1994). Acker & Van Houten state that in
gendered institutions, there is a hierarchy with men in
higher positions and hence, men do not expect to take orders
from women (1974). Additionally, these gendered
institutions have been established historically by men, are
currently dominated by men, and are symbolically interpreted
from the standpoint of men in positions of leadership
(Ibid.). Gendered institutions provide advantages to men
over women and managers over workers (Acker:1990, 1992).
Hartmann contends that job segregation by gender is the
primary mechanism in a capitalist society that maintains the
superiority of men over women because it enforces lower
wages for women in the labor market, and this provides an
economic advantage to men (1990). Men have a vested
interest in maintaining their gendered advantages and they
do so actively. Men maintain organizational arrangements
and institutional policies that appear to be gender neutral,

29

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but are in fact, advantageous to them. When men are
pressured by women to change, in most cases, men resist,
undermine, and weaken reforms that would redistribute power
in the organization. Cockburn states that "women's relation
to power is {was} problematized" (Cockburn:1991).
Essentially, power and authority are defined as precisely
masculine.

According to Acker, gendering happens in at least four
processes which interact with each other. First, there is a
construction of gender divisions. These divisions include
"divisions of labor, of allowed behaviors, of locations in
physical space, of power, including the institutionalized
means of maintaining the division in the structures of labor
markets, the family, and the state" (Acker:1990). Decisions
made by managers often introduce gender divisions, and
unions may collude in these gender divisions either
intentionally or unexpectedly. Additionally, organizational
practices maintain these gender divisions (Ibid.).

Second is the construction of symbols and images that
explain, express, justify, or sometimes oppose gender
divisions (Acker:1990, 1992). Some examples of the sources
of these symbols may be: language, ideology, popular and
high culture, and dress (Acker:1990). Men workers' images
of masculinity may connect their gender with their technical
skills. If women obtain such technical skills, men may see

30

women as a threat to their jobs, paychecks, and their very
masculine identities (Reskin & Padavic:1988, Acker:1990).
Additionally, women managers in blue-collar jobs implicitly
challenge men's culturally-granted gender power because men
are not expected to take orders from females (Padavic &
Reskin:1990, Acker & Van Houten:l974).

The third group of processes that serve to reproduce
gendered organizations are the interactions which take place
between women and men, women and women, men and men. This
includes all the patterns that characterize dominance and
submission (Acker:1990, 1992). These patterns of dominance
and submission have been observed in conversation analysis
which has shown "how gender differences in interruptions,
turn taking, and setting the topic of discussion recreate
gender inequality". Acker has noted that in qualitative
reports of organizational life, men are the actors, and
women are the emotional support (Ibid.). That is, men tend
to interrupt more often, take more turns talking, and set
the topic of discussion more often than women.

The fourth process in the gendering of organizations is
the inner mental work of individuals as they intentionally
construct their knowledge of the "organization's gendered
structure of work and opportunity and the demands for
gender-appropriate behaviors and attitudes" (Acker:1992).
This includes the choice of gender appropriate work,

31

language use, clothing, hiding unacceptable aspects of one's
personal life, such as homosexuality, and display of the
self as a gendered constituent of an organization
(Acker:1992, 1990).

These four processes aid in the reproduction of the
gendered foundation of organizations. This gendered
substructure is reproduced through the daily and practical
work activities of the workers in the organization
(Acker:1992, 1990). The material forms of this
organizational logic are found in the organization's written
work rules, labor contracts, managerial directives, and
other documentary tools for running large organizations
(Acker:1990). Additionally, within the hierarchy, every job
has a place. This is another fundamental element in
organizational logic. Further there is an assumption that
there is "a congruence between responsibility, job
complexity, and hierarchical position" (Acker:1992, 1990).
It is important to recognize that in this organizational
logic, jobs and hierarchies are considered to be genderless.
This means that the jobs are "abstract categories that have
no occupants, no human bodies, no gender" (Ibid.). Just as
organizations are gendered, so too are hierarchies because
~they are also erected on the same underlying assumptions
(Acker:1990). The social reality is that both the idea of a
"job" and actual workers are completely gendered and that

32

gender is male. The idea that there is a universal worker
marginalizes women because to "achieve the qualities of a
real worker" is "to become like a man" (Acker:1990).

Given the foregoing, it is important to reconsider
organizational analysis on the basis of the fundamental
gendered foundation which characterizes the workplace. It
is also important to emphasize women's reality because it
has previously been excluded (Mills & Tancred:l992). Last,
because all social relations are gendered, one cannot
understand society, class structure, or organizations
without considering gender (Acker:1989). Feminist research
and theorizing may make some contributions to the rethinking
of organizational analysis (Acker:1990). In the future it
may be collective action that will be necessary to
accomplish what needs to be done, and may lead to more
democratic organizations in which the "dominance, control,
and subordination, particularly the subordination of women,
are eradicated, or at least minimized, in our organizational
life" (Acker:1990). I will consider whether labor-
management cooperation programs may provide an avenue toward
that more democratic organization.

DIVISION OF LABOR

The division of labor is a "universal characteristic of
human social life" (Rueschemeyer:1986). The division that
emerges in a capitalist society does so because of the

33

private ownership of the means of production and is
hierarchical. That division of labor places
"disproportionate numbers of women at the bottom and
disproportionate numbers of men at the top" (Acker:1988).
This hierarchy also "provides structural conditions that
often determine opportunities, job options...for the
workers". One result is that it contributes to the low
wages women tend to earn which may serve to keep women in
subordinate positions (Reskin and Hartmann:1986). The
structure of this division is: the dominant group/owners
above, and the oppressed, or in the case of organizations,
the workers are below. The formation of these social
classes is defined by their place in relation to the process
of production (Poulantzos:l981, England:l992). Since the
working class does not own the means of production, it is
unable to influence or control it and in this way, the
division of labor contributes to alienated labor
(McMurtry:1978). One way this occurs is that the decision-
making authority has been given to managers rather than
workers and.this contributes to the alienation of the worker
(England:l992). Donovan defines alienation as "being cut
off from oneself, from others, and from a sense of meaning"
(Donovan:1985). Marx (1947) argued that the separation or
alienation of the worker from the means of production was an
inevitable result of a rationalized and centrally controlled

34

system of production. The working class has only its
personal labor-power to offer. Therefore, members of the
working class are exploited by the capitalist class and are
alienated (Marx:l947).

While Marx primarily dealt with two classes, the
bourgeoisie (owners) and the proletariat (workers), in
modern capitalist organizations there is a third, the
professional/managerial class (Ehrenreich:1989). With the
increase of industrialization, the need for someone to
manage the facility arose. Thus, the managerial class
emerged. Therefore, contemporary organizational
hierarchies can be considered to be a pyramid with different
levels representing the three classes. The class
organization in a capitalist society is arranged with the
workers or proletariat on the bottom, followed by the
managerial class in the middle, and the owners or
bourgeoisie at the top. In most cases, the owners are not
involved in the day-to-day operation of the organization,
but they have the most influence or control over the means
of production. The managerial class is responsible for
continuing the smooth and profitable daily operation of the
enterprise. Also, although individuals in the new class are
not members of the capitalist class, they are generally in
positions of authority over the working class. As such,
they are or can be oppressors of the working class. For

35

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example, those who are members of the managerial class are
not the active members of the working class as they are not
engaged in the actual production of goods.

In this case, the division of labor is also evident.
That is, there is a division between mental and material
labor. The managerial class engages in the thinking rather
than the doing. Additionally, the new class is in the
position to be the order giver while the working class must
follow those orders. This can create a cleavage between the
working class and the managerial class which may develop
into hostility between the two.

The two classes tend to have different interests or
agenda. For example, those in the managerial class may be
interested in maintaining their position of authority over
the working class. Conversely, the working class may be
interested in changing this situation. Also, in a
traditional organization, managers have influence and
control over the means of production, but to a lesser extent
than the owners. While the owners decide what type of
business will be conducted, for instance, automobile or
textile manufacturing, the managers, may have direct control
over how the production will be arranged. Managers also
have authority to dictate the amount of work to be performed
and the pace at which that will be done. The workers at the
bottom of the pyramid have little say over what will be

36

 

produced or the way it will be manufactured. Workers can
exercise their human agency in the struggle over the amount
of work performed and its pace. The result is a specific
technical division of labor in the hierarchical organization
of contemporary businesses. Moreover, there is a conflict
between the workers and management about the pace and amount
of work to be accomplished.
Scientific Management

The division of labor was further reinforced by the
ideas of Frederick W. Taylor who is credited with the
development of "Scientific Management" or "Taylorism". In
fact, Scientific Management was an "ambitious attempt to
gain full and detailed control over the labor process and to
rationalize - study and rearrange work literally move by
move, time fraction by time fraction" (Rueschemeyer:1986).
Scientific management was a three phase process. First,
management needed to learn what the workers already knew.
Second, management was to take over the work for which they
are better suited. And last, management would specify in
advance exactly the tasks in which the workers were to
engage (Lash and Urry:1987). It was Taylor‘s goal to
substitute scientific investigation and knowledge for
individual judgement. This in effect gave to management the
"work knowledge and the relative autonomy hitherto held by
industrial craftsmen" (Rueschemeyer:1986).

37

Taylor's work was designated "scientific" because he
and his followers felt that the work performed by individual
workers could be analyzed in a scientific manner to
determine the essential procedures or rules necessary to
produce the greatest output with the least amount of effort
from the individual (Scott:1987). It was Taylor's intention
to exchange "exact scientific investigation and knowledge
for the old individual judgement or opinion, either of the
workman or the boss" (Lash and Urry: 1987). His overall
objective was to increase productivity with the least cost.
The concept of scientific management is extremely compatible
with the idea that organizations are rational systems and
that they are devised to achieve specifically identified
goals (Scott:1987).

Braverman identified three principles in "Scientific
Management" (Braverman:l984). First, is the isolation of
the labor process from the talents of the workers. This
separation of the labor process from the skills of the
workers essentially put the managers in charge of gathering
and developing all the workers' knowledge and traditions.
Hence, the workers were no longer in control of the specific
knowledge and traditions they had developed during their
tenure on the job. The managers assembled this knowledge
into a science or a system of rules which were then used to
control the labor process and the workers.

38

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The second principle of "Taylorism" is the disjoining
of conception and design from execution (Braverman:l984,
Rueschemeyer:1986). In other words, scientific management
separated the thinking from the doing. This could be
accomplished because the main objective of scientific
management was to study jobs and dissect them into their
smallest components. The idea was that for a job to be
efficient it must be routine, and routinization is
accomplished by separating the thinking from the doing.
This separation benefits the organization because with such
routinized jobs, workers could easily be replaced.

While the jobs and duties of the workers were being

subjected to microscopic examination under scientific
management, humans were also analyzed just as closely.
Thus, managers would be able to bring jobs and people
together to accomplish the greatest productive output
(Perrow:l986, Scott:1987). Managers would plan down to the
twinutest detail what needed to be done each day and the
Workers would carry out the plan of the managers. This
effectively eliminated any control the workers had over
their own knowledge and traditions (Perrow:l986) .

The third principle of scientific management discussed
by Iaraverman is the exclusive use of the monopoly of
knowmledge to control every step in the labor process
(Bratrerman:1984). Taylor believed that his scientific study

39

 

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would resolve the crisis of control, and workers would allow
the systematic application of corporate resources to the
problem of control (Edward3:l979). Again, he believed that
his process would allow the establishment of an
undifferentiated pool of labor making workers essentially
interchangeable. But only rarely was Taylorism fully
implemented .
LABOR-MANAGEMENT PARTICIPATION PROGRAMS
Throughout their history, labor management-cooperation
programs have been identified by various names and formats
(Oswald:1986). Some of the most common are: quality of
work life, quality control circles, employee involvement,
Scanlon plan/profit sharing, employee stock ownership, work
teams, problem solving groups, participation groups, co-
determination, and joint consultation. I have organized a
discussion of the various programs into three major
categories: team efforts, monetary plans, and broader
sOcial change. Before describing and analyzing the specific
programs, I will provide a brief history of evolution of
labOr-management joint programs.
History
Contrary to popular perception, labor-management
<2<><>£-‘-'eration programs are not new to the United States but

h
éi"€5 been in existence since the late 18003 and were found

40

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in a variety of industries, such as printing, textiles,
construction, steel, and railroads. These plans varied in
their specific formats and occurred in countries around the
world (Cohen—Rosenthal, and Burton:1994). An early example
is the Proctor and Gamble profit-sharing plan which was
introduced in 1887 (Lambourne, et.al.:1992). Another highly
publicized early example of labor-management cooperation was
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Glenwood shop. In 1923,
joint labor-management committees were developed to consider
ways to improve the performance and working conditions at
the shop. The benefits of the program were many and
benefitted both management and labor. The benefits for
management were improved workmanship and lower turnover.
Workers experienced more regular employment and they
received an increase in wages. Additionally, there were
gains in goodwill and common understanding between the
workers and the railroad. A benefit to both parties was an
improvement in public attitude toward the railroad because
irhe suggestion program resulted in improved service (Cohen-
12<>senthal, and Burton:1994).
A third early example of cooperative programs is the
Scanlon plan, named for its designer who was the local
1;).zr’452531dent of the steel workers union. This plan was

(13 veloped in the 19303 and the significant feature was that

41

 

it tied wages to the productivity of the plant. Later the
plan evolved to include a suggestion committee system
similar to that at the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (Cohen-
Rosenthal and Burton:1994) .

During World War II, the War Production Board (WPB) was
established to ensure maximum output. The WPB promoted the
formation of labor-management cooperation committees in all
industries. These committees enjoyed a high rate of success

and were considered one way to obtain peaceful industrial
relations (Cohen-Rosenthal, and Burton:1994) . After World
War II, a National Labor-Management Conference was called by
President Truman to help with the transition to a peacetime
economy (Oswald:1986) . Unfortunately, this was not a
successful venture because the management participants were
not willing to compromise any of what they perceived to be
"management's rights" to control (Ibid.) . Essentially, they
were not willing to concede any of their power. Since
management staunchly refused to negotiate any item on their
list of "rights", little cooperation resulted and the
cooperative committees were doomed and subsequently, an
escalation in the adversarial industrial relations occurred.
éadversar1al atmosphere in industrial relations continued
and . . .
few jOint comm1ttees were formed and of those that were

<>Jt>
Q-eslmized, few were successful.

42

 

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This situation continued until the 19703 when an
increased interest in labor-management cooperation or
quality of work-life programs occurred. This upsurge in
interest was reflected in both a flood of professional and
anecdotal literature and frequent coverage by the mass
media. There were three circumstances which influenced this
increase in interest to develop programs to involve workers.
First, there was a striking change in the direction of our
society and economy. It was becoming evident that the
United States was no longer the world economic power that it
had been in the past. This loss of position was related to
several factors. One of these was an increasing rate of
inflation and coupled with that was a high rate of
unemployment. A third factor was the OPEC oil crisis and
last, we suffered a loss of large shares of various markets
to foreign competitors (Cohen-Rosenthal and Burton:1994).

A second influence was a shift in attitudes toward
work. Individuals were reexamining the nature, purpose and
rewards of work. One survey reported that many workers were
ciissatisfied with some of the non-economic aspects of their
j<>bs. Some of these were: lack of control over work
asssignments and shifts, rules and regulations which
malastrained a workers' speech and behavior and an

underutilization of workers' skills.

43

The third influence was an abundance of organizations
which were available to provide information and assistance
in the development and implementation of cooperative
programs. These organizations were from three sectors:
government, private non-profit, and academia. An example of
such an agency of the government is the United States
Department of Labor's Labor-Management Cooperative Programs.
This is a program which emerged after the National Center
for Productivity and Quality of Working Life ceased to
exist. One of the missions of the current program is to
increase the awareness of the potential of cooperative
programs. The private non-profit organizations which were
active in promoting labor-management cooperation, received
grants from the federal government, private industry, and
foundations. They also acted as consultants to companies
and unions alike and were paid fees for their services.
Last, centers associated with universities were established
to offer services to assist in the design and implementation
of cooperative programs. Financing for these enterprises
czame from the federal government which provided funds for
S€3tting up some of the centers. Additional funding came
frkmm unions, private industry, and foundations.

Although interest in the latter part of the 19703

seeaaned to decline, it appears that the situation has again

changed and there is an increasing interest in the formation

of joint committees from both labor and management.

Cooperative Programs

Cooperative programs occur in various formats and go by

different names. I have grouped the various programs into
three categories: Group and Team Efforts, Monetary Plans,
and those which attempt Broader Social Change. Following is

a brief discussion and analysis of the various program

WW

Group and team programs can be organized into three
1) Quality Control

types.

popular types of cooperative efforts:
Circles or Quality Circles, 2) Problem-Solving Teams, and 3)

Including Self-Managed Teams.
: ].| 3. 1

Quality circles is one very common form of labor-

Programs of this type can be

Work Teams,

management participation.
found in most Fortune 100 companies and a 1984 Conference

.Board survey reported that forty of fifty-two responding
czompanies had implemented quality circles (Lawler:1986).
17113 demonstrates the current popularity of such programs.
QLLality circles (QCs) are identified by several common

<fl1éaracteristics (Cole:1979, Lawler:l986, Ford:l988, and

Cohen-Rosenthal and Burton:1994) .

45

1. QCs are usually composed of volunteers from a
particular work area or department.

2. QCs generate suggestions which are subject to
the approval of some higher steering committee.
They have no authority to spend corporate
resources.

3. The agendas clearly focus on quality and
productivity. The rewards of participating are
non-financial and of an intrinsic nature.

4. Members of QCs are trained in group process
and problem-solving techniques.

5. QCs often operate without information
regarding company operating costs and results.

6. QC meetings are held on a regular basis.

7. The QC is facilitated by someone trained as a
group facilitator; it is not run by a group leader
or manager.

8. QCs are installed in a top down manner; that
is, the group has no formal authority in the
organization except to make suggestions.

9. The union's role is one of consultation rather
than active involvement.

thlemfiolrinlleams

Another group/team labor-management cooperative effort
is the problem-solving team. Problem-solving teams can:

1. Involve committees which are either cross

functional, linked to a product, a function, or a

department;

2. Be designed to look at a specific problem,

asked to work on problems within certain bounds,

or be given free reign; '

3. Be very long-term or permanent, tied to a

problem and disbanded after its solution, or given
a specific time frame in which to operate;

46

1"

.'_

~‘,I

‘s

 

4. Be composed of members of both the union and
the company; and

5. Involve regular meetings of the group to go

through a problem—solving process including

problem selection, prioritization, investigation,

solution recommendation and implementation.

The membership of problem solving teams usually
consists of representatives from labor and management who
have volunteered to participate. A Wide range of topics may
be discussed by these groups including problems relating to
production, quality, and working conditions. They can take
the form of discussion groups where management retains
decision making authority; or they can be empowered to make
their own decisions and implement solutions within preset
boundaries.

W

A third type of group/team labor-management cooperation
are work teams. While the specific characteristics of a
work team will be different at each location, there are some
common features as well.

1. Work teams usually include.a supervisor and

all of his or her workers.

2. Each work team is given responsibility for a

particular part of a product, process, or service,

so there is a clear area for which an individual

can be held accountable.

3. .A work team may be given some functions which

are usually delegated to managers, such as

performance evaluation job assignments and

absentee control.

4. Work teams have frequent meetings.

47

5. Work teams are given some decision making
responsibility, but management retains the right
to challenge the decision made by the work team.

6. .Actual production activity, as well as problem
solving, is done by the work team.

MW:

A variation of the work team described above is that of
the self-managed team. This type of team is defined as a
small unit that plans, manages, and implements a complete
operation of a major, identifiable segment of the production
process in coordination with other units, or "internal
customers". The following eleven features are common
elements of such teams (Cohen-Rosenthal and Burton:1994, and
Lambourne, et.al.:1992).

1. Teams possess among themselves all skills

needed to secure input, conduct operational

processes to transform inputs in some desired way,

and maintain their own work system.

2. Team members are multi-skilled.

3. Teams are self-directing in deciding how work

is to be done with minimal critical specifications

of who among team members should perform what role

on

any given day, and how members will be selected,

rewarded and trained.

4. Teams influence the formulation of their goals

including what they will produce, production

volume, payment, and other sanctions.

5. Teams govern their own performance by deciding

where to work, when to work, and other activities

they wish to engage in.

6. Teams make decisions about the choice of
production methods.

48

7. Teams make their own internal distribution of
tasks.

8. Teams decide on their own membership including
appointment of new members and expulsion of
members.

9. Teams decide on leadership issues such as
whether they want to have a leader for internal
matters or boundary issues.

10. Teams decide how the work operations will be
performed, for example, choosing the technology or
approach.

11. While self-managed, teams are linked to other
units, or "internal customers".

Monetary Programs
Another category of labor-management participation
jg>Jrograms are monetary plans which are a supplement to wages
and salaries and are identified by several different terms
such as: gainsharing, profit sharing, and employee stock
ownership plan (ESOP) Ford:l988) . The gainsharing plan most
frequently cited is the Scanlon Plan. The three major
Components of such plans are: 1) employees should
c3<=>Ir1tinually generate and communicate ideas for improving
Overall plant performance, that is, productivity; 2) a
III‘E’1CJuod for measuring the changing performance over time; and
3 ) a formula for determining and distributing a company's
S urplus between the employer and employee (Cohen—Rosenthal

iii
:“:1 Burton:1994).

A second monetary plan is profit sharing which is an

is.

e

3 ‘t‘eement that employers set aside a portion of the annual

49

 

 

net profits which may be distributed annually or on some
other time schedule. This type of plan provides tax
benefits for the company and the employees. The company can
deduct its contributions to the plan and since many of plans
are deferred payment plans, the employees pay no taxes until
retirement or termination which may place them in a lower
tax bracket (Cohen-Rosenthal and Burton:1994, Marshall:1987,
and Lawler:l986) .

A third monetary program is an employee stock ownership
plan (ESOPs) . These plans are essentially employee buy-outs
of a company, and sometimes, this is financed by all or part
of a pension plan. ESOPs are frequently utilized by firms
which are experiencing economic difficulty, and sometimes

ESOPs are used to avoid a hostile takeover by a competing
firm. These plans seldom involve increases in employee
Control or influence over operations and in benefits from
S1-1Cc:essful company performance (Oswald:1986, Cohen-Rosenthal
and Burton:1994, and Marshall:1987).
Broader Social Change Programs
Those programs which can be included in the category of
broader social change are: 1) codetermination, 2) joint
QQIisultation, and 3) industrial democracy/workers' control.
Codetermination is found in West Germany and
S Q
at“Aciinavia and began shortly after World War II. It was

21%
$ ‘ -
:Lgned to curb corporate power, to advance the interests

50

‘

 

 

of the workers, and to give them a voice in the formation of
corporate policy (Cohen-Rosenthal and Burton:1994). There
are two forms of codetermination found in West Germany. One
form has management and labor each selecting half of the
enterprise's directors. Since 1976, this is found in all
industries in West Germany and not just in the coal, iron,
and steel industries as the original law organized it
(Marshall:1987) . The other form has one-third of the
supervisory board seats filled by worker representatives.
This cooperative program is much broader in scope than the
teams, groups, or the monetary programs.
A similar form of codetermination found in Japan is the
j oint consultation system (Cohen-Rosenthal and
Burton:1994)‘. Although the specifics vary from firm to
firm, in this system, the union and management consult on
the direction of the enterprise and discuss basic issues
Such as working conditions, wages and wage structure, hours
of work, ergonomic considerations, and fringe benefits.
PeJz‘smnnel matters are also part of consultations, including
recruitment, selection, placement, transfer, education, and
training. In this program, enterprises readily share
information with the union on issues such as long-range
i hvestment, financial updates, community relations and

SE>21rj
‘V'fiLronmental concerns (Ibid.).

51

Industrial democracy or workers' control is at the very
least difficult to define and at the most, may be impossible
to develop a concrete specific definition. The phrase is
definitely ambiguous (Bayat:l991). To some it is a
combination of all the previously discussed programs from
team efforts through those that represent broader social
change like codetermination (Goldman and Van Houten:9). To
others, industrial democracy cannot occur unless there is a

kxasic,reordering of the economic order. At the very basic
level, industrial democracy is workers participating in
cieecisions that effect them in the workplace (Marshall:1987).

The current reality in the United States lies somewhere

j.I1 between these extremes. In general, industrial democracy
.14r1c1udes those organizations that no longer wish to conduct
business in the old way but wish to operate in a new way and
(3&313 refer to the way work is organized at one company
(Bayat:l991). This includes all organizations that wish to
reject the organization of work which allows a "technocratic
bureaucratic elite to monopolize knowledge, technical power
and social power within. the organization." (Ibid.) . It does
net mean that all members of the organization have equal
J:b‘j-L-Sa’hts but that all members have an opportunity to
'£:.é5‘41?1:icipate in the process of decision making (Davies:1979).
Thus industrial democrac ' '
, y 13 not a democracy 1n the

le. , . . .
-J.t1cal sense of the term that the majority, such as the

‘

52

total number of workers versus the number of owners or
shareholders, have control or power (Ibid.). While I have
grouped self-managed work teams with group efforts and work
teams, the program at Saturn, is more closely aligned with

industrial democracy.

53

 

CHAPTER 3
METHODS AND METHODOLOGY

INTRODUCTION

Qualitative methods were selected for this research for
First, this is an exploratory study to be

several reasons.
considered the foundation for further research utilizing

other methods such as surveys. This exploratory study
investigates the experiences of the workers, especially the

tvomen, within the context of the Employee Involvement
in—depth interviews were used because they

program. Second,
thould provide data that is not accessible through surveys.

GTIaird, I expected that the in-depth interviews would provide

“less mechanical relationship between” those I was

ea
.j.r1terviewing and myself (Jayarante and Stewart: 1991).

Fourth, I selected qualitative methods because the workers

XYZ specifically asked that I talk to them instead of
They made

Ei1t.
administering more surveys or questionnaires.

this request each time I administered a survey, during
Finally, I chose

1‘l-‘lil‘ajring sessions, and in meetings.
‘gl‘Jléalitative methods because they can best answer my research

questions.
Although I selected qualitative methods, other methods

<::
Quld have been utilized to obtain data for my research.

1?-
«rt-1
Ea'tlllod used to obtain information in the workplace. This

3—

:>“1? example, the administration of surveys is a common

54

 

 

was not used for a variety of reasons. First, during my
tenure as an external consultant at XYZ Motors, I
administered surveys on three separate occasions and nearly
every employee participated in them. Those surveys were
conducted to obtain information and to determine issues
other than the ones in which I am interested. For example,
the responses to the surveys provided information regarding
the respondents' perceptions of the quality of the parts
being manufactured such as whether it had increased or
decreased during the project. The surveys also included
items that provided information about job tasks, job
cieescriptions, and how the employees feel about their jobs.
Other questions on the surveys were concerned with the
overall physical work environment and how satisfied the
Workers' were with various aspects of the physical
environment such as lighting, eating facilities, safety
tlraining, and the amount of walking, standing, reaching and
S"ll-‘E‘etching required to do their jobs. Thus, the information
that might have been obtained by conducting a secondary
analysis of the previously administered surveys would not
have contributed to my analysis. Moreover, I felt that the
Q1"~1'tlulative effect of all these surveys created an atmosphere
that I call "survey saturation". Thus, if I had

a
v‘Cflqt-linistered another survey, adequate representation may not

55

have been obtained because the employees at the plant were
not interested in responding to anymore surveys.

A further reason for not administering another survey
is the possible distrust workers often have of surveys and
other quantitative methods. For example, quantitative
methods may “support sexist, racist and elitist attitudes
and practices and therefore negatively affect people’s live”
(Jayarante and Stewart: 1991). Research has demonstrated
tzhat workers do not trust the results of surveys because

t:hey have been used by management to justify management
decisions that are detrimental to workers. Additionally,
truanagement often utilizes quantitative methods to support
tzlae status quo. Last, and most important, the more
£31:ructured format of surveys would not allow me to collect
‘tlfle type of information I was seeking.
RESEARCH PHILOSOPHY
Several issues influence my research philosophy. I
1"halve utilized a feminist lens to explore the experiences of
the workers at XYZ which means there are several assumptions
-t:]b1iat were used to support the research. First, while there
are a variety of perspectives that can be identified as
feminist such as radical or liberal feminism, the key
2"~é5l1=tiable in all of them is gender. Another way to state

th- . .
JLss, 13 that the exper1ences of men and women is not the
§

‘

3l1u3£e and that the experiences and products of women have

56

 

been devalued within the system of patriarchy. Second,
using a feminist lens brings into focus the experiences of
women. Conversely, a feminist lens is limiting because the
research will not focus on the experiences of men in the
same way as it focuses on the experiences of women. Third,
feminists assume that a patriarchical/power relationship
exists between women and men. This assumption includes the
concept that women are dominated by or oppressed by men
within the system of patriarchy (Farganis:l994) . Fourth, in
the workplace, gender inequality and the gendered nature of
organizations results in the unequal distribution of rewards
such as wages and promotions. Fifth, dominant groups engage
in activities to preserve their position of privilege.
Sixth, as a feminist researcher, I am interested in how
gender is reproduced in the workplace and using a feminist
lens enhances the ability to see things that would not
c>r<iinarily be seen. Last, this research was undertaken
sE>ecifically to benefit the lives of all those who are
ertljployed at XYZ Motors, but most specifically, the lives of
the women.
Several issues also influence my approach to
qualitative methods. First, qualitative methods were chosen
b‘eeause they are very valuable to use to study oppressed
QP“.:‘<>ups such as women and the working class (Grant, et.
- : 1987, Re1nharz:1992). Second, as a fem1n1st, 1t 13

57

 

‘

important to be a reflexive practitioner and that means I
and explore

must contemplate, critically examine,
This is an on—going

analytically the research process.
process and each step must be repeated again and again

through out the research process (Fonow and Cook:l991).
is how intimate I could or

A third issue to consider,
Or put another

should be with those I was interviewing.

rvay, how much distance should there be between myself as the
As a researcher,

researcher and those being interviewed.
and especially conducting feminist research, it is important
t:c> place myself on a continuum between being totally

.irnmnersed in observing and totally immersed in participation.

Jitles question of intimacy with the research subjects is also

lni_r1ked to the debate whether it is better to be a friend or
Associated with this debate is the idea that a

a Stranger.
researcher who is too friendly with his/her subjects

lncreases the possibility that the researcher will too

chL<:>:3ely identify with the people being studied thus losing
Conversely, being close to

:3

Citrus measure of objectivity.
C)

hes research participants may heighten understanding.

(2
eartainly it is not always best to be a friend nor is it

a: .
lways best to be a stranger in the research process. In my

there were some individuals with whom I had become

Case,
‘7-
‘E::t?:y friendly who were interviewed. On the other hand, some

tzhe individuals who were interviewed were people I met

Qt
58

only for the interview. One of the problems associated with
interviewing those with whom I was friendly, was that those

interviews tended to take longer because the person being

interviewed used the interview as an opportunity to take an

On some occasions, the extra

extra long break from work.

time spent in the interview did not provide additional or

Conversely, those who

‘particularly insightful material.
wvere strangers to me, often seemed less willing to open up

aand.discuss what was on their mind which made the interview

cijrfficult. In the latter instance I was faced with
aitrtempting to elicit information without guiding the
Some individuals seemed to be unwilling to

i nterviewee .
I believe that was a reflection of

c>£><en up and talk to me.

tztlee level of trust that exits between those being
Trust is an important issue for a

interviewed and myself.
The level of trust between those I was

feminist researcher .
jmriftlerviewing and myself was generally high which was
E>Ea--‘1=1“t;i.ally the result of the time I spent at the plant during

t:1) . .

£3: implementation of the labor-management program. During
t:lj - .

:LMs time, I had demonstrated that I was not "owned" by

Irl
aliegement nor was I only a "friend" of labor. Because of

It! . . . .
3” <on901ng interactions with those at the plant, I was able

t:
(3' :illustrate that I understood both sides of the issues

t:
hat were raised and that I would and could lend support to

l
ab<>r and to management at different times.
59

Additionally, I engaged in this research to improve the

world of work. It is important to me as a feminist

researcher that this research be empowering for those at the

plant. Also, for a program such as this to be considered

successful, I believe it is essential for the principles and

practices presented to be used in circumstances outside the

Employee Involvement program. That is, I would hope that

the participants would be able to transfer the skills and
knowledge they obtained in the program to their families and
to the community at large.

RESEARCH DESIGN

My exploratory case study at XYZ motors included

several qualitative methods: observation, a review of

archival documents, and in-depth interviews with the

employees at XZY Motors. I engaged in ethnographic research

because it would allow me to develop a detailed analysis of

the knork.life and work activities of the people at XYZ

Motors ,_ both those who were involved in the labor-management

participation program and those who were not (Feagin:1991) .
1X review of pertinent documents provided relevant

i . - '
nforInation. Those documents that were reV1ewed included:

the original and supplementary grant proposals, minutes of
the plant-wide steering committee training session and

meetings, minutes of selected departmental joint committee
meetings and training sessions, the collective bargaining

60

agreement, and quarterly reports written to the Federal

Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS). A review of the

original grant proposal provided information regarding the
initial purpose and goals of the project and are discussed

in Chapter 4. The observations and minutes of the plant-

wide steering committee design meetings and training session

provided base line data regarding interactions between the

various members of the steering committee. It also provided

some information regarding the level of trust, or distrust,

that existed between the union and the management members on

the steering committee .

A3 I participated in and observed the steering

committee and DJC meetings, I developed a great deal of

reSpect and an awareness about the women and men who were

Participating in this project. Even though I did not accept

the dominant view of the working class as somehow less
sentient and intelligent than white collar workers are
assumed to be, I found that I had to revise my opinion
regarding the level of intelligence I had expected to

encounter. Many of the workers participating in the project

raised very thought provoking questions, and I could not
provide immediate answers to all the questions they posed.
While I found this to be a bit unnerving since I was
supposed to be the "expert" in the situation, this was one
area in which the reflexive approach of my feminist research

61

was especially useful. I could honestly reply to them that

I did not have the answer and assure them that I would at
least attempt to find an answer to their questions.
Most of those who were involved in the project on the

different committees had been employed at the plant for more

than fifteen years. An exception to this was the plant

manager who had been at the plant for approximately eight

years when the project began. Even though he had only been

at the plant for eight years, he had been employed in some

capacity at other plants owned by the same parent
corporation .
RESEARCH DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION
The research design consists of two main segments, a

Case :study of XYZ Motors as an organization, and in-depth

interrviews with employees of XYZ. The methods of inquiry

used 1:0 construct the research results presented in Chapters
5 ancl 6 were observation, documentary, and interview.
E'Ollowing is an overview of these components.

Case Study

Tflne case study at XYZ Motors evolved from various

So . .
urCSs of data which are: observational, documentary, and

interview. Documents reviewed included the original and
supplemental grant proposal: meeting mim’tes' quarterly
reports to the FMCS, notes I took during meetings, and
minutes from the different types of meetings that were held

62

regarding the project, and the collective bargaining

agreement. This three pronged approach allowed the

development of a more inclusive and comprehensive picture of

the organization. It also allowed the placement of this

organization in the context of increasing global competition

and flight of capital from the United States.

Interviews and Interview Settings

The interviews were conducted between July, 1993 and

October, 1993 and all were held at XYZ Motors. I utilized

an interview schedule (Appendix A) with open-ended
One area covered by the interviews was

responses .
Such information

background data about each interviewee.

included: gender, department, job held, and seniority.

While the interviewees were randomly selected from a list of

all employees, those selected were given an opportunity to

decline to be interviewed. Of those selected, only one

person actually declined to be interviewed. This

individual, who was a second shift supervisor in the molding

plant, declined to be interviewed because he felt he could

not be away from his job for the length of time an interview

t
ended to take. I could not confirm this because I did not

ha

ve an opportunity to talk directly to this person. Those
“d1

0 a'llczepted the invitation to be interviewed, generally

a
ppeared to be eager to tell me their perceptions of the

Ehn1
pJ‘OYee Involvement (BI) program.
63

I made very few changes to the interview schedule

except to add a question regarding the person's perceived

job duties. Additionally, during transcription, I found

that I had inadvertently omitted a question in a few

interviews. The question that was omitted was not the same

one in each instance. Therefore, I did not attempt to

contact the individuals again to have them respond to one

question. Although each interview consisted of the same

questions, each session resulted in a distinctive interview
due to the uniqueness of each individual and because each

individual varied in terms of the degree that she/he was

willing to open up and talk. Each interviewee was afforded

respect and was not treated just as a provider of
information or data for my research.

All interviews were tape recorded except for two
interviewees who requested that I not tape their interviews.

Of ttuose who declined, one was a manager and one was a
member of the union but not one of the officers. They both
Signed the informed consent form agreeing to be interviewed

and the union member asked for a copy of the form which was

provided upon completion of the interview. The manager

indicated that it was not that he distrusted me and my use
of the taped interview, but that he had an unpleasant
experience in the past when he had agreed to be interviewed
and later, part of that interview was used out of context

64

which created a different meaning than the one he had

originally intended.
Each interview session began with an explanation of the

reason for the interview, and my background. For

consistency, information on my background was provided to
all interviewees even though some of them knew me and were

familiar with my background through their active

participation in the BI project. Each interviewee was

assured that there were no right or wrong answers to the

questions, and that I was interested in their answers,

thoughts, and feelings and that was the purpose of the

interview. This approach was used to set the tone of the

interview and to try to put the interviewee and interviewer
at ease which is important to all researchers and especially

to a feminist researcher. During this tone setting time,

the person being interviewed was assured that their

respcnses would be kept strictly confidential and would not

be Shared with anyone at the plant, neither union nor

management. I advised the interviewee that she/he was

furtl'Ier assured of confidentiality because the tapes would
be kept locked in a fire safe at the interviewer's house

which is in another city located approximately 60 miles from

t
he plant. Also, it was during the disclosure of the

in . .
teI‘Viewer's background that any perceived difference in

So -
c131 class was down played. I felt that it was important

65

to do this to facilitate the interview. If those being
interviewed felt that they were not talking to someone who
could understand them, then they would be less likely to
openly discuss their thoughts and ideas regarding XYZ.
Additionally, it is important as a feminist researcher to
down play the potential or perceived class difference.

In addition to the introduction provided to the
interviewees about the interview, they were given an
informed consent form which they were asked to sign
(Appendix B). Included on the consent form was a statement
ensuring confidentiality, and a statement that the
interviewee or her/his health care insurer would not incur
any costs beyond the time needed to complete the interview.
The message on the informed consent form was read word for
word to each interviewee in case one of them was unable to
L‘ead or had difficulty reading the form.

I asked the managers to provide a place for the
'nterviews where minimal interruptions would occur and the
nterViewees would feel comfortable. The comfort level of
he various interviewees was very important to me as a
eminist researcher. On two occasions, interviews were held
71 a Conference room in the mold unit, and on two other
:casions, interviews were held in the manager's office in
1e I"101d unit. This office was used because he was gone and
le c3<>nference room was not available on those days and no

66

other neutral space was available. The interviews conducted

in this venue did not seem to differ qualitatively from
others conducted in other places at the plant. While it
might have been inhibiting to be in the plant manager's
office for some of those who were interviewed, it was not
apparent to the interviewer that was the case.

For interviews with employees in the finish unit,

:several different rooms were made available. One location
choubled as a physical therapy room and was used only once.
trtle comfort level of the interviewer and possibly the
interviewee may not have been the best in that location.
EE<>1r myself, it was not as comfortable physically as other
rooms as the furniture was less comfortable. Another room
Was called the "Safety Library" but appeared to be a general
Ci‘fiuflnping ground for any material that was seldom if ever
used. This room was small and felt a little cramped while
an interview was being conducted. Since it was used so
infrequently, it did provide a place where few interruptions
c>c(Zurred.

Most of the interviews were held with several days
kb‘aytlvveen them but sometimes this was not the case due to the
production needs at XYZ Motors and the need of the
interviewer to complete the interviews. When the interviews
were scheduled on consecutive days, they were very

etrio‘tionally draining. I was concerned that this would

67

somehow negatively effect the quality of the interviews but

my analysis has not indicated that this is the case. The

interviews were conducted during the interviewee's regular
Since the mold unit operated on three

working shift .

shifts, some interviews were conducted at 4:00 and 5:00 a.m.

to accommodate the schedules of the workers on the third
shift.
Recruitment Procedures

The recruitment procedures that were followed were
utilized to ensure the confidentiality of the interviewees.
It was not possible to have the interviewees remain
completely anonymous to the managers at the plant or myself
because it was necessary to involve the managers of the
Various employees selected to be interviewed. This
involvement was necessary to arrange for the release of the
interviewees from their jobs and so the managers could
provide relief workers to cover the jobs of those being

1n'Ceerviewed.
Those who were interviewed were selected in two ways.

The members of the plant-wide steering committee were
SPe<=ifically selected because of their involvement in the El

program. They were selected because they represented the

top level of management and the top level of the union

hierarchy. And, since they were involved from the initial

design stage of the BI program, it was anticipated that they
68

could provide information about the origination of the

program that would not be available from others. A random

selection procedure from a list of all employees at XYZ
Motors was used to obtain other potential interviewees.
Random selection was used to avoid the self-selection bias
that can occur if a strictly volunteer procedure had been

utilized. This random selection was greatly facilitated by

a member of the human resource staff who provided a list of

all active XYZ employees including those who were on layoff

or sick leave. None of the individuals who were on sick

leave or layoff were asked to participate in the interviews.
The only other manipulation of the selection process was to
ensure a representative sample from key groups such as
management, union members, unrepresented hourly and salaried
employees, and members of the mold and finish units.

Arrangements for rooms in which to conduct the

interviews were handled by the managers of the various

individuals selected to be interviewed. The room in which

the interviews were held varied and was determined by the
department in which the interviewee was currently working.
I clid ask that the managers select places that would allow
the Workers to (feel comfortable and suggested that we use
conference rooms whenever possible as these were areas in
whiCh the workers had various types of meetings from those

arranged by managers and supervisors and the union so they

69

provided a more neutral space for the interviews to be
conducted.
Research Sample Characteristics
A total of 42 interviews were conducted for this
research and the sample was selected randomly except for the
selection of the plant-wide steering committee, and the past
president of the local union. The selection was conducted
to ensure a representative sample from the various groups at
the plant such as women, men, management, union, supervisor
or forepersons, and salaried employees. It was also
essential to have a representative sample of those who had
been directly involved in Employee Involvement and those who
had not. The original management members of the Plant-wide
Steering Committee (PWSC) were the plant manager, human
resource manager, the quality manager, production manager,
and maintenance manager. The original union representatives
Were: the president, vice-president, chief-steward, joint
Safety team coordinator, and a member-at-large. The revised
Steering Committee management members were: plant manager,
administrative unit manager, mold and finish unit managers,
quality manager, equipment team leader. The union was
rePresented by the same elected officials and an additional
memher-at-large. Of those who were members of the PWSC,
thi‘ee were women and they were members of the union. The
trainers attended all PWSC meetings and provided input but

70

were not part of the consensus decision—making process.
Three of the trainers were union representatives and one was.
a member of the human resource department. Demographic
information related to the interviews is reflected in Table
1. More men than women were interviewed which reflects the
population of the plant.

Table 1

Duographic Data of Interview...

53011.25. MEN MEN IDEALS
Union 11 19 30
Management 0 6 6
Salaried 3 O 3
Sklpervisors _J. _2 _3
TOTALS 15 27 42

QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS
As a feminist researcher, it is essential that the

methods used to conduct research be utilized to achieve a
feminist analysis of the data collected. Methods of feminist
data analysis include: listening to and understanding
WOwen's voices from all strata of the organization and
finding ways to ensure that neither an individual’s or a
group's voice is omitted (Re1nharz:1992) . Additionally,
most feminist research'is seen as research that is
"Primarily research on, by, and especially for women"

(Stacey:1988) . Gorelick (1991) noted that feminist research

13 not only "collecting descriptive statistics or

71

experiential data about women" but also "part of a process

by which women's oppression is not only described but

challenged".

While the methods used are qualitative, I used Acker's

model of gendering organizational analysis. Additionally, I
considered-workplace relations between management, salaried

I sought to understand how the

and union members. Further,

workers experienced class power in the context of the

Employee Involvement Program. In addition to the

conventions of theoretical sampling and memoing, theoretical

coding was done. This coding is usually done manually, but

for this project a new software program called Ethnograph

was utilized.

72

 

CHAPTER 4

CASE STUDY
XYZ MOTORS
In order to understand the results of this research, it

is important to consider several facets of XYZ Motors such

as the location and physical layout of the plant, the size

and demographics of the workforce, the union, labor-

management relations, what is produced, the labor process,

the occupational and Employee Involvement structure. These
aspects are important because the physical layout of the
Plant can serve to unify or separate the manufacturing

functions and influences production and social relations.

Further it may serve to reproduce class and gender

relations. The geographic location of a facility is

important because it directly relates to the available pool

of labor. Whether or not a facility is unionized directly

influences the wages and benefits workers receive because

wages are higher and the benefits are better at union

facilities than similar non-union facilities. Each of these

faCets will be described in the following order: geographic
location, the physical layout, the three business functions,

WOrkforce demographics, a brief description of the jobs in

the Various business units. Last, I will describe the

Structure of the Employee Involvement Program.

73

RESEARCH SITE AND PLANT LAYOUT

Administrative and Finish Units

XYZ Motors is located in a nonmetropolitan Midwestern

city which is also the county seat. It is located about one

and *2 hour from one of the Great Lakes. The population

within the city limits is approximately 6,000. In the

surrounding county, there are an additional 50,000 people

who reside within a relatively short commuting distance of

the facility. That is, under normal driving conditions, it

would take the individual living the furthest from the plant

about thirty-five minutes to make the commute to or from the

plant. In fact, some of the managers travel from a

metropolitan area that is one hour from the plant. XYZ

Motors is one of the largest employers in the county, and at

one time it was the largest, but that distinction now

belongs to correctional and mental health facilities

located in and near the city.

Entering the city from the south, you see two red brick

buildings. These buildings are referred to as “A and B.”

They are reminiscent of factory buildings one might see in

any industrial area of the United States. It is obvious

that the brick is not new and the buildings definitely show

their age. Some of the panes in the windows are painted

Over, some are darkened, and some appear to be missing even

tholllgh they are not.
74

Just to the north of A Building is a small parking lot

with space for sixteen or seventeen cars. This lot is for

visitors but some workers also park their cars in the lot

because there is insufficient space for all first shift

workers to park in the fenced lot. The workers are not

penalized for parking in the visitor's lot and occasionally,

visitors would have to find a spot to park on the street.

There are two guarded gates where trucks enter and leave and

the plant and must stop to get a pass from the guards. One

gate is near A Building and other is just outside the

entrance to the mold unit at the back of the property. Four

and if all three shifts are

guards are on duty. each day,

Working, then five guards are working. A guard is stationed

at each gate during the first and second shifts while one

guard is on duty during the third shift and is stationed at

the gate nearest to A Building.

Just before I began conducting interviews at XYZ

MOtors, the plant had been reorganized into three business

units: Administrative, Finish, and Mold Units. The mold

and finish functions are located in three buildings which
Creates a physical, psychological and philosophical division

These divisions will be discussed in

What

a‘mong the workers.
detail in the following data analysis chapters.

follows is a description of the three buildings and a brief

75

discussion of the functions located in each of the
buildings.
The second oldest of the three buildings was built in
'the 19403 and is called the "A Building.” It is four
stories plus a basement. The manufacturing processes are
located on the third and fourth floors and the basement is
slrimarily used for storage. The paint booth, which has some
rxobotics, is on the third floor of this building and there
Lies also a skyway and in the basement a tunnel which connects
It & B Buildings. Most of the Administrative Unit is
Joc>cated in Building A on the first two floors in the east
end of the building. The functions included in the
1&c1mdnistrative Unit are: plant manager, human resources
(1:hds includes safety and workers' compensation),
Eiczcounting, engineering, shipping and receiving, the plant
Illlrse, Finish Unit Manager, environmental testing and
Compliance, and the support staff for each of the above
Iioted functions. The clerical/administrative functions for
engineering and shipping and receiving are located in A
IBuilding while the physical function occurs at all three
lBuildings.

Visitors enter the plant through the main entrance on
1:11GB east side of A Building or through the guarded gate on
'tzilee north side of the building. Those who are visiting the

plant between the hours of 8:00 a.m. & 5:00 p.m. are

76

expected to enter through a set of double glass doors. Once
in the lobby/reception area, all visitors must fill out a
security pass. The information requested is: individual’s
name, organizations representing, time of arrival, who they
are visiting, license number of the vehicle (primarily for
trucks bringing or picking up goods or parts), and the
purpose of the visit.
‘Once the visitor fills out the pass, there is a phone
Eirld a list of phone numbers sitting on the counter just
<>LJtside a locked door, the visitor directly dials the
jarldividual they want to see. That individual then comes
C1c>wn to the reception area and greets the visitor and lets
Sez’he in through the locked door. The telephone system was
I>l1t in place about three years into the project. Previous
tl<> that, there had been a receptionist who had to be at the
(fliesk from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m- to ensure
1Zlmat visitors filled out the pass and waited for the
fiandividual they were visiting. This means that if the
Ifleceptionist was ill or needed to leave the desk for any
J:‘eason, someone else had to leave their own work station to
<2Over for her. Once the new phone system was in place, I
3Eeelt.that some of the friendliness of the plant had
disappeared because there was no longer someone to greet

i"JLssitors when they entered the main doors of the plant.

77

The floor of the lobby and the area just inside the
security door is tiled with a marbled black and white
linoleum. Even when the tile has just been cleaned, it has
a dingy appearance from years of ground in dirt and oil
tracked in from the production areas. The walls are painted
what appears to be a light beige but the paint is old and it

is difficult to tell whether that is the original color.

Directly across from the entrance door is a 19505 style

bench with no back, wooden legs, and a padded rust colored
plastic seat. Above it on the wall, a BMW bumper is
displayed with pride like a hunter's trophy. To the left
Of this are stairs to the second floor. On the wall to the
left of the stairs, the front fender of a Buick Ciera is
1"11C>unted. Under the stairs, is a women's bathroom. Just
inside the security door a full-sized semi-truck hood and
fenders are displayed. To the right of the semi-truck hood,
is a doorway that leads to the offices of the plant manager
and his secretary. The secretary's office is much smaller
illian that of the manager's and is furnished with the usual
Secretarial furniture: a desk, computer and typewriter on
stands. Along the wall opposite the windows and to the left
of the door is a row of four drawer file cabinets. On the
flOor between the file cabinets and a table are piles of
papers that appear to be ready to be filed or are overflow
from the cabinets. The furniture and papers create a

78

v
a

crowded feeling to the room and makes me think that the

person who occupies the office is harried, overworked, and

does not have enough time to do all that is assigned to her.
Access to the plant manager's corner office is through
a door in front of and to the right of the secretary's desk.
This corner office is carpeted with a dark green low pile
The

(kirk carpet which is well worn though not threadbare.

waLLls are paneled in a dark wood and there are two windows

triait face east and two that face south. Between the south

faiczing windows stands two grey four drawer file cabinets.
Tiles south windows provide a clear view of the main
ID£>J:"th/south highway and the railroad tracks that cross it
just south of A Building.

Just inside the office door to the left is a 19505
I3Eiriish modern wood credenza and it is stained to match the
TF>Earieling. Above the credenza on the wall is a picture of
one of the GM product lines for which the plant makes a
1;>Eilrt, the right of the door and mounted on the wall, is a
"‘~&lite-wipe off board". Notes are usually on the board
treecording information from the last meeting held there.
JEset‘weenthe east windows and against the wall is a table
‘T’:i1:k1 straight legs on which sits a lamp with an olive green.
1:>€3£Sea that matches the green vinyl of the chairs that sit on
eaisiczli. side of the table. The chairs have padded arm.rests
wi th wood trim legs that match the credenza and the table.

79

There is also an ornate ashtray sitting on the table, but I
believe that it is strictly for decoration because the plant
manager is an avid non-smoker. Across from the table and
chairs, is the manager's desk behind which is a black
leather high backed chair with padded arm rests. Behind the
desk is another long low credenza of the same wood and
chasign as the rest of the office furniture. On top of it
sits a computer, a printer and a row of books most of which
éazre about the Japanese system of continuous improvement or
P<aiizen. Above this on the wall is a picture of a "Woody
Eft:ation Wagon" that had once been manufactured at the plant.
In front of the credenza is the plant manager's desk
VVIagich matches the rest of the furniture in the room.

On top

(DIE? the desk in the corner closest to the door, sits a dark

‘VVCDod, two tier ”In/Out basket" and I note on most of my
‘Vtisits there are papers in both trays awaiting the

aIppropriate action by either the plant manager or his

£3ecretary. .Also on the desk are several items I would

jLdentify as "executive decorations". One is a matching pen

Eirld pencil set in a wooden base with a brass name plate

Garlgraved with the plant manager's name. The pen and pencil

are metal with a brushed gold finish and are wide near the

writing point and taper to a point at the other end. I do
ltlc>tz recall seeing either the pen or pencil used and I
SL1Sorbect that this may have been an item that is awarded to

80

the manager for a "job well done" and it is therefore, a
status symbol to be proudly displayed. Also, on the desk is
a brass coaster with a raised company logo in the center

which is surrounded by a black leather inlay. When I asked

~ about the coaster, I was told that it is given to people at

.XYZ Motors when they have accomplished some designated goal
car when the individual is being recognized for outstanding
53erformance and it is a coveted item. When I gained that
innformation, I realized that the coaster is there on the
ci<esk not as a utilitarian item but to demonstrate that the

.nnianager had been recognized by those above him for his

I><erformance. A third decorative item is a small, daily

~Ssaayings "flip-chart" with one saying facing toward the plant

Inneanager and another facing the visitor. These sayings are

<>ften quotes from.the Bible providing guidance on how to
3—ive one's life to the fullest. Directly in front of the

nnanager, is a large desk calendar on which is recorded

zippointments, meetings, travel dates, and other information

1:hat is important to him. On either side of the calendar,

Eire several piles of papers giving the desk a disorganized
appearance which is contrary to the image portrayed by the
plant manager who is an engineer and is detail oriented and

(Diaganized- With all the executive decorations, utilitarian

items, and stacks of papers, it is actually difficult to see

the surface of the desk. In front of the desk are two

81

chairs placed at angle to the desk which allows those in the
chairs to make eye contact with each other and the manager.
The human resource offices, shipping and receiving
offices, the safety library, the company liaison's office
and the BI office are also in this building on the first
floor. The largest office is occupied by the finish unit

Inanager. The smaller offices are occupied by the El

t:xainers and the safety library.

Also, on the first floor, but separate from the offices

:jIJSt noted, are the union and first aid offices. The nurse

j.£3 available Monday through Friday during the first shift

vclnich starts at 7 and ends at 3. The other shifts have

ch>rkers who have been trained in basic first aid procedures

£511ch as dressing a minor cut or burn and CPR. The union

(Diffice is to the west of the nurse's and is a small office
1:11at is overcrowded with desks, office chairs, a computer
and printer on a computer stand and a row of file cabinets
‘Vihich divides the room and creates a space for people to
ESit.

On the second floor are the accounting offices, a

c3C>nference room, a new training room, the engineers, a crib

ITCMom.and a break room. The break room is air-conditioned

a11d equipped with folding tables with attached benches.
Along the walls are vending machines that dispense hot and
<==<>L14d beverages, hot foods in cans, sandwiches, and a variety

82

of snacks such as candy bars, chips, cheese filled snack

crackers, yogurt and apples. There is a similar break room

on each floor of the production area in both “A” and “B”

buildings and one in the mold plant.

On the third floor is the paint booth and dryers.

Parts are moved through these areas on an overhead moving

.line. Some of the painting is done by robots while others

Jrequires a worker to be in the paint booth to operate the

paint gun. The painters wear tyvek protective suits and

zreespirators where they are painting. This is one area in

vvlnich the use of a respirator is strictly enforced by the

leuion and by management.

Mold Unit
The molding function is located at the west end of the

IZZL-acre property in an aluminum sided cream colored building

‘Vihich was built in the early 19605. It is two stories tall,

Ilowever, the building is built to accommodate the presses

Eind does not have two full floors. .As you enter the

lbuilding from the east, on the right there is a small, two

iiloor area that has been divided into several offices. The

Jaargest of these offices is occupied by the Manager of the
L4C1ld Unit and is furnished with a large dark wood desk, a
desk chair on wheels behind the desk, and a computer on a

ésfiezbarate stand. Also housed within this air conditioned

CDiffice complex are three smaller offices. One is used by

83

the supervisors for all three shifts. Another is used by
clerical and support staff and the last is used by the Mold
Unit Equipment Team Leader. Outside these offices is a
large work area enclosed by portable partitions made of a
gray metal frame with a pale gray tweed fabric that
resembles indoor/outdoor carpet. Located within the area is
a coffee pot, another computer, a copier, paper for both
nnachines and a long work table. On the second floor are the
nnold plant engineering offices, a conference room, and a
supervisor/team leader office.

Located on the first floor, are the presses, the
£3;litter tables, and a storage area for the SMC (reinforced
:fiiberglass). The presses are arranged in two rows from the
east to the west end of the building with the smaller
‘EPIesses at the east end of the building along. There is
1:oom.around the presses for hi—los to drive to deliver SMC
(Dr to pick up racks of molded parts that are ready either

:EOr shipping or to be moved to the finish unit. Most
ESurfaces in this building are either covered with fiberglass
Ciust particles or oil and grease from the presses. The
“workers complain about going home being covered with the
fiberglass but because the plant is so warm, especially in
titre summer, it is very uncomfortable to wear long sleeved

Eslitirts to try to minimize their exposure.

84

WORKFORCE DEMOGRAPHICS
A second factor to consider is the size and content of

the workforce. When I began this research, three were 515
employees at XYZ Motors. Of these, 450 were union members
(131 women and 319 men), 33 salaried (11 women and 22 men),
21 supervisors/team leaders, and 11 managers. Union
positions are: production and plant equipment cleaner,
packer/crater, power lift operator and local truck driver,
crib attendant, general operator/inspector, mold operator,
utility, millwright, machinist/tooling, and electrician.

The man and woman with the most seniority in the union were
hired in 1936 and 1969 respectively. While women were hired
to work in the plant during World War II, the woman who
began employment in 1969 was the first permanent hire. The
most recent hire for men and women in the union was in 1993.
The largest proportion of women were hired in two waves
between 1972-1975 when 61 women were hired and between 1978-
1979 when 31 women were hired. The largest proportion of
men were hired during the same time frames with 162 men
hired during the first and 69 men were hired in 1978 and
1979. Salaried jobs include: engineer, environmental
technician, accounting clerk and supervisor, human resource
asssistant, nurse, shipping and receiving, quality, and
CiLerical/support personnel. Management positions include:
Business Unit Managers, Plant Manager, Quality System

85

Leader, Advanced Engineering Manager, Mold Unit Equipment
Team Leader, Logistics Manager, Volvo Administration,
Assistant Human Resource Manager and a Vice-president of
Manufacturing.
Union
XYZ Motors is a unionized facility which influences the
functioning of the plant. The plant was unionized in the
19303 when it was a furniture manufacturer. The shop floor
and skilled trades workers are represented by a local of the
International Union of Electrical Workers (IUE). Once an
individual is hired into a position that is represented by
the Union, he or she has thirty days to join and start
paying dues. If the individual does not wish to be a member
of the Union, they are not able to continue employment.
Because this is a unionized facility, the union members
receive better wages, benefits, participate in a retirement
plan, experience relatively steady employment, and a formal
grievance procedure. The average starting wage for union
workers at XYZ Motors is $11.21 per hour. Additionally,
until recently, the workers had excellent health care
benefits to which they were required to contribute very
little. In 1992 management asked the union to reopen the
Chantract to renegotiate the health benefits coverage because
XFYZ was experiencing increasing costs related to health
benefits. The union was reluctant to reOpen the contract

86

because they feared management might take that opportunity
to try to renegotiate other parts of the contract. The
union decided to reopen the contract to renegotiate the
health care benefits and were able to protect other parts of
the contract.
Labor-Management Relationship

The relationship that exists between the various
employee groups at XYZ is similar to the relationship at any
unionized manufacturing facility. The relationship is an
adversarial one and there is conflict over traditional areas
such as: jobs, pace and hours of work, health and safety
issues, and wages and benefits. Even though the employees
of XYZ experienced some conflict, they characterized the
relationship as more harmonious than many unionized
facilities. Several managers and union members indicated
that since the relationship between the union and management
was not excessively adversarial, this facilitated the
movement toward and acceptance of the Employee Involvement
program as a business strategy.

LABOR PROCESS/JOB POSITIONS

The parts that are manufactured at XYZ Motors are
automotive, small pick-up and semi- trucks. Most of the
contracts are with U. S. automobile manufacturers but XYZ
also has contracts with Volvo for the semi-truck front end
aand with BMW for bumpers. Some parts were molded and then

87

shipped to the customer while others were molded and then
moved to the finish unit where one or more additional steps
were completed. For example, the part might be painted, or
go to a sub-assembly process such as attaching
reinforcements to bumpers, or to a bonding process where
several parts would be bonded together to make a larger
part.
Mold Unit

Positions in the mold unit include: Mold Unit Business
Manager, Equipment Team.Manager, engineers, team
leaders/supervisors, maintenance/tooling, electrician, hi-
lo/power lift operator, crib attendant, equipment cleaner,
mold operator and general operator. The majority of those
working in the mold unit are either GOs or mold operators.
The manufacturing process commences in the mold unit where
there are 19 presses of varying capacities. The largest is
four stories tall and exerts 4000 tons of pressure per
square inch (psi). The molds used in this press are the
larger auto and small truck parts such as the rear door,
hood and roof of sport utility vehicles, and the side panels
of small truck beds. Smaller parts such as the front and
rear bumpers of autos were molded in much smaller presses.
The smaller presses are operated by one individual and to
start the press cycle, the operator has to simultaneously
push two buttons. The larger presses require two operators

88

to load the charge, remove the part from the press, and four
buttons have to be engaged simultaneously to start the press
cycle.

The reinforced plastic (SMC) is manufactured at a plant
in a nearby state which is owned by the same corporation as
XYZ Motors and is delivered by truck. Trucks must enter the
plant through one of the two guarded gates. The SMC arrives
in sheets either in a large roll or folded and packed into a
box. The plastic on the roll is used for the larger parts
such as the hood for a Lincoln. Initially, the SMC arrived
only in rolls but this is changed after a worker noted that
many of the molded hoods cracked at the fold line and had to
be scrapped.

Essentially, the hi-lo drivers are responsible for
moving goods from one section of the production process to
the next whether they are assigned to the mold or finish
unit. Their duties may include unloading trucks. One
operator said she started her shift by checking the forklift
to make sure it is working safely. She specifically checks
the brakes, lights and the horn to ensure they are properly
functioning. Her next step is to determine which mold
Operators need SMC and then deliver it to the press. During
the day if more SMC is required, the mold operators page the
Iii-lo driver using the intercom (which is often difficult to
Ilear over the noise of the running presses). Next, full

89

racks of molded parts are moved to the next step in the
process, either to be shipped or to the finish unit. These
full racks are then replaced with empty racks.

A unique position at XYZ Motors is that of Local Truck
Driver. Once a trailer is brought onto the grounds, a Local
Truck Driver moves it to the docks to be loaded or unloaded.
In order to work in this position, the individual must
obtain the same type of.license as a long-haul truck driver.
There are four local truck drivers none of whom are women.

Press/mold operators cut and weigh the SMC. Most
operators use a “slitter table” which uses a template for
the part and automatically cuts-the SMC into the correct
shape. Others use a template or pattern and cut the charge
with a hand tool. Then the SMC strips are placed into the
mold by the operator who activates the molding cycle- Some
molds had codes imbedded in them which determined how much
pressure and heat is required to correctly mold the part.
Other parts required that the mold operator set up the
press. The cycle for smaller parts is 60-75 seconds while
it mdght take larger parts three or four minutes to complete
the cycle. Once the molding cycle is completed, the press
opens automatically and the part is removed from the press
and is placed on the cooling rack for the general operator

to work on next.

90

The primary duties of the general operator (GO) were
to: deflash the part, measure the thickness with a
.micrometer, inspect it for defects such as cracks, non-
fills, pulled edges and high, low or missing studs. Some
parts also required that the general operator drill or punch
the part. The 608 were also responsible for recording the
number and type of defects in a red book that is at their
work station. The red.books were developed.by a DJC
problem solving committee and are at each press and GO
station. They are used as a way to communicate information
about problems and solutions at each press, across shifts
and between operators as they move from one press or station
to another.

The GOs work at sanding booths that have an exhaust
hood over the work table to draw the sand dust up and away
from the operator. While the exhaust hoods are very
efficient, according to the workers, they are not capable of
removing all the fiberglass dust from the air. I asked one
GO why I did not see anyone using a dust mask or respirator
on the job. He replied that the.fiberglass gets under the
edges of the respirator mask and when the mask moved around
it caused irritation so most workers did not wear a
respirator. One mold operator said he might help the GO

deflash a part if it looked like the GO is getting

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backlogged. After deflashing and inspection, the part is
placed on a rack to be moved by the hi—lo driver.

The crib attendant supplies workers with sandpaper,
work gloves, and hand tools such as drills and sanders. She
is also responsible for record keeping such as tracking the
frequency with which various supplies were used, to advise
the shipping and receiving clerk of items that were being
used frequently or that needed to be reordered, and provide
workers with the proper tool for the job they were doing.

In addition to the production workers, there are ten
team leaders/shop floor supervisors and managers in the mold
unit. Team leaders are responsible for managing workers and
overseeing products being manufactured including:
production scheduling, troubleshooting, time cards
collection, weekly reports to the business unit manager,
safety and ordering materials. Additionally, the
supervisors were responsible for training workers, safety,
and reducing costs.

Finish Unit

Those positions assigned to the finish unit are: the
Finish Unit Manager, general operator/inspector, utility,
power lift operator, electrician, garage
mechanic/millwright, team leaders, electrician, and

packer/crater.

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Racks of parts are moved by the hi—lo drivers from the
mold unit to A or B building depending on the next step the
part must go through. Parts ready to be shipped or that
require painting are moved to A. Building. Others are moved
to A.or B building for finish work which may include sub-
assembly work, bonding, paint preparation and painting.

The job of GO/Inspector includes a variety of duties.
For example, one GO/Inspector noted that she examines the
inside of each part for any defects such as cracks or
missing rivets. She marks those and someone else further
down the line does the same task for the outside. She also
prepares the part to be painted on the outside by applying
masking tape to the inside of the part to keep paint from
running on the inside painted surface. Another GO mentioned
that in addition to the duties noted above, he is
responsible for building brackets for a part. When he is
done inspecting his part, it is taken to be bonded. .A third
G0 is responsible for operating a drill fixture where she
lifts a part weighing between 35-38 pounds into the fixture
where the part is drilled with 50 holes. She proudly stated
that she does this on about 144 parts a day "which comes out
to just over 5000 pounds a day." On some occasions, she is
the final buy off/inspector where she either accepted the
part to be loaded and sent to the customer or returned to
the department to be re—run. A fourth GO stated that he

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moves stock using a "walk behind Hi-Lo", does final
finish/cosmetic touch ups, spot painting, and inspects parts
to buy-off and send on to be shipped. Another works in the
drill and rout room where he makes right and left elbows of
reinforced plastic. He explained that the "elbows are a
reinforcement that goes on the fender when it is assembled."
He also does some assembly work putting brackets on other
parts.

The job duties of utility workers vary just as the
duties of the GO/Inspectors. For example, one woman noted
that she runs a machine called a fixture which drills holes
or routs parts. Her parts go to the paint line once there
is a full rack. Another utility worker stated that he had
to know all the jobs in his department and he described the
job as "a multi-function job". In addition to running a
fixture machine, he also paints, sands, packs parts, gunruns
the Volvo, and drives a hi-lo. I asked him what gunrunning
is he said: ”When you build the Volvo (semi-truck) hood, you
put the bond on certain parts and when it's assembled, it
all mushes together." For the positions of painter and hi-
lo driver, a license is required. To paint one must get a
respirators license which is subject to renewal each year
and requires passing a pulmonary function test done at a

physicians office. Another utility worker serves primarily

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as a relief worker when someone is on vacation, ill, or away
from a job for a meeting.

In addition to the production positions other positions
assigned to the finish unit are: packer/crater, skilled
trades such as electrician and millwright, and team leaders.
The packer/crater bags and crates parts from two Ford pickup
trucks, the Ranger and the F150. One packer/crater I
interviewed indicated that this is a physically demanding
job as the parts weigh 20 and 35 pounds and the packer must
manually lift the parts off a moving line to wrap and pack
them. The electrician works on anything that is electrical
and is responsible for keeping everything running,
preventative maintenance, changing light bulbs and safety
procedures such as lockout. One millwright is the garage
mechanic who describes himself as a general maintenance man.
He noted: "(1) do carpentry, glass work, repair conveyor
lines, and I'm responsible for the operation, maintenance
and safety of all electric hand jacks, forklifts and pallet
trucks." This is a unique position as he is the only one
assigned to the garage.

There were ten team leaders in the finish unit across
three shifts. The team leader I interviewed described job
duties similar to those of team leaders in the mold unit.

He said: " (I) make sure that we get all parts out with
good quality, meet production (goals), don't overrun the

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product, if (there is a) breakdown, get it done fast and as
best as we can, and be safety minded."
Administrative Unit

Departments in the administrative unit include: plant
manager, business unit manager, accounting, engineering,
environmental, human resources, shipping and receiving,
quality control, community liaison, nurse, and
clerical/support staff for the various functions. The
support staff jobs titles are: accounting clerk, computer
.operator, the administrative assistant to the engineering
staff and the secretary to the plant manager. Supporting
the gendered nature of the plant is the fact that all
clerical workers were women. The plant manager's secretary
described herself has a "Jack of all trades and master of
none." When I asked her why she thought of herself in that
way she replied:

"I think, I really consider the plant managers

office and maybe my job as the hub for everything

around. And, it's either the stopping point or

the beginning point for whatever. Of course, I

handle salary administration and that's very much

a part of my job. You really can't put a

description on it, because you just figure that

whatever is asked of you is what you're to do

because you are working for the

company, and whatever's needed, you should make

every effort to handle that situation at the time.

But, I handle any clerical responsibilities for

the plant manager, the customers, corporate, (and)
vendors."

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One unique position is community liaison. The
individual in this position is often referred to as one of
the "dinosaurs" because he has worked at the plant for 38
years. He started out working in the mold unit and in 1975,
the company developed the position of community liaison and
he was selected because he was already active in community
service through the Boy Scouts and United Way. The company
and the union are committed to community involvement and one
way the company demonstrates that commitment is to cover the
costs of this non-production related position. As this man
said: "The company... made a conscious decision that they
were going to support me in these various endeavors." He
attends meetings of the local United Way board and serves on
the city's Drug Council. He is the only one who has ever
held this position and it is perceived as a position of
status because he is not required to do production work.

One of the salaried workers stated that she did not
understand why he did not have to do any "real work". She
is referring to the fact that he has an office and does what
is essentially white collar work instead of working on the
production line.

EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT

The EI program was initiated in 1989 by the local
president of the union. He was serving on a Labor Advisory
Board at the Institute where the topic of joint labor-

97

rr'

I

management committees was frequently discussed. He felt
that such a process would be helpful for XYZ because the
plant was facing increasing competition in the manufacture
of automotive parts of reinforced plastics. Management was
concerned about the loss of business and as a result, the
union was faced with the prospect of losing jobs. The union
president first approached the top committee to get their
support for the project and then approached the plant
manager and the human resource manager to determine whether
they would be interested in implementing a participative
structure. Once the concept had been discussed between the
top management team and the top committee, an application
for a grant was submitted to the Federal Mediation and
Conciliation Service and the implementation phase of the
project began in October 1989.

The consultants conducted a socio-technical evaluation
and identified some problem areas that required attention.
The SC selected the Oldsmobile/Buick bumper product line and
the members of the first DJC. .After this first DJC, a
volunteer sign-up sheet was used to recruit members for the
EI program which is an approach that has been successfully
used at other facilities where a participative structure has
been implemented. After the first three DJCs were

functioning, people at XYZ eagerly volunteered.

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The EI structure consists of two types of teams, the
Steering Committee (SC) and problem solving committees which
are called Departmental Joint Committees (DJCs). This
structure was designed by consultants and representatives
from the union and management at XYZ. The original
management members of the Steering Committee included: the
plant manager, human resource manager, accounting manager,
production manager, maintenance manager, and quality
manager. The union representatives were the president,
vice-president, chief steward, joint safety committee
coordinator, and two members-at-large. The membership of
the SC changed as a result of the reorganization of the
plant into three business units. The management members
were: plant manager, administrative unit manager, mold unit
manager, finish unit manager, quality manager, and equipment
team leader. The union members were: president, vice-
president, joint safety team coordinator, chief steward and
two members-at-large.

The purpose of the SC is to guide the project. In this
capacity, the committee, in conjunction with the
consultants, developed the E1 structure, engaged in
strategic planning for BI, named the project, served as a
resource for any of the problem solving committees, selected
the first problem solving committee, and approved the
implementation of solutions to problems recommended by a

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DJC. Strategic planning for the Employee Involvement
Program included developing the Goals/Intentions,
Objectives/Tactics, Employee Involvement Pledge, and Issues
Boundaries (Appendix E). This committee also developed
forms to be used in the BI program such as a meeting agenda
form and memos.

In addition to the members of the Steering Committee,
two trainers were selected by the SC, one supervisor and one
union member. These two individuals attended all SC
meetings but were not actually members of the SC. They were
permitted and encouraged to provide input on any issue being
discussed by the SC, but they were not part of the final
decision-making process. As the El program grew, additional
trainers were needed and eventually there were four trainers
(three union members and one from the human resource
department) and an EI Coordinator. All trainers were
invited to attend the SC meetings and provide input. One of
the first trainers, the supervisor, was promoted to the
position of EI Coordinator. The job description (Appendix
C) for the position was developed by a subcommittee of the
SC. Although the subcommittee was charged with developing
the job description, it was apparent that the human resource
manager and plant manager had worked on the description
before the formation of the subcommittee. That is not to

say that the committee did not have some input into the

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description, but it seemed that the managers had a
particular individual in mind for the position and were
pushing for the description to fit that individual. This
suspicion was shared by the union members who were on the
subcommittee.

The members of the problem solving committees are from
labor and management and are cross functional. The project
began with one pilot DJC and grew to 15 DJCs at project end.
Membership of the first DJC consists of: an equal number of
union representatives from the mold and finish units, one
supervisor from each of the units, and an engineer from each
unit who is assigned to the Buick/Ciera product line.
Subsequent DJCs did not have an engineer assigned to the
committee since the engineers were often not available to
attend meetings. The engineers were not available because
they were involved in meetings directly related to
engineering and they traveled to customers plants to discuss
problems. Also because there are a limited number of
engineers so each DJC could not have an engineer as a
regular member of the committee. The engineers were
frequently invited to attend meetings of the various DJCs to
serve as a resource to the committees. Also, because of the
limited number of supervisors, one from each of the business

unit was not assigned to all DJC's.

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The function of problem solving committees is to
identify and prioritize problems associated with their
product line, identify potential solutions, present those
solutions to the SC, implement the solution, evaluate and do
follow-up. The members for the pilot DJC were identified
and selected by the SC. Each DJC was to be 8-10 people, but
no more than twelve. One union and one management
representative from the SC approached those who had been
selected to be on the first DJC. The individuals were
invited to be on the DJC and if anyone chose to decline,
then the SC went to alternate names. Subsequent DJC
membership was voluntary and volunteers were recruited
through sign-up sheets.

Both the SC and the DJCs were provided lZ—hours of
training. The SC and the two trainers were the first to
receive the training which includes: the history of
employee-management participation, an 8-step problem solving
cycle, consensus decision-making, facilitation skills and
how to run an effective meeting. While the problem solving
cycle is described as an 8-step process, it is actually a
cycle of continuous improvement. .Additionally, the company
invested in additional training for the trainers. A train-
the-trainer approach was provided by the institute.

The consultants assisted and guided the design and
ianlementation phases of the El program at XYZ. They

102

provided the initial training to the SC and the first three
DJCs. Additionally, the consultants facilitated the SC and
the first three DJCs. About 9 months into the project, the
trainers assumed the responsibility for scheduling and
conducting the training sessions and facilitating DJC
meetings. .A consultant continued to act as an advisor to
the SC for the length of the grant. In addition to
attending all SC meetings, a consultant attended DJC
meetings on a rotating basis for two years and then
periodically and randomly attended DJC meetings. This was
done to observe the progress of the various groups and to
collect information for the quarterly reports to the FMCS.
CHAPTER SUMMARY

.A review of the location, physical layout and
demographics of XYZ Motors demonstrates the organization has
both positive and negative attributes. For example, the
geographic location of XYZ Motors is a positive factor for
the organization because it provides a large pool of labor
from which to draw. Also, for those who work there, the
union is positive because the workers receive higher wages
and better benefits than non-union facilities. .Although
there are 131 women employed at XYZ, the worker population
is predominantly male and there are no women in the skilled

trades, apprenticeship programs or in management.

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Two of the three buildings are very old and the
technology used in the manufacturing process is not the most
sophisticated technology available. These factors have had
a negative effect on the ability of XYZ's ability to
continue to be competitive in the automotive supplier
industry. Additionally, the physical layout of the
buildings has an influence on the social relations at XYZ
because there are three separate buildings in which the
business units operate.

The Employee Involvement structure was initiated by the
union and has the potential to influence the social
relations between labor-management and between the genders.
A weakness of the El structure is that it is not included in
the collective bargaining agreement. In the following
chapters, we will examine the effect the E1 program had on

the class and gender relations at XYZ Motors.

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CHAPTER 5
GENDER AT XYZ MOTORS

INTRODUCTION

In this chapter I will discuss examples of gender
inequality and will explore ways in which gender was
reproduced in the El program. Using Acker's conceptual
model I will present examples of: gender divisions;
gendered images, symbols and consciousness; gendered
interactions at work; and the mental work done by workers to
construct and reconstruct a gendered understanding of work.

With the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and
the repeal of labor laws that restricted women's
participation in the workforce, women were provided
increased opportunities to be employed in previously all
male occupations. The automotive industry and its suppliers
were industries that experienced such an increase in the
late 19605 and early 19703. A review of the seniority list
at XYZ indicates that this factory was no exception to this
trend. While there were women who had been employed at XYZ
during World War II, they are now retired or they left
employment when the men returned to reclaim the jobs in
manufacturing. Of those currently employed, the woman with
the most seniority was hired in 1969. Between 1969 and
1980, 112 women and 241 men were hired to work in the plant.

When the research began in 1989, there were 700 employees

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and the union membership was nearly equal between men and
women in the union. At the time the interviews were
conducted, the total workforce had dropped to 515 with 131
women and 319 men in the union. Of those, 63 women and 181
men worked in the Finish Unit while 79 women worked in the
Mold Unit and 138 men. The number of employees is larger in
the Mold Unit because three shifts operate.
GENDER DIVISIONS
Jobs

Work most often done by women are jobs that include the
following characteristics. First, the jobs women do often
require few skills and have a low level of autonomy and
these jobs are paid low wages. Second, women's jobs are
frequently positions or occupations, such as secretaries and
nurses, in which they act as support personnel to another
position often occupied by men. Additionally, jobs that are
more often occupied by women are those where they are
frequently interrupted, are concerned with the day-to-day
tasks and/or are caretakers. Women’s work is frequently
such that they have little control over what they do. When
women occupy positions traditionally held by men, they often
receive lower wages than men. Finally, women who are in
management positions tend be located in jobs that are not

connected to an internal labor market. This gendered

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pattern was evident at XYZ Motors before and after EI, in
both white collar and blue collar positions. In comparison,
jobs which require higher skill levels, have greater task
variety and are more autonomous are more frequently occupied
by men. Second, also, unlike women, men are often in
positions of leadership or are perceived to be leaders.
Last, men's jobs maybe accompanied by a higher level of risk
than women's work and are paid higher wages.

The various jobs and activities at XYZ exhibit the
gendered pattern noted above. For example, as one might
expect, all support positions such as secretary,
administrative assistant and nurse at the plant are women.
These are all positions where the individual has little
decision making authority or control over their daily
activities. Interviewees were asked, “Who made decisions
about your day-to-day work before the El program started?”
In response to this question, one of the administrative
assistants talked about the interruptions that occurred in
her job:

“I'm more or less left on my own to handle things

as they come up or things that, uh, they need to

be done. Unless the plant manager or human

resource manager has a particular project for me

to do. So many things are, you can't keep up on a

routine or a schedule because of the interrupting

either by phone or by people. I know a lot of

times I think I'm going to come in here and do

something and I might not even look at it all day
long."

107

This provides an example of the way in which jobs that are
traditionally filled by women are subject to both
interruptions and are under the control of others. This
woman went on to say that she could not really give me a
specific description of her job duties because “you just
figure that whatever (is) asked of you is what you're to do
because you are working for the company, and whatever’s
needed, you should make every effort to handle that
situation at the time.” This statement further demonstrates
the lack of control that workers, primarily women, have over
their work.

Another occupation traditionally filled by women is
that of nurse and this is true at XYZ. Additionally, this
pattern is further duplicated on the second and third shifts
where the individuals who are currently certified to provide
first aid treatment are women. Although there are men who
are certified to provide first aid care, workers reported
the position is occupied more often by women at XYZ. Of
course, prior to a full-time nurse being hired and the
introduction of women on the shop floor, the first aid care
was often provided by men.

The level of importance of the nurse's position within
the human resource department is reflected in the following

statement made by one of the men in the department. In the

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interview he was listing the positions and people who are
assigned to the department and he remembered a few minutes
later that he had not included the nurse in the list of
those who report to the human resource manager. “She's in
.the department when I listed people (I forgot) the nurse.
She’s sort of branched off being across the hall.” This
last comment served to indicate that he had forgotten her
because she is not located within the enclave of offices
with the other human resource department employees. As I
noted previously, although it places the nurse closer to the
workers, this separation also reproduces gender divisions at
XYZ.

Workers with the lowest seniority are often women
because they have only recently gained access to
traditionally male jobs such as those in manufacturing.
While women worked in many of the same jobs as men in the
mold and finish units, because of their generally lower
seniority level, they were more often in positions of
General Operator/Inspector in the Finish Unit or General
Operator in the Mold Unit. These positions require fewer
skills, have less autonomy, are paid a lower starting wage
than a mold operator and have little task variety. One
woman who works in the finish unit as a G0 inspector on the

Chrysler Jeeps said of her job: “. . .my work stays the

109

same no matter what. As long as a Jeep rolls off the line,
my work stays the same. I'm one of those poor stiffs that
has no variance, just same old, same old.” Another GO
inspector noted that: “I feel like I could do my job while I
was sleeping. . .I know if I’ve done it right or wrong. . .I
actually like a job that has a little more challenge to it,
but this is the one I have.” These comments provide an
excellent example of the lower skilled work that women often
do in the plant.

.A general operator in the Mold Unit described the
duties included in her job as: “I stud the A car. Check to
see if the studs are all in. Check to see if there are any
cracks, non-fills, or pulled edges. Then I put them on a
rack. Then they take them to the other side.” A GO in the
Finish Unit provided a description of her job duties which
is illustrative of the lower task variety of the jobs women
occupy at the plant. She said: “I run fixtures. . .(which
are) machines that punch holes” She gets her parts from the
Mold Unit and they arrive “in a rack.” In addition to
running the fixture, “there's parts that are routed on it
(the fixture), then (the part) goes to 3A (to the) paint
line.” Her job does not require extensive decision making
because parts that need to have holes punched arrive on one

rack and those that require routing arrive on another. The

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operator only has to identify which type of part is on the
rack and proceed with the appropriate task.

At XYZ the jobs in the Finish Unit are cleaner jobs
with the exception of the painter who works in the paint
booth. Although, many of the jobs are less physically
strenuous in the Finish Unit than jobs in the Mold Unit, one
exception is the bonding operation for the Volvo semi-truck
hood and fenders which is a job that requires two people
because the parts are so large. Another example of a
physically strenuous position in the Finish Unit is a
general operator position which requires the individual to
lift moderately heavy parts weighing 35-38 pounds a piece.
The woman who occupies this position reports that she lifts
these parts without any assistance and “this week I'm doing
it 144 times a day. It comes out to just over 5000 pounds a
day.” She also said that when she was assigned to this job,
the company thought she “would have trouble with the job
because she is a short.” She is about 4'11" tall and has to
reach overhead to remove the parts from a moving line and
place them in a shipping crate. Because the comment was
made that she might have trouble with the job due to her
height, this is an indication that the job was designed to

be occupied by men.

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The preceding examples provide evidence that many of
the jobs that women occupy in the Mold and Finish Units at
XYZ are less desirable jobs in the plant. They are
preceived as less desirable because they have lower task
variety, lower wages, less autonomy and require fewer
skills. Since these are the positions more often occupied
by women, gendered job divisions are perpetuated at XYZ
Motors.

Managerial positions at XYZ also followed gendered
patterns. First, the managers were all men except for the
safety director. She left XYZ about six months after the E1
program started and the position was eliminated and was
replaced by a joint safety committee. On the joint safety
committee, only one union member is a woman. Just prior to
the beginning of the interviews, a woman was hired as the
manager of shipping and handling. This position is one
which is usually not connected to an internal labor market
and this was true of XYZ. An interesting note is that the
person who was in this position just before this woman was
hired was a minority male. The consistent hiring of women
and minorities in this position reflects the level of
importance the company places on this position. The new
plant manager remarked with pride that the way to change the

gendered divisions was just to hire women into managerial

112

positions. To support his claim, he gave the example that
he had just recently hired a woman to be the manager of the
Shipping and Receiving department. Unfortunately, this
isolated example actually serves to reproduce the gendered
nature of the management structure at XYZ because this is a
position that is not connected to an internal labor market.

Another occupation where gender stratification is found
is the occupation of engineer. The engineers are members of
the Administrative Unit but five are assigned to work in the
Mold and Finish Unit. All engineers have completed at least
a bachelor’s degree. The positions are more autonomous than
those on the shop floor as they have some say over their
daily schedule and the pace of their work is not directly
controlled by a machine or by someone else. On the other
hand, they have to respond to customer complaints or
requests from XYZs division or corporate engineering staff.
The working conditions are better than those on the shop
floor because the work is cleaner and the office in which
they work is air—conditioned. Thus, it is not surprising
that this is perceived as a privileged position.

At the time of the interviews, there were 13 engineers
employed at XYZ Motors. .All of the engineers report to the
Advanced Engineering Manager who reports to both the Plant

Manager and to an engineer at the division level. There are

113

two project engineers which is the entry level position in
the engineering department. These men are assigned to work
on several projects and product lines. .Additionally, there
are three engineers assigned to the Mold Unit and two
assigned to the Finish Unit. These individuals work on
problems that occur on the shop floor such as cracks or
pulled edges in a part or the non-adherence of paint on a
molded part and they may also work on designing a new tool.
As one GO stated: “If we needed something new or a different
type of tool, that was a man in engineering that handled
that.” Only one of the engineers was a woman and she worked
on problems on the shop floor in the Mold Unit which is a
less desirable position because she has less autonomy since
she responds to problems. In addition to the problem
solving engineers and the manager of the engineering
department, there are several other engineers who are
assigned to work on issues related to quality or are
assigned to work on a specific product such as Volvo.

These engineers communicate directly with the customer and
if they are unable to solve a problem, they travel to the
customer’s facility to work on solving the problem. This
demonstrates that within in the occupation of engineering, a
hierarchy exists as in the rest of the factory, and women

occupy the less desirable positions.

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The top committee of the union also replicates the
gendered pattern of jobs at the plant. During the time I
was involved at XYZ Motors, the highest positions on the
bargaining committee were held by men. An election was held
early in the implementation phase of the BI program and the
vice-president ran for and was elected president. The vice-
president elected at that time is also a man. The chief
steward remained the same, as did the secretary/treasurer.
These two elected positions were occupied by women. When
women are elected to the collective bargaining committee of
a local union, they often are elected to the position of
secretary. This reproduces the gendered pattern of work
done primarily by women. The chief steward who was re-
elected, is a woman. She described her duties in this
capacity as being “responsible for the day-to-day
enforcement of the collective bargaining agreement.” This
daily enforcement is consistent with work traditionally done
by women and it provides further data to demonstrate the
gendered division of labor at XYZ Motors. While it the
position of chief steward is regarded as one of the more
powerful positions in the union, the woman holding the
position was discounted because she may have been elected to

the position not just on her own merits, but because her

115

spouse is the international representative who services the
local.

One woman had been president of the local union but
lost a re-election bid in 1984 and a man was elected. The
man to whom she lost the election was later asked to serve
on a labor advisory board at the Institute. He indicated
that it was this connection to the advisory board that led
to the application for the grant and the implementation of
the EI program.

I was appointed by the district union president

and I went to meetings down there which Mary was

presiding over and she was trying to get unions

involved more with management decisions, along

that nature. They were looking for one or two

shops to do a pilot program. I told her our shop

would probably be interested in something like

that.

This man stated that he felt he was directly responsible for
getting the E1 program at XYZ. He discussed it with the
rest of the union top committee who decided that E1 was
something worth looking into. He does acknowledge that he
talked to the plant manager and the human resource manager
to get their input and approval to pursue the grant. It is
apparent that serving on the advisory board was certainly a
privilege. Of course, if a woman were in the position of
president of the local at the time the Advisory Board was

formed, one would assume she would have been asked to serve.

Since more men have run for and been elected president of

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the local union, it is.more likely that a man will be
selected to serve on the Advisory Board.

This man indicated that he spent most of his 20 years
at XYZ in the shipping and receiving department and at the
time of the interview his job title was local truck driver.
This is one of the more privileged positions at the plant
because it requires skills specific to the job. For
example, he had to acquire a “CDL license just like a driver
on the road has to have.” Additionally, this position
allows more autonomy than other jobs in the Assembly or
Finish Units because he is the only local truck driver who
can move semi-tractor trailers around the plant grounds.

The starting wage for this position is $10.42 per hour which
is the third lowest starting wage of the union positions.
While this is not very high in comparison to the skilled
trades, it is higher than the starting wage of most clerical
workers.

Another unique position is held by one of the men on
the top committee. He states his “primary job is a safety
rep of the joint safety committee (as an) hourly employee.”
Additional responsibilities include “sitting on the top
committee of (the local). (I) have set on the Steering
Committee for E1 . . .represent the company and the union on

the United Way and am provided time for that during work

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hours. (I was) appointed to the Department of Social
Services. . .Drug Council and other social programs that the
company and the union support.” He further noted that “This
is probably as unique as you would come across. . .(it has)
evolved over the years, 15 or 20 years now. Certainly not
in the norm.” He indicated that there was a “conscious
decision made by the company that. . .they were going to
support me in these various endeavors.” This support came
about because “corporate has a community involvement
commitment and the union does too. Between the two, I’ve
enjoyed unprecedented support in all these things.” It is
quite obvious that this is truly a unique position and one
that is not often found in manufacturing facilities. One of
the primary reasons this individual was selected to be in
this position is that he has one of the highest levels of
seniority at the plant. Additionally, he was selected
because he has been involved in community activities for
quite some time. For example, he noted that he had “been
involved in the Boy Scouts for thirty years.” This man was
selected for this unique position partially because of his
established position within the community, but also because
of his seniority level.

One position that requires higher skills is that of the

garage mechanic/millwright. Again, this individual is the

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only millwright assigned to the garage and no women are
millwrights at XYZ. He talked about the fact that before
the E1 program, the.maintenance people were perceived as an
elite group but that changed when the E1 program was
implemented. As he described it: “If anything there was a
change of people's thought patterns like maintenance was an
elite group that was so much better than people working on
the line. And there was no interaction between those people.
When the maintenance people walked down the aisle, the
assembly people got out of the way. These were two separate
groups that never discussed anything and that changed.”
This provides an example of the stratification within the
union. The skilled trades are seen as elite and as
mentioned previously the way they dress visually sets them
apart from other union.members. .These positions are
considered to be desirable and demonstrate the
stratification within the union.
Employee Involvement

The preceding-examples demonstrate the gender divisions
in the jobs at XYZ. Now, I will discuss my findings
concerning the reproduction of the division of labor by
gender within the framework of EI. Although it is not
surprising, the division of labor by gender also emerged

within the context of the BI program. This is particularly

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evident when one examines the activities various members
did. The types of activities reported by the interviewees
are reflected in the following table.

TABLE 2
DJC Activities rqportod.by Gander

ACTIVITIES WOMEN MEN
Travel 1 7
Meetings 10 13
Data Collection 4 8
Record Keeping/taking minutes 5 4
Problem Solving 1 3

Other:

Cleaning, climbing, carrying,

Making assignments, training,

Newsletter, building parts __2 ____1

TOTALS 23 42

For example, each DJC had a facilitator and someone who
would record the notes, type and distribute them to the
appropriate parties. In many cases, the facilitator was
often one of the men in the group and if there was a
supervisor in the group, he was often the facilitator. Even
in instances when the supervisor was not the designated
facilitator, he was frequently identified by members of the
DJC as the leader. “One time FIFO, instead of having one set
leader, we would rotate that role around to others. Some
worked well, some not. In the Communication DJC, that

leader changed three times, the initial leader set a bad

taste to the group. He phased out of the group and (the

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shop floor supervisor) took over and he's a good leader.
Tries to bring everyone in and be fair.”

Interviewees who were members of a DJC or the SC were
asked: “Did your DJC or the SC have a leader?” I asked this
question because the DJCs and the SC were not supposed to
have leaders but rotating facilitators. The whole group was
to provide direction for the projects on which they chose to
work, but often specific individuals were considered the
leader. Those who were identified as leaders included: the
rotating facilitators, the trainer working with the group,
shop floor supervisors and managers. For the most part,
those who were identified as leaders were men which is
consistent with a gendered division of labor in
organizations. Since it is often men who are in official
leadership or management positions, it is understandable
that men are often identified as a leader, even when they
are not acting in their official capacity. Additionally,
participants looked to managers and supervisors to take the
lead in meetings. One way they did this was to follow the
suggestion raised by a manager or supervisor instead of
fully discussing all possible options. Additionally, some
supervisors tried to take over the DJC meetings. One DJC
member said: “We had supervisors that tried (to take over

the meetings) and we would immediately explain that it

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wasn't one leadership role (and) we wanted everyone to have
a voice because working with teams, that's the whole idea,
everything we did was a team decision.” Also, a woman on
the communication DJC noted that, three different men had
served as a leader. The positions these men filled outside
the DJC were: shipping and receiving manager, the
maintenance manager, and an engineer. Several interviewees
from the SC frequently mentioned that the human resource
manager acted as a leader of the Committee. One woman said
he was not selected as the leader but she felt he acted as
if he were the leader by the “way he always had something
to say about whatever was there on the table being
discussed, (and because of) his position (as human resource
manager).” Another member of the SC also referred to the HR
manager as someone she considered to be a leader. “I think
(he) came to the meetings with ideas he wanted to get done
and he tried to get buy-in from the group. You have to know
(him), if he can't get it one way, he'll try to get it
another. He wasn’t selected, you could just tell he was.”
None of the interviewees identified any of the women
participants as a leader, even when a woman had been a
facilitator.

Several individuals also mentioned one hourly worker

who seemed to be a leader. Again, this person had acted as

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a facilitator of the DJC which as I have said previously is
often equated with being a leader by those who are members
of a DJC. One hourly worker from the Finish Unit said that
they “got him in there because he could talk and talk loud.
He could speak. I think he had a pretty good point.”

One member of the SC noted that he did not “think we
were really supposed to have a leader but we did. . .the
head bean counter here.” This man went on to say the “bean
counter” was a self-appointed leader because he is a “very
untrusting person. I don’t think he felt the other managers
or the union people had the ability or knowledge to
understand what we were getting into.” Certainly, the man
responsible for the fiscal health of XYZ is concerned with
the costs associated with the BI program, and I observed
that he asked many questions about projects in order to
understand the intent and to be able to assess the costs
associated with them. These questions were interpreted by
the union as a distrust of their ability to accomplish
projects.

Another example of the gender divisions within the BI
program is reflected in the gender of the person who takes
minutes in EI meetings. Whether the individual volunteers
or is asked to take the minutes of the DJC and SC meetings,

it is generally women who agree to do the minutes. This is

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revealing because taking notes is a task associated with the
occupation of secretary which is traditionally done by
women. A.review of the minutes of several DJCs and meetings
I attended reveals that women acted as the recorder of DJC
proceedings. Besides my own observation, taking minutes is
an activity that women who were DJC members indicated they
had done. For example, when I asked DJC members to describe
some of the DJC activities they had done, one woman from the
Administrative Unit said: “(I) took minutes, distributed
them.” One shop floor supervisor indicated that the role of
facilitator rotated but she had been the secretary for the
DJC for “about a year or so.”

One of the managers provided another example of the way
in which the activities within the BI structure are divided
by gender. He was discussing accomplishments that happened
as a result of the BI program and mentioned the plant
newsletter. A.man from human resources and a woman from the
union top committee are responsible for the plant
newsletter. This manager said the newsletter had won an
award in a “corporate contest for most improved newsletter.”
He further stated that Nancy is primarily responsible for
the improvement “because she went around to people and got
articles.” This is an example where she would keep after

those individuals who promised to contribute to the

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newsletter which is synonymous with care taking done by
women at home.

These examples demonstrate that gender is reconstructed
within the E1 structure. The division of labor within the
E1 structure follows traditional gender divisions with women
participants engaging in activities that are associated with
traditional women's jobs and positions in society at large.
They act as secretaries, are less apt to be facilitators of
the group, be identified as leaders and tend to shy away
from engaging in physical activities such as climbing or
carrying buckets of water. Also, very few men acted as a
secretary of a DJC, but many acknowledged that they were
facilitators of DJCs.

POWER and AUTHORITY

Another way in which gender is reproduced is through
power relations. While power may be defined in various
ways, I was particularly interested in who has access to
organizational resources and who can mobilize resources. I
asked the interviewees how they defined interpreted power.
The table below indicates the definitions of power provided

by the interviewees.

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Table 3
POWER.‘ AUTHORITY: DEFINITIONS

DEFINITIONS Management Salaried Union
(Men only) Women Men Women Men

Make own decisions,

have input 1 2 2 3 6
Influence/control
people/situations 3 0 0 . 3 6

Access to/mobilize
resources, ability

to get things done 2 0 1 4 4
Who has power** 0 0 2 1 2
Knowledge 1 0 1 1 1

Getting people
to listen to ideas _Q__ 0 0 0 2
TOTALS* 7 2 6 12 21

 

*The totals do not agree with the number of people
interviewed because some interviewees volunteered more than
one definition.

**Interviewees provided examples of those they thought had
power.

Many of these definitions coincide with theories noted
in previous chapters. First, and perhaps most important,
interviewees indicated that power was the ability to make
their own decisions. In the context of empowerment
literature, it is essential for workers to have the autonomy
to carry out the responsibilities that management is pushing
down to the level of the shop floor. This concept of power

was expressed by people at various levels of the plant

hierarchy. For example, a manager in the human resources

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department defined power as the “ability to input thoughts
without having to take it to another level.” Additionally
two women, one secretary and one shop floor supervisor also
defined power as the ability to make decisions. For example
one said that power is “if you have the authority to make a
decision and be one of the people to sign off on it” and the
supervisor said she defined power in the following way, “if
someone, people, out on the floor are making their own
decisions. That is power to me.” A woman on the shop floor
said that power was being able “to run my own job (and) your
input should be considered valuable.” One man who works on
the shop floor describes power as the ability to “make a
decision on something as consensus of the group.

Personally, just one person, power is a big ego trip I would
think.” A mold press operator equated power as being able
“to get something done (and) being able to do it on my own
without having to have other people's permission.”

The interviewees were also asked how they defined
authority and two shop floor supervisors indicated that they
thought that authority was “Having the, uh, ability given to
the person to go ahead and do the decision making to get
things done” and to “make,your own decisions.” One of the
women on the top committee said that she believed that she

had an increase in authority and that is being able “to shut

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a job down that (she) didn't have before.” One of the women
on the shop floor described authority as having a “say so
over what’s going on.” Another woman who works as a crib
attendant said authority is “like the empowerment to go do.
It doesn't mean I'm over all these people. Means I can do
my job. . .I can just go ahead and do it.” One of the men
who serves on the top committee said that authority is
“having the ability or the say so in the job process that
I’m involved in. Being able to stop or proceed with it.”
One individual in the skilled trades described authority as
“being able to make decisions, and having that decision
carry some weight, not just say I made up my mind and have
someone say you can't do it that way.” One worker indicated
that an individual who is exercising power is on a “big ego
trip” and he also said authority is “a person that
ultimately would make the decision right or wrong.” A
skilled tradesman indicates that he thinks power is “being
able to make a decision, being granted the power to make a
decision, if (I) see something that needs to be fixed, I can
stop the job and fix it.”

Interviewees also indicated that power was the ability
to influence someone, control people or situations and to
tell or be told what to do. This view is related to Weber's

definition of power as the likelihood that someone will get

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his/her way in spite of resistance. Some of those
interviewed indicated that they may not like what the
supervisor is telling them to do, but they do it because he
is the boss. Interviewees who mentioned this definition
also indicated that they would feel that they had power if
they could tell someone to do something and that person
would in fact do it. Four managers also provided
definitions that coincide with Weber’s definition of power.
One business unit manager expressed his idea in this way:
“Power would. . .be the ability to control the outcome.”
Another business unit manager said authority is “literally
having the ability to compel others to do what you want
whether they agree with it.” While this manager was
defining authority, he had actually provided definition of
power that is rooted in Weber's concept of power. One other
manager described power as the “ability to persuade others
to your way of thinking.” A second manager indicated that
power was not something absolute but has a range of
possibilities and that it could be as “simple as influence,
complex as how many people report to me, who has to get my
OK to do anything, how many people or situations do I
control.” Three union women described power in terms of
influence and control. One said, “Power means almost like

authority. . .if you would ask this other person to do

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something they would do it before I would ask them to do
it.” One woman general operator in the finish unit also
discussed power as having “control over someone or
something.” And another finish unit worker said power to
her is “having the authority to tell other people how to do
their job.”

One of the skilled tradesmen said that power “would be
the ability to set down and be on an equal basis rather than
this person has this title and you work for this person so
anything that he says, you do it, don't question it.”
Another skilled tradesman said that power is “being able to
influence people.” .A millwright said “Power to me is the
ability of a person or persons to force or manipulate people
to do their will.” This same man also defined authority as
“a person or persons that dictate to other persons how they
will act, what they will do, and how they will do it.” This
coincides with the sentiments expressed by a former union
local president who defined authority as “having the say so
over someone else. . .(but) I don’t feel I've got authority
over anybody else.” And one last union man said that power
“means I can tell you what to do.” The foregoing are
examples of the Weberian definition of power.

Kanter defines power as access to resources and the

ability to mobilize those resources and this is a concept of

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power in which I am particularly interested. This theory is
reflected in a statement made by the plant manager who said,
“those that earn the trust from me for resources, get to use
and control more of them. People that have not earned or
showed (sic) respect for resources have less authority to
utilize resources without my approval.” An approach such
as this sets the tone for the entire facility. For example,
one of the supervisors said that to him power is “not only
getting power but getting respect. Means they could get
things done. . .come up with the means. In that way I
gained some power because I came up with the means of
looking at it (a problem).” One of the women on the top
committee indicated that she agrees with this approach to
power and said power is being able to “make something
happen. Just like the plant-wide, I used to be able to make
it happen.” A mold press operator said that he thought a
“good definition (of power). . .(is) to get something done."
One of the business unit managers also said power is “your
ability to make things happen, or control the outcome.”
Several interviewees indicated that they equated power
with a specific individual or position, and they provided
examples at XYZ that fit this category such as the plant
manager, a supervisor, superintendent, a team coordinator,

or a status symbol. To the individual who indicated this

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last, a person with power is also someone who has status at
XYZ. Certainly, those individuals who were identified as
having power are ones who do have varying degrees of status
at the plant.

While most of the interviewees defined power and
authority in the previous categories, a few related power to
knowledge. As noted in the table, four interviewees
mentioned knowledge as a form of power. One manager
indicated that he thought power is “a combination of
leadership skills, knowledge, personal skills, and the
ability to compromise.” A shop floor supervisor who had been
active in the E1 program said “I think it’s (power) someone
with the knowledge. . .to make things happen.” Two union
members, a woman and a man, both indicated that knowledge is
power. The woman stated it quite frankly “Power, I guess
the initiative, knowledge is power. Know how the system
works.”

The last category identified as power by interviewees
is getting people to listen. .Although only two people noted
this, it is interesting to note that it was two union
members both of whom had been involved in the El program.
One man said “I have more authority to say more and they’re

(management) gonna listen.” The other man said, “Before (I

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was) pretty much powerless and now people, from management
and hourly ranks will listen to me.”

I asked the interviewees if they had experienced a
gain, loss, or no change in power or authority as a result
of the Employee Involvement program. Thirty-eight of the
forty-two interviewees responded to the question and
nineteen respondents indicated they experienced an increase
in power. Six out of the 11 women (54.5%) and thirteen men
(48%) indicated that they experienced an increase in power.
Also, six women and 17 men responded that they experienced
an increase in authority (See Table 7). Also, sixteen
people, five of whom are women, indicated they experienced
no change in either authority or power. This demonstrates
that the redistribution of power at XYZ Motors was not
gendered and that the workers who participated in the BI
program experienced an increase in power an authority.

TABLE 4

CHANGE IN POWER and.AUTHORITY

By Gender
POWER .AUTHORITY
Direction of Change WOMEN MEN WOMEN MEN
Increase 6 l3 6 l7
Decrease 0 1 1 1
No Change 5 _ll_ __3 .13
TOTALS 11 27 15 31

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One worker who indicated he had experienced an increase
i1) power made an interesting observation. He said: “Quite a
gnawer shift as far as this factory, it used to be the big
guys, two or three of them or two men had all the power in
tliis factory. . .Now it's more spread out, you have the
Eilant manager, and the Finish Unit manager - more spread
cunt.” Although he had indicated that he thought he had
gained power, he also stated that two male managers were the
canes who still had the power. By this he was referring to
time ability of those managers to make decisions about, or to
ruave input into which parts would be manufactured at XYZ or
tdie number of parts needed each day or week. When I asked
another worker if there had been any change in who made
decisions about the daily work, he indicated that the daily
Scheduling had been done by the supervisor before EI and now
it: is still done by the supervisor. “I think it's the same.
It: always was the supervisor and now it's what we call a
team leader.” This same man indicated that he did not
EXperience any change in power as a result of participating
irl the El program.

A former president of the local indicated that a change
r143d occurred with the implementation of the E1 program.
Before EI, Joe said it was the “Supervisor, period.” but

Since EI, “now the employees have a data sheet what their

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job consists of at their job stations. If it's parts
specification, quality specifications, day-to-day operation
of the job. If they think that can be changed and done in a
(sic) easier way they clear it through the supervisor.”
Although, the employee has the ability to provide input
regarding his/her job, it is still the supervisor who makes
the decision. However, workers were given the opportunity
to provide input when a new product was going to start
production at the plant. One union worker said: “if they're
setting up a new job (and) I have been involved with a new
product line coming in, now they put hourly people on the
committee to help decide almost everything.” This was
certainly a change from the way the plant had previously
operated. Even though the managers were the one to make the
final decision about the layout for the new product line,
the workers felt they had more power because they had a
formal role in the design process.
IMAGES and SYMBOLS

Just as the division of jobs is gendered at XYZ,
gendered symbols and, images are pervasive to the extent
that workers do not question when work is identified as
women’s or men’s work. Conversely, workers may bring or
conceive other images or symbols that may oppose the

gendered structure. I will begin by describing gendered

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symbols at XYZ and the symbolic importance of physical space
and gendered job titles in displaying and normalizing
differences in jobs and authority in the shop. Finally, I
will discuss any change in and the persistence of gendered
symbols, consciousness and images.
Symbols

The use of space reproduces gender at XYZ Motors. For
example, the plant nurse is part of the human resources
department, but her office is outside the enclave of offices
reserved for those in that department. The effect of this
physical separation of the nurse from the rest of her
department is that she is a forgotten member of the
department. One assistant manager in the human resource
department in his interview was listing the members of the
department and after he had listed them and we had moved on
in the interview, he stopped in the middle of his response
to declare “We always forget (the nurse), she's in our
department.” The justification put forth for her separation
from the rest of the department is that because she
primarily serves the.workers, she needs to be.closer to
them. But, the reality is that her office is across the
hall from the rest of the human resource department offices,
but this is a weak reason to be excluded from the

department. Instead, it appears to be connected to the

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gendered structure of the organization. Also, this
arrangement serves to keep workers out of the other human
resources office when they seek medical attention from the
nurse. Thus, there is a physical separation and an
ideological separation.

In addition to the use of physical space, the treatment
of space that is used only by one gender is treated
differently. For example, in the course of the E1 program,
the issue of housekeeping was discussed. One issue was
general housekeeping such as keeping trash and small pieces
of paper off the shop floor, but more specifically related
to gender is the condition of the restrooms in the mold and
finish units. During one meeting in the Mold unit, I asked
where the restroom was and several of the women spoke up and
said, “You don’t want to use our bathroom because it is a
mess. It hasn’t been painted in years. The paint is peeling
off the walls and it always smells like it needs to be
cleaned.” They advised me to wait until I got back to A
Building to use the facilities there. On the other hand,
they indicated that the men’s facilities were in much better
shape than the women’s if I wanted to use the men's room
instead. I inquired how they knew this to be the case and
they replied that the men’s bathroom had recently been

painted and was cleaned more often. Again when I asked why

137

the men's room received more attention than theirs, the
women indicated they thought it was that the people
responsible for cleaning the restrooms are the equipment
cleaners who are all men and they attend to the men's room
more often. The women volunteered that it seemed that they
attended to the men's facilities more often because they
were not as comfortable entering the women’s bathroom.
.Additionally, since the cleaners are men doing a job that is
traditionally a woman’s, they could be reproducing gender by
cleaning the men's bathrooms more often which demonstrates
they are more important to clean.

Additionally, the use of language may serve toitheLI
reinforce the gendered structure of work and this appears to
be the case at XYZ. For example, using the pronoun “he” to
refer to an occupational group that includes both men and
women may facilitate the reinforcement of gender appropriate
occupants in a particular position. At XYZ, when
interviewees were asked who made decisions about the
individual's day-to-day work, they frequently replied that
it was their “foremen” who did that. This was true even of
those who were supervised by the one woman supervisor.
Managers also replicated this language pattern. For
example, one of the managers of a business unit was

discussing changes that he had observed since the

138

implementation of El. He said, “In 1989, the supervisor
didn't dare leave the floor for more than 15 minutes. Now
he'll hand his radio to one of the people and be gone for 2—
3 hours.” One might expect that some would refer to the one
female supervisor as the “forelady” or lady foreman, but
collectively the supervisors are still called foremen. The
fact that men used the male pronoun indicates the reality of
who is usually or which gender is expected to be a
supervisor at XYZ. When women used the same term, they were
in fact reflecting the gendered reality at the plant.
Essentially, language serves to support the gender
identification of a particular position despite the fact
that the gender composition, however small, had changed.

Another position that is primarily occupied by men is
hi-lo driver although two of the operators are women. When
someone refers to them as a group, the male pronoun is used.
For example, one worker in explaining his job duties
indicated that he calls a hi—lo driver to get materials
delivered and he said, “when you’re out or about to run out,
you usually page him on the terry phone saying you need some
SMC.” In another conversation with one of the women who
drive the hi-los, she told me that some of the men will call
her the “lady hi-lo driver” and she does not like this

designation. She said she used to just let it go, but over

139

the last few years, she has begun to say to the men who
address her this way that she is “a hi—lo driver and a good
one.” She hastened to add that she did not want people to
think that she was not a lady, but that when she is working,
she drives a hi-lo and it does not have anything to do with
her being a woman.

This same concept applies when people at XYZ refer to
those in the skilled trades as “skilled tradesmen.” The
reality is there are no women in the skilled trades nor in
the apprenticeship program. I had a conversation with one
of the electricians about the skilled trades program. I
asked him if there had ever been any women in the program.
He indicated that no women had ever been accepted into the
program and he thought it was because they “don't test high
enough.” He went on to say: “I'd like to see some of the
girls (in the program).” This statement seemed to be his
way of saying that he as an individual is willing to have
women in the program but it is something related to the
women themselves that kept them out. They just are not able
to score high enough on the tests that are designed to test
spatial ability and math. These are skills which tend to be
reinforced and developed in men in school and are not

equally stressed for women.

140

According to Gutek and Cohen, gender roles are not
intrinsic to a particular job or occupation. Instead, the
fact that an individual is a woman or a man may have
“implications for the work one does.” In addition, the
ratio of men and women in a given position appears to
influence organizational dynamics and provide some
explanation for why women or men do the specific work they
do in an organization. Essentially this refers to the fact
that women do a particular type of work in the home and are
often relegated to similar work in organizations. For
example, at XYZ more women in the mold and finish units work
as general operators or inspectors and more men are
mold/press operators. One similarity between this position
and that of the work women do in the home is women often
clean up after others in the household, particularly men.
The general operator in the mold unit is responsible for
deflashing a part after it has been molded. This is an
activity which may be classified as a clean up task that
follows activities done by the mold operator who is often a
man. Additionally, as noted earlier, the starting salary of
general operators is less per hour than that of the mold
operator and this contributes to the perception that it is a
less valued position than that of the mold operator. Also,

the task is much more repetitive than that of the mold

141

operator because the GO will deflash and sand parts no
matter which part is being molded. In contrast, the mold
operator may mold several different parts in the course of
the work week which provides the press operator more task
variety. Thus, just as women's roles in families are
devalued, the worth of their role at work is also
discounted.

One final symbol that reproduces gender at XYZ is the
workers' perception of skills they believe they obtained
through the E1 program. Each interviewee was asked: “Did
you learn any new skills as part of the DJC/SC?” Twenty-six
of those interviewed mentioned skills they thought they had
developed or learned as a result of the BI program. As
noted in the table below twelve men noted skills such as
consensus decision making, problem solving, leadership,
facilitating meetings and computer skills. Only five of the
women mentioned consensus decision making, problem solving
and computer skills. Eight women noted skills that are
social skills such as listening, brainstorming, teamwork and
interpersonal skills. Additionally, four women and one man
indicated that they had not learned any skills as a result
of the E1 program. The responses provided by the various
interviewees are interesting because they follow traditional

gender divisions. For example, it is often the work that

142

men do that is perceived as having skills while women’s work
is identified as having few or no skills. The respondents
reflected this since.more men than women noted technical
skills and more women than men noted social skills.

TABLE 5
SKILL8.DEVELOPID IN’EMPLOIEE INVOEVZMINT PROGRAM

Skill

Consensus decision making
Problem solving
Leadership

Facilitation & Effective meetings
Computer skills
Listening/Communication
Brainstorming

Data gathering

Teamwork

Interpersonal skills

None

L I

ADHWAFJPHQCDCDQHJK:

\OLJCH‘CDCDUHflF‘NHV¢>F‘E
0|

TOTAL8*

H
U"

*The totals reflect multiple answers by several
interviewees.

Interactions at Work
Interactions between individuals at XYZ Motors

reproduce gendered structures whether the interactions occur
between men, women, or between.men and women. For example,
one woman used her femininity to get help with her machine
when it was not running. Her supervisor “asked me if I
wanted to go home. And I knew if I went home I would come
back in the same mess today, so I tried to get a millwright
and I couldn't. They're all changing dies and one guy (was

on) special projects. I followed him clear to the back of

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the plant, took.my t-shirt, wiped.my eye. He said ‘what's
the matter you're leaving for a good vacation Monday?’ I
told him I can't get anything to run and the rest of ‘em are
too dumb to fix it. So he dropped everything and come
down.” By portraying herself as a woman in a situation
where she needs help, she has placed herself in a
subordinate position. This interaction reproduces gender
because she portrays herself in a subordinate position to
the millwright. Additionally, by referring to other skilled
trades workers as “too dumb”, she has elevated the status of
this man over the other skilled trades workers by appealing
to his ego. Women have been socialized to enhance men's
egos and since she got his assistance, this approach worked
for her. It is doubtful that any of the men at XYZ would
use tears as a way to get assistance because this would not
be gender appropriate behavior.

Another woman I interviewed provided an example of the
way in which interactions between women and men reproduce
subordination and dominance. Before the reorganization of
the plant, if a mold operator needed help with a problem at
a press, the request would have to be given to the
supervisor who would then contact the supervisor of the
person needed. On some occasions, the mold operator would

attempt to directly contact the person they needed. If a

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man made the request, the skilled tradesman was more apt to
respond and go assist the press operator. In the case of
this interviewee she said she would “usually go get the
person I need to help me in whatever, and they’d say, ‘go
get your foreman.’ That's the way it's done, go through
your foreman, don't tell me.” By refusing to respond to
this woman’s request, the skilled tradesman reinforced the
concept that men do not take orders from women which results
in the reproduction of gender.

Traditionally, when women bring up a safety issue,
their complaints are often not taken seriously or are
ignored. If it is someone who “complains” frequently, that
is, expresses her opinion, she is often labeled a “bitch” or
a “whiner”. Interactions between women and men reproduce
gender when women's complaints are not taken as seriously as
men's. For example, one woman who runs a press in the mold
unit said “I ran (the) press for 1.5 years with oil dripping
on men and only got it fixed because of OSHA fined them.”
Even though she had brought the oil leak to the attention of
her supervisor on numerous occasions, her complaints were
not considered serious enough to‘repair the oil leak. It
was only when OSHA fined them that management responded by

fixing the leak.

145

Another demonstration that her complaints were not
taken seriously are the jokes made by the men. “They
started making jokes like you're getting an oil treatment
free.” The implication was that she should not complain
because she was getting a hot oil treatment for her skin and
hair and she would have to pay for that in a salon. It was
obvious that the situation was not a joke to her. “I was
losing my hair. Burns on my arms. .A year and half before
(it got) fixed. Now it's leaking again but not on me. I
won't do that again.” Another woman also provided an
example to indicate that comments made by the women in the
plant are not taken seriously. This woman, who works in the
finish unit said that when she noticed that parts coming
from the mold unit were not up to par she would not go tell
her supervisor because, “you can't just, say, go to your
foreman or your foreman's boss and say ‘Man we’re getting a
lot of junk from the mold plant. Can anything be done?
They'd just say, ‘bitching again.'”

The fact that women were taken less seriously than men
is also reflected in the way I as a consultant was treated.
One of the E1 trainers said in his interview that he had
observed a difference in the way the management treated me
and two men who were sometimes at the plant from STI. This

man said “I don't want to open up a can of worms, but I'm

146

not real sure how the fact that you're a woman may have
caused (a) perception, or reception problems from our mostly
male management staff. Because I see the differences (how)
Dick was treated. I remember the differences in Bill, I
think it's real in our society that there's still some
prejudices between men and women. If you look at people and
their facial expressions when they're talking, there were
times when you were talking I could see on some of those
faces, there wasn't the attention paid to you that someone
of the male persuasion would be getting.” This certainly
confirmed my own experience in relating to the management
staff at XYZ. There were several times when I would make a
recommendation and it appeared that it would not be
considered until one of the men in the room reintroduced the
suggestion as his own. Then there was active discussion
about the suggestion and if appropriate, it would be
adopted.

One woman in the finish unit provided an example of the
way in which men act to reproduce their dominance at XYZ.
She said her boss would come to her at her work station and
say, “You have a problem.” She said this approach would
cause her to respond in a defensive way because the
implication was that whatever was wrong, she was to blame

rather than the possibility that the problem was related to

147

the equipment she was using. This woman did say that after
she had received training through the BI program, when this
man approached her with that attitude, she did not get as
defensive and she would “try to check it out and correct
it.” Unfortunately, her lack of defensiveness did not
eliminate the reproduction of the dominant/subordinate
relationship.

Often when men interacted with other men, they
reinforced the place of women in the work structure and the
negative images these men had of women. One way this was
done was through telling jokes that denigrated women and
portrayed them as sexual objects. I had the opportunity to
overhear a group of managers who were in a conference room
with the door open. They were telling the latest round of
“dumb blonde” jokes which are belittling to women generally
and to women with blond hair in particular. In addition, 1
when men gathered, they would engage in telling the latest
“dirty” jokes which also serve to perpetuate the denigration
of women. One of the BI trainers was eager to tell me the
latest jokes because he was aware that I did not want to
hear them. He would tell me who told the joke, to whom it
was told and in what context such as in the most recent

meeting of management personnel which would mean only men

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were in attendance. This action supports the gendered
nature of the plant and reproduces gender. 1

Although men were the ones to tell these types of jokes
most often, occasionally women told jokes as a way to try to
decrease the feeling of being an outsider. If a woman was
told a joke and she did not laugh, she was identified as a
prude. On the other hand, if she went along with the jokes
by not protesting the telling or even told one herself, then
she was labeled as someone who was not a “nice girl.”
Sometimes the jokes were of a visual nature such as a
computer screen saver called the “Butterfly.” When one
first glanced at this screen saver, one sees a butterfly
moving its wings. On closer examination, it is clear that
it is not a butterfly, but a couple actively engaging in a
sexual act. .Again, if a woman complained about the screen
saver, she was called a prude, but she was not supposed to
enjoy looking at the screen or she might be called a
“pervert.”

Periodically, a woman would say something that
indicates that she is more aligned with men than with other
women. She might engage in activities such as gossiping and
tattling. For example, one of the women in the
Administrative Unit made a comparison between a man and

woman trainer. When the EI program was coming to a halt,

149

the trainers were advised they would need to return to
production work or be laid off. The man in this case
exercised his seniority rights and bumped into a job while
the woman took a layoff. The interviewee appeared to be
resentful that the woman took the layoff instead of bumping
back into a production job. Denise said, “When I look at
(the two trainers), I still think they have themselves on a
pedestal and up there and why should they be back on the
floor because they've had all this training. And maybe I'm
wrong in seeing that but I know that (she) feels that. Not
so much (him), (he) bumped back in and he's out to make a
new start. But I don't know, (she's) different.” It
seemed that this woman was tattling on the woman trainer
because she did not follow the established rules and chose
to take a layoff instead of bumping into a production job.
Even though both of these women were subjected to the same
issues as women in a predominantly male environment, this
woman’s attitude serves to exclude the trainer which
reproduces gender.

Mental Work to Construct and Reconstruct a Gendered
Understanding of Work

I have examined a number of ways in which the gendered
nature of the workplace is reproduced at XYZ Motors. Now I
will consider how the gendered structure is supported by the

individuals who work at XYZ. By examining the manner in

150

which they make sense of the gendered workplace, the limits
it imposes on the workers, and the demands placed on them to
engage in behavior that is appropriate for their gender
(Acker:1992). Of the four categories of Acker's model of
gendering organizational analysis, internal mental work is
the most difficult to develop a working definition because
it requires being able to identify an internal process.
Following are some examples of the way in which some of the
women working at XYZ used an internal process to support the
gendered nature of work.

Two women who are general operators in the Finish Unit
were discussing skills they had learned or developed in the
E1 program. They both mentioned that they thought they had
learned to listen better. Listening is an activity which is
more often associated with women. That is, women are often
considered to be better listeners than men. Before they
participated in the problem solving committees, these women
had a perception of themselves that was not consistent with
the stereotype of women as good listeners. One woman said
“I opened myself up to where I heard other people out before
I made my decision.” In studies of conversations between
men and women, it has been observed that women did more
listening and men talked more. Therefore, this women may

have acted in a way that has been identified as male

151

behavior. I found this self-perception to be interesting
because this is the same woman that a number of men had
identified as being someone who always has a complaint or is
always “bitching” about some problem or another. So, even
though she expressed that she had learned a new skill by
learning to listen, she also was reconstructing herself in a
gender appropriate way. Similarly, another woman noted that
she learned “how to relate better with other people . .(and)
how not to be quite as brash, I was always really outspoken
and here I am world and if you.like me fine, if not that’s
fine too. I learned how to just, not to change, but to
polish a little bit, to just tone it down a tad, you know.
And I still get in trouble from time to time.” This
represents the concept that women are not to be outspoken
but are to be quiet and reserved. Additionally, other women
noted that they had learned to be more patient with other
people. “My attitude because I’m a little more patient.”
Since patience is a trait that women are supposed to have,
identifying this as a skill that she learned means that this
woman has engaged in the mental process to increase her
level of patience and therefore she is moving into a gender
appropriate individual.

A mold press operator noted that she had been hesitant

about becoming involved in a DJC because she does not “spell

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or read too well to get on a committee.” She was concerned
about having to interact with a lot of people because she
tends to get “nervous and then get scattered brained when
they come over and start bothering me about the press, I get
so nervous that I can't think straight.” Again, being
scattered brained is a term used to identify women and
infrequently is used to describe men even though both men
and women may become flustered or confused when under
pressure or close supervision. Therefore, she is
reproducing herself as an appropriate gendered person. One
of the trainers worked on a plant newsletter with a manager
from human resources, and she was the person who scheduled
SC meetings, and sent meeting reminders to the SC. In many
respects, she seemed to act as a “mother” to the SC. One
manager remarked that he probably would not have contributed
to the newsletter or gotten the article in on time if this
woman had not kept after him to do so. In a conversation
with her, I asked her why she did those particular
activities and she responded that she felt if she did not do
them, they probably would not get done. She said she did
not think any of the managers would take responsibility for
doing those things. When the EI program was beginning to
slow down, she expressed her displeasure that they were

“losing it. I don't know how to prevent it even though I

153

have nagged pretty good for a while.” She seemed to be in a
double bind here because on the one hand she felt that no
one else would take the responsibility to do the scheduling
and reminding, but she felt that by engaging in those
activities, she was nagging people to do what they were
supposed to. Again, nagging is a way in which women are
described when they are trying to urge someone to do
something.

Women are often allowed more narrow parameters in which
to function than men. For example, within the structure of
the E1 program, the SC-decided that anyone who did not
regularly attend meetings would be replaced and this applied
to union members who were on layoff. I observed that this
rule was unevenly applied to men and women. There were many
instances where men, union and management, who were on the
SC did not attend the meetings but none of them were
replaced. On the other hand, one woman chose not to attend
meetings while she was on layoff. Since she did not attend
meetings during the months she was on layoff, she was
replaced by someone else from the union. During her
interview she indicated that she understood that she was
replaced because she did not come to meetings. She felt the
SC had taken the appropriate action because*that was the

rule. She did not seem to resent the fact that she was

154

replaced when men who had engaged in the same behavior did
not receive the same treatment. This indicates that she
acted in a manner that is expected of her as a woman.

A similar example of the different parameters of
behavior for women and men was provided by a mold operator.
She talked about changing the weight of a charge for the
press from a four-ply to a three-ply which was a decision
made by those on the second shift. The second shift let the
other two shifts know that the change had been made, but no
one had informed the finish unit inspectors that this change
had been made. She remarked that as long as there were no
complaints from the finish unit, then “the part must be OK
‘cause they check it.” When a supervisor from the finish
unit asked if there were any changes they should know about
this woman said “I thought, well, I better let them know,
I'll get in trouble here if they find out. They'll find out
sooner or later so I told ‘em.” It is expected that changes
will be communicated between the various business units and
a failure to relay changes to another unit is perceived as a
violation of the “rules” of the plant. This woman was
clearly interested in preventing herself from being blamed
for a lack of communication. While this particular woman
may have relayed the information because she was fearful of

getting in trouble, this is still an example of the inner

155

mental process to construct an appropriately gendered
individual. Specifically she is recreating a follower of
the rules which is more often expected of women than of men.
Additionally, the men who operated the press on the other
shifts did not feel responsible for communicating the
change. Thus, both have reproduced appropriate gendered
individuals.

During one conversation with several union members, one
of them referred to one of the hi-lo drivers as a “good
woman hi-lo driver.” This woman quickly replied that she is
“a very good hi-lo driver.” By putting the woman in front
of the job title, the speaker indicates that the job is one
that rightfully should be occupied by a man rather than a
woman. Also, when an electrician indicated that he would
like to see some “girls” in the skilled trades apprentice
program, he was demonstrating that these are jobs that
rightfully should be occupied by men, but there is an
understanding that one cannot exclude either gender from
applying or being accepted into the program as long as they
score high enough on the qualifying tests.

The foregoing examples demonstrate ways in which
individuals utilize internal processes to create and

reproduce a gender appropriate self.

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CHAPTER SUMMARY

Through out this chapter I have discussed the ways in
which the gendered nature of the organization is reproduced
by those who work at XYZ. First we saw how the division of
labor is gendered in that several traditionally male jobs
are still only occupied by men such as the skilled trades
and managers. Second, we examined the ways in symbols and
images reconstructed a gendered understanding of the
workplace. Last, we discussed internal processes utilized
by individuals to create and recreate an appropriate
gendered identity.

In the next chapter I will provide a brief summary of
my research findings and consider recommendations for future

research.

157

CHAPTER 6
WORKER EXPERIENCE OF CLASS POWER

INTRODUCTION

During my tenure at XYZ Motors, I had the opportunity
to observe many examples of the reproduction of inequality,
and conflict. They were observed during the implementation
phase of the Employee Involvement project, they emerged in
the interviews and most were still evident at the conclusion
of my research. Individuals in every category exhibited
behavior that reproduced stratification at XYZ Motors. This
behavior also emerged in interviews within the following
employee categories: plant and business unit managers,
salaried personnel, supervisors, skilled trades, members of
the union top committee, and rank file union members.
Additionally, stratification may be reproduced or signified
in a number of ways in the workplace and was observed or
emerged during the interviews in the following categories:
language, clothing, space, decision making, level of
authority or power, and the job hierarchy. Additionally,
there was substantial evidence of conflict.

When a labor-management participation program is
introduced into an organization, one expectation or hope and
sometimes a goal of the program, is a decrease in
stratification and movement toward a more democratic and

less stratified workplace. The literature regarding

158

employee involvement structures and my own experience
demonstrate that there is seldom, if any, movement toward a
more equal or more democratic workplace. Although movement
toward increased democratization was small at XYZ Motors,
some change in inequality did occur and several examples
will be discussed.
CLASS SYMBOLS

A variety of symbols are utilized to identify an
individual's position in an organization. The following
signifiers are prevalent at XYZ Motors: language, dress, and
space.

Language

One signifier that may identify one's group membership
in an organization is through the use of language. By
language, I refer to the use of grammar such as verb-subject
agreement, pronunciation, diction, syntax, and vocabulary
which include the word(s) or phrases that an individual
uses. Of particular interest at XYZ is the vocabulary used
by an individual to describe someone in a different group or
to describe a group of people other than the group to which
the speaker belongs (Zandy:1995). In the United States, the
accepted and dominant language is white, educated and
western. It is this language that is taught in educational

institutions and is considered to be the acceptable language

159

whether it is written or spoken (De Veaux:1995). When
people are heard using patterns that are not consistent with
the dominant language patterns, they are often considered to
be ignorant and/or uneducated. In which case, language may
then be used as a weapon of oppression (Zandy:1995).

It was common to hear members of the union use language
that did not reflect the rules of dominant western English.
For example, many union members misused verbs when they were
speaking and the most common misuse was a single verb with a
plural subject. For example, it was common to hear a member
of the union say: "We was going to look at that problem . .
. " or ”Not from what I seen as far as favoritism . . . ”
Another example of this language pattern of usage occurred
during an interview with one of the union members who was
also a trainer. This individual was telling me things he
wanted me to know about the Employee Involvement program and
he said: "You was at the last meeting and you remember . .
. ” Another union member stated: "...at first I was a
little leery about it because they said they was gonna do so
many things.”

Occasionally members of the union were heard to use the
incorrect form of a verb. For example, one union woman was
explaining one of the complaints she had about the project

and she said, "What was really frustrating was they bought

160

the hose reel to mount on the presses and they set in the
maintenance area for several months . . . " An additional
example of this type of misuse was actually a supervisor who
was discussing the first time he was on a Departmental Joint
Committee and he said "We went to team leaders and then we
come over here." Another union member was talking about his
definition of power and he said "Power would be the ability
to set down and be on an equal basis . . . ”

Another example in which language serves to identify
the social group to one which belongs is the pronunciation
of certain words. For example, three of the parts
manufactured at XYZ Motors are the hood and front fenders of
a semi-truck supplied to VOLVO. It is common to hear those
in the union refer to this product as a VELVA. This is not
a pronunciation used by managers, engineers or salaried
individuals except it is sometimes used by supervisors.

When I first encountered this pronunciation, I thought it
might be the reflection of a regional dialect. But when I
found that only those who were union workers, or supervisors
who were formerly union workers used this pronunciation, I
determined that it was a class-based pronunciation rather
than regional. If it had been regional, I would have
expected to hear others in the plant, especially those who

were natives of the area, pronounce it as Velva and not

161

Volvo. Thus, the pronunciation of various words signifies
one's current group or original group membership at XYZ
Motors.

These patterns of language may be the result of
inadequate education. It is common to find people working
at this plant who received little instruction in an
educational institution beyond the elementary grades.
Therefore, they may not have received instruction regarding
the rules of singular versus plural verbs. Or more
important, in the case of union members who have had such
education, it appears to be a choice they make to use the
particular verb pattern that they do. Even if union members
attended an educational institution where they learned ”the
proper way to speak," they may have adopted the "incorrect"
pattern of usage to show solidarity with other workers on
the line.

Supervisors who moved up from the shop floor may engage
in the same patterns of verb usage as those used by union
members, but they may adopt a more formal style of speaking
when interacting with management or white collar workers.
For example, it appears that supervisors who were promoted
off the shop floor may use the old language patterns when
interacting with union members to show solidarity or

connection to workers. One supervisor made the statement

162

that the purpose of the employee involvement structure is:
"(t)o get employees input and involvement on taking care of
problems they seen in the day to day work." Another
supervisor replicated this pattern when he said: “As soon
as EI started, we noticed that more people was taking on
more job responsibilities." One notable exception to the
pattern of mixing singular and plural verbs and subject was
the one supervisor who was a woman. I had frequent contact
with this woman and did not hear this particular pattern
spoken by her.

Management or those in salaried positions, other than
supervisors, did not use plural verbs with singular
subjects. This may be a result of two factors. First, it
may be the result of the level of education of individuals
in management and salaried positions. Second, it is
definitely a way to reinforce the separation between union
and management. Those working in salaried positions had
completed at least high school, others had technical
training or an associate degree from a community college,
and several had graduated from an institution of higher

learning with a bachelor's degree. Those who had at least a
bachelor's degree were: the engineers, controller, human
resource manager, assistant human resource manager and the
plant manager. .Also, an accounting supervisor and a human

resource assistant had bachelor's degrees. When supervisors

163

were in a mixed group that is both union and management
personnel, I heard several of the supervisors use the mixed
subject and verb. On the other hand, when the same
supervisors were engaged in a conversation with just
management personnel, language patterns tended to follow
western European structures. This may have been a
reflection of their position in the plant hierarchy.
Traditionally supervisors are not part of the management
structure and yet, they were not permitted to belong to the
union, even if they had been members of the union prior to
their promotion to supervisor. The way in which they switch
their language usage may be a reflection of their position
in the plant hierarchy, squeezed between the union and
management.

Another way language may be used to identify and
reproduce the social location of an individual at XYZ is
captured in the way an individual in one group refers to
another. For example, one entry level manager tended to
refer to the union as "them" which is allows an individual
to create distance from the group being discussed. In
effect, this pattern says, ”I am not part of group X and I
want it known that I am not.” When asked about improvements
related to Employee Involvement, one supervisor who had been
a member of the union made the following statement, "The
hourlies are looking more at what each other are doing." It
is clear that this individual does not want to be associated

with the hourly workers at the plant even though he began as

164

an hourly worker. Another manager would consistently
address union members on the steering committee as "you
people” which is a phrase that is used when one wants to be
separate from the group they are addressing.
Authority/Control/Power

Who makes decisions and the type of decisions they make
reflect the level of inequality at XYZ Motors because
decision-making is a reflection of the power relations at
the plant? Decisions related to which parts would be
manufactured did not occur at the plant level. Decisions of
that type are made at the Corporate level. The plant
manager and his staff at XYZ Motors would have some input,
but the final decision was made at the corporate level. The
day-to-day decisions about how many of each part needed to
fill a customer’s order is made by the appropriate manager
such as the mold unit manager. Prior to the implementation
of the Employee Involvement program, decisions regarding the
labor process were made by those at the supervisory level or
above. Even decisions about whether or not a part should be
sent to the customer or should be scrapped was not relegated
to the worker on the line, but was made by the first line
supervisor or the production manager. Very few, if any
decisions were made by workers.

In order to determine whether any change in who makes
decisions occurred, interviewees were asked the following
questions regarding who made decisions about their work

before and after the implementation of El.

165

Who made decisions about your day-to-day work

before the Employee Involvement Program started?

Has there been any change? Are decisions made by

the same person(s)?

Of the 38 responses to the above questions, 13 said
there had been some change and 15 said there had been no
change in who made decisions. Twenty-nine interviewees
responded that it was their supervisor, boss or manager who
made decisions about their day-to-day work. What is
important is the sorts of changes that were noted by those
interviewed. Of the 13 who said there had been some change
in who made decisions, two workers said that the press
operator now had the responsibility to set up their own
press and two others noted that workers were now "empowered
to shut down their job" if they determine that the quality
of the part does not meet specifications. Prior to the
introduction of E1, if a press operator discovered that the
parts they were making did not meet specifications (if the
operators actually had access to the specifications), that
individual could not stop the molding process to make the
necessary corrections to make a quality part.

Subsequent to the Employee Involvement program, a
procedure called "Quality Line Stop" was implemented. This
procedure gives the press operators the authority to stop

running the press when they determine that they are not

producing quality parts. While this was not developed as a

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specific component of the Employee Involvement program,
several of those interviewed believed the procedure is
something that is a result of EI and the workers readily
accept it because the plant had an Employee Involvement
program in place. .Although many welcomed the ability to
stop the line to correct a quality problem, one press
operator noted that:

"Some people, especially, maybe the older

employees, they weren't used to this joint

decision making, cooperation, whatever. Sometimes

I'd hear from those people that that's

management's job, I just do, I'm the worker, they

tell me what to do I get the job done. It's not

my job to worry about paper work."

“{On the other hand,} (o)thers took joy in

following through with the job if it was doing the

paper work necessary to complete the job, go to

meetings, (or) make suggestions."

Another reflection of the power relations at the plant
was found in who had access to company resources. To gather
information about this, interviewees were asked the
following question: "Before the El program began, who could
authorize purchases? Who can authorize purchases now?” Of
the twenty-five interviewees who responded to these
questions, twenty-one responded that it was either the
foreman, boss or plant manager who could authorize
purchases. Only one worker, a woman in the union, referred

to a department budget being used to determine who had the

authority to authorize a purchase.

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After the BI program was implemented, 13 people believed it
was still the same individuals who could authorize
purchases. Others noted that some change had taken place.
For example, one mechanic who was responsible for the
maintenance and repair of the hi—los was given the authority
to purchase small items for the garage such as oil filters.
Additionally, two people said that the Steering Committee
could authorize purchases. Another indicated that the level
of authority changed depending on the cost of the item. If
the item cost less than $500, it could be authorized by
someone in the accounting department and anything more than
$500 had to go to the plant manager for approval. Two who
were in DJCs noted that there was a petty cash fund or
"slush fund" that they could use to make purchases up to a
certain amount. While some changes are in place, the
specific changes are slightly different from those described
by the interviewees. For example, only a $50.00
discretionary fund was available for use by the DJCs.
Clothing

A third symbol identifying one's position at the plant
is clothing. It is easy to distinguish who is in which
group--union, management, skilled trades, or salaried by the
way in which they dressed. For example, those who were part

of the middle or upper management structure almost

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exclusively wore white or pale-colored dress-shirts with
ties. .At the beginning of the research project and for
about six months, there was one woman who was the safety
director. Typically she wore a suit or a dressy skirt of
wool or cotton, depending on the season, and a blouse made
of a light weight fabric such as silk. Women who are in
positions of substantial responsibility wore suits, dresses
or skirts and blouses. These women rarely, if ever were
observed wearing slacks. On one occasion, the secretary to
the plant manager was dressed more casually than she usually
did and I commented on the fact that she looked very
comfortable. She responded that she was going to be doing
some cleaning and sorting of files in her office and she
wanted to be comfortable doing that.

Clothing also serves to identify distinctions in rank
within the union. The men in skilled trades (there were no
women in the skilled trades at XYZ), wear a "uniform" which
consists of a pair of dark-blue cotton slacks and a matching
shirt. The shirt had buttons down the front, long or short
sleeves, and a breast pocket over which is embroidered the
name of the individual. Because the skilled tradesmen are
the only ones in the plant to wear this particular uniform,
they visually stand out from the other workers on the shop

floor and it signifies their elevated status.

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Those who work directly in the manufacturing process
wear a variety of casual clothing appropriate for the time
of year and the type of work they do. For the most part,
the work "uniform" of the production workers consists of
jeans such as Levis, Wranglers, Guess, or Chic, and a cotton
tee-shirt. Some women wear cotton slacks and short sleeved
cotton blouses. This seemed to be an instance where gender
and class intersect because several women who work on the
shop floor tend to dress in a traditionally feminine way.
These women often wear make-up and jewelry such as earrings,
necklaces and rings on several fingers of each hand which
clearly signifies their femininity. By dressing in this
way, these women are saying that they are workers, but at
the same time, they are women. Thus they dress in slacks
and a blouse instead of the jeans and tee-shirts that many
of the men wear.

Another difference in dress between the way the women
and the men who worked on the shop floor were observed
during the summer. The two manufacturing buildings get very
hot and to cope with the heat, the men would cut the sleeves
out of their shirts and open the sides to provide as much
ventilation as possible. For obvious reasons, this option

is not possible for the women. If they cut their shirts the

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same way, it would reveal their undergarments which could
possibly increase their exposure to harassment.

In the collective bargaining agreement, the company
pays 75% of the rental charge for coveralls, shop coats and
work uniforms for equipment cleaners, painters, paint
mixers, skilled trade's personnel, material handlers,
gunners, resin mixers and those in the mold plant who work
with raw glass. A few of the men who work on the shop floor
in the finish and mold units rent uniform shirts and slacks
through an agreement with a local linen supply company. The
shirts for all workers, except skilled trades, were a light
blue and the men wore them with jeans. No women were
eligible to rent work uniforms because only men worked in
the positions identified as eligible for the reduced rate
rental.

Since the company does not have a specific dress code
for managers or the women in white collar positions, one
might assume that these individuals choose to dress the way
they do. Also, the mode of dress is something the managers
resisted changing. During the training session for the
Steering Committee, a segment was included that identified
some changes that the consultants strongly recommended and
one of these was that there should be less distinction

between the union personnel and the managers in terms of the

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way the managers dressed. It was recommended that the men
cease wearing ties and suits and dress "down.” This
suggestion was met with much resistance because the managers
believed that it was necessary to keep the dress distinction
between the workers and the managers. They feared that if
they gave up this class signifier that it would lead to a
loss of authority over the union and other nonmanagement
personnel. This class signifier was sustained while I was
at XYZ which served to keep class barriers in place.
HIERARCHY OF JOBS

The following factors are utilized to identify
desirable jobs: wages; skills necessary to do the job;
level of autonomy, power and/or authority; supervisory
responsibility; and working conditions. The hierarchy of
jobs at XYZ follows a fairly traditional view. The jobs
ranged from low status for maintenance worker and crib
attendant up to the high status position of plant manager.
Those positions that require education beyond high school or
an apprenticeship are more desirable. Additionally, union
shop floor positions that are considered to be higher status
are those that are paid higher wages, are more autonomous,
and require a higher level of skills. These jobs include:
skilled trades such as electrician and millwright, a local

truck driver, hi-lo driver, and mold press operators. One

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worker provided an excellent example of the stratification
that exists between the mold operator and the general
operator in the mold plant. I asked him what difference
exists between G05 and mold operators are and he replied:
”Oh, about $.25 an hour." This reflects the perceived
difference between the mold operator and the general
operator. The actual difference between the two jobs in
starting wages is only five cents but the differences
between a specific GO and a mold operator could be twenty-
five cents an hour because of a difference in seniority.

In addition to the higher wage received by mold
operators, he or she has more autonomy than the GO and the
mold operator possesses skills that are not required of a
general operator. For example, the mold operator has more
autonomy because she or he has more freedom of movement than
the general operator. .Additionally, he or she may set up a
press to run a part after a mold has been changed. These
factors are identified as components found in desirable
jobs. .A review of Table 3 below indicates that within the
union, skilled trades workers receive the highest starting
wage and within the skilled trades, electricians are at the
top of the union wage scale while the lowest wages are paid

to the GO/inspectors in the mold and finish units.

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Table 6
UNION JOBS:
Entry Level wages

Production and Plant Equipment Cleaner $10.24
Packer and Crater 10.39
Power Lift Truck Operator (Hi-los) and

Local Truck Driver 10.42
Crib Attendant 10.44
General Operator/Inspector (all departments) 10.52
Mold Operator 10.57
Utility 10.62
Millwright 12.61
Machinist/Tooling 13.03
Electrician 13.23

The status and pay of jobs during the Employee
Involvement program.remained essentially unchanged except
for the addition of two positions. Those positions were:
Employee Involvement Coordinator and Trainer. The EI
coordinator was selected from the ranks of the front line
supervisors and, in fact, the position description was
written in such a way as to ensure that a supervisor would
be selected the Employee Involvement Coordinator (Appendix
B). The EI Coordinator and the trainers were paid their
customary wages but were perceived to be in a position of
privilege.

The trainers were selected from various positions
throughout the plant and from the union and salaried
workers. The first two trainers were two men, one from the
union and a front-line supervisor. The first trainer from

the union was a production worker in the Mold Plant. The

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supervisor was shortly promoted to EI Coordinator. The next
trainers selected from the union were a woman who was a hi—
lo driver and a man from the skilled trades. Subsequently, a
trainer was selected from the ranks of salaried employees.
He was in human resources and had been the first level of
management to conduct meetings related to grievances. The
selection of the trainers spurred controversy among salaried
and union people and will be discussed in the next section
as an example of class conflict.
LABOR-MANAGEMENT CONFLICT

Evidence of conflict between labor and management was
observed in the behavior of the employees at XYZ Motors and
emerged in the interviews. This conflict is presented in
the following two categories: 1) traditional labor-
management conflict and 2) conflict that either occurred in
the course of the Employee Involvement program or was
directly related to it. Within each category, I have
utilized the following subheadings: opposing agendas,
blaming the victim, and trust. First, I will present
examples of conflict from the interviews which occur in
organizations that may or may not have a participative

structure in place.

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Opposing Agendas

One example of conflict at XYZ is the opposing agendas
of labor, salaried personnel and management. The union
works to preserve jobs and benefits and to improve working
conditions such as safety, comfort and housekeeping. The
union traditionally utilizes a strict interpretation of the
contract and application of past practices to accomplish its
goals. Managers, who serve as agents of the corporation and
its stockholders, stated that their primary agenda was to
ensure the financial stability and success of the plant.
Some salaried personnel indicated that they agreed with
management's goal and the positions taken by the plant
manager. A clear expression of the opposing agendas of
union members, salaried personnel and management was
provided by many of those who were interviewed.

Union members often spoke of management’s goal of
profit and the strategies that might be used to accomplish
that goal. For example, one union representative, who is
also a member of the E1 steering committee, clearly
indicated that she is aware of the different approaches that
union and management bring to the workplace. In her
interview she said: “Management's agenda was purely
financial (and was) driven due to (the) economy and future

of the plant. Hourly folks were wanting to maintain all

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they had and not give up anything they had (such as) jobs
and working arrangements. We did not come to the same
table.” One of the skilled tradesmen also stated: "The
management is after one thing and that's to make a marginal
profit here and they're doing it without any input from the
union. . . by their own admission, they do not honor the
union contract for the sake of a dollar." In other words,
he believed that management would do whatever it had to
accomplish its profit objectives even if it meant trying to
go against the union contract. Another union member
contributed to the management position regarding the
importance of profit when he stated: "If we didn't have a
union, we'd be all out of here and they'd be down at the
welfare office getting people to work for $4.00 an hour."
That very situation occurred at another unionized facility
in the same community. The workers at that company went on
strike in the early 19905 and were permanently replaced by
workers who were hired at a wage of $5.00 an hour instead of
the beginning union wage of $10.00 an hour.

This same worker provided an example of a management
strategy employed to attain their goal and an excellent
example of the differing agendas of management and workers
when he talked about the management rights clause (Appendix

D) in the collective bargaining agreement. This man said:

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"Management has certain ways of doing business
with customers, certain aspects, don't want to say
jobs, but there's a word, the systems operation,
there's ”X" amount of steps and "X" amount of
people from the time you bid the job till you
start running the job. There's certain things
management did not open up about. There was (sic)
things, there's a clause in the contract that's
called management rights and it's the right to
hire, discharge, discipline, you know all these
different old traditional management ways of doing
things. I'm the boss. You're the worker. We
were never able to get_past that as much as
management in this shop would say we want to be
different, they still held on to that idea that
we're the boss and you're the worker and at any
given time, we can still say what goes and what
won't and don't you forget that."

This worker provides a clear view of the differing agendas
of workers and management.

One woman provided insight into the labor-management
relationship at XYZ Motors when she said: “Because they
felt we were on two sides, hourly against management. Some
of the management people, I always felt they thought they
were above us —‘we were only their servants.” This attitude
was observed in some of the BI meetings that I attended. A
further indication that some in the union were not willing
to take on the responsibility necessary to successfully
implement an E1 program is reflected in this statement made
by a union member. He stated: “Really being a union, we
should let the bosses do it, make the decisions.” This was
not an isolated feeling among the union members but was

something that was expressed by several workers.

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Another union member also noted his awareness of the
opposing agendas when he responded to the questions: “Did
the E1 program live up to your hopes/expectations?” He
stated, “No, because you have two types of people buttin'
heads and on one side you have people thinking they're
taking my job and on the other saying why should I do this?
...Got your ego trip while you're in management and on the
employee side, they (referring to management) get paid more
than I do, so why should I do their job.” One woman who is
a member of the SC and the union responded to this question
by saying: “Well, I guess because I’m the type of person
that wants to do things right, and I felt that in the past
years that the supervisors didn't care what other people’s
opinions were (sic), I thought this was a way to develop
supervisors and hourly people in the mode we could get them
where they do believe they could have their opinion valued
instead of leaving their brains at the door.” This concept
of leaving one’s brain at the door was mentioned by several
of the workers I interviewed or talked to while I was at XYZ
and this is a traditional concept that management does not
want workers who actually think about things, instead they
want workers who come in and do the job and do not cause any

problems for management.

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One union member reflected this when she said: “I just
run my own job.” That is, she makes sure her press is
running so she can do her job. She is the type of worker
management likes to employ because she does not contest
management and their decisions and she does what she can to
keep her press operating. She described a recent occurrence
where she had to track down someone to fix the press. She
said: “Yesterday was a good example, everything was broke
down, nothing was running. He (her supervisor) asked me if
I wanted to go home. I knew if I went home I would come
back into the same mess (as) today, so I tried to get a
millwright and I couldn’t. They're all changing dies and
one guy was on special projects.” Many workers would take
the time off and go home because they’d rather have the time
away from the job than have to try to find something to do
while the press or machinery was being repaired. ‘Management
believes the worker should find something to keep him or her
busy.

Another way in which the opposing agendas of labor and
management are evident is revealed in this statement made by
a past president of the union. He noted that labor and
management traditionally blame each other when something
goes wrong with a product. For example:

“I’ve seen this plant manager resolve some of

those quality problems which makes a difference

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in the employee’s attitude and how they feel
about the job because they see management
policing themselves instead of blaming the worker
and (they) see management trying to make this
happen. (It’s) (a)lways been labors fault, and
labor (says) it’s all been management’s fault.”

Another place the opposing agenda of labor and
management emerges is in their approach to quality.
Traditionally, workers take pride in their work and want to
do a good job and produce a quality product. It is
distressing to the workers at XYZ that the quality of the
product is often considered to be of less importance than
the number of parts produced. One worker talked about
management’s approach to quality problems: “...it used to be
that they didn’t care about how many scrap they got . . .
but (we) were always hearing about gettin’ the numbers up.
They’d try to find out what was wrong but walk away saying
they (need) many more numbers.” This is further reflected
in the statement of another union member who said:

“The salary, the upper management and the

maintenance, because they have their own little

hierarchy that is separate, more a political

system. These are people who don’t get out on the

floor and work with people. They simply want to

set there and get a phone call from a supervisor

and say ‘OK, we’ve got a problem.’ When actually

(they) could go to the floor and say where is the

problem and let me talk to the people who work

here every day and work around this problem and

see what their ideas are. It just makes more

sense to me to go to the person that knows most
about that area.”

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One business unit manager noted that he believed part
of the problem was that many people in the union are stuck
in the past. For instance,

"(l)ots of the problem is the older workarce.

Always done things this way and I don't think I

should have to change. That goes specifically to

the union. .As I aid they were stuck in the 705,

they were successful in the 705 but we can't

compete in the 905 and the year 2000 the way we

are now. People aren't comfortable with that.

I've worked here for 20‘years and I can't tell you

the number of people (who) tell me that I hired in

not_paying for any of my insurance and shouldn't

have to pay now." ’

Asking workers to contribute more to their health care
coverage is not unique to XYZ, but is a strategy to cut
costs that is used by many organizations in the United
States. Management is asking the union to give back
benefits which had been successfully negotiated in previous
contracts. This manager's statement is a clear indication
of the differing approach union and management have toward
the issue of who should pay for what level of health care
coverage.

It is customary that the first place management tends
to look to cut costs or find savings, is to consider cutting
the cost of labor. Quite often this entails laying off
workers either temporarily or permanently. While this

frequently is the first option explored by management, it

can also be accomplished through other strategies such as

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closing a plant, introducing a two-tier wage system where

new hires are paid at a lower starting wage, and outsourcing

work to non-union facilities in the United States or sending

the work offshore for cheaper sources of labor. Not that

these are strategies that are agreeable to unions,

generally, but one of these strategies may be more

acceptable than layoffs to union members. Labor costs are

seen as the largest variable and the one the plant has the

most control over. The new plant manager set the tone
this perspective when he stated:

“Savings, as I pointed out, comes from reductions
in wages and what we buy in materials. The fact
of life is the value of labor plus cost of
material, deduct from sales price is the profit.
We are essentially buying material at cost because
of a captive supplier. Variants in marketplace is
(the) result of excessive labor in this factory.
And when you have a group of hourly people and you
talk about excessive labor, they say it’s not my
problem it’s your problem. You can agree to
security as long as I’m not impacted.”

He further stated in support of this perspective:

“The reality of survival is: What are the
opportunities to reduce costs without reducing
labor? Actually it’s virtually zero. I’ve built
models and showed them to (the) workforce in
employee meetings, where if I take our pricing and
take out the cost of material and take that out of
the price structure, so if I reduce price by the
cost of materials, it would take that out of the
cost structure, reduce by 100% of all salaried
labor, with no material, we’re overpriced by
$200,000 every month which resides solely in
employee wages and overhead, meaning their
benefits. It’s that black and white.”

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for

The controller echoed this same attitude when he
stated: “The plant manager told everyone that 50
people have to go from here (XYZ Motors). If that were
ever to come about, you’d be in much better shape
financially. . .” Indeed, a reduction in the labor
force does immediately reduce the costs of wages and
benefits, but the issue is that this seems to be the
first strategy or approach management considers when
attempting to cut costs.

The perception that several of the salaried
personnel have of the union is a further indication of
their opposing agendas. Many of those who work in'
salaried positions, whether they are clerical or are in
entry level management positions, appear to have
opinions about union members that are similar to those
of management. One woman who is in an administrative
position made this comment: "...I feel like the guards
and the attendants . . . at the institutions don't have
as much authority as the people who are incarcerated.

I feel like, unless people know that you are
responsible for something, that they'll take advantage
of you. Salary here is like the guards and the union
more or less would be like the incarcerated people."

This woman seems to imply that union members are people

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who do not have the ability to be responsible and they
need someone to oversee them to make sure they stay on
task, get the work done, and not take advantage of
management. Certainly, if this view were acted on, it
would essentially continue the oppression of those in
the working class by depriving them of access to
knowledge deemed to be the purview of management only.
Adso, she believes that some information should not be
shared with the union such as opening the books for
inspection by the union. This sentiment is clearly
reflected in the following statement: “there is a lot
of things that management needs to keep confidential.
I guess I really don't think that the financial books
need to be opened up to everybody. I think that the
generalities need to by, you know everyone needs to
know the problems. But as far as specifics, um,
everything doesn't really need to be an open book. I
guess I'm, thinking of management and union in
particular.”

Safety is another area that clearly reflects
inequality at the plant. Workers are often caught in
double bind in relation to safety issues. On the one
hand, workers and their employers are required by law

to report any injury that occurs on the job, but many

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management practices serve to inhibit workers from
reporting an injury or illness. Safety does not appear
to be as important to management as it is to workers.
The obvious reason for this may be because the workers
on the shop floor are more directly at risk to injury
than managers are not. .Also, management is not likely
to act on safety issues without pressure from the union
or a governmental agency such as the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). One woman
mold operator noted that: " I ran (the) press for me
and (it) only got fixed because of (sic) OSHA fined
them. They started making joke like you're getting an
oil treatment free. . .I was losing my hair. Burns on
my arms. A.year and a half before it was fixed."' She
went on to say that they would never have just let the
press sit for a year and a half. "If the press was
down they would have got it going. But so long as I
would run it that way, or anybody would run any of
these jobs with unsafe conditions, they'll keep on
running them, and that shouldn't be."

Another example of the difference between
management and the workers regarding safety is
reflected in the following statement made by one of the

union members who is a member of a DJC. He said it is

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difficult to get safety equipment in the plant: "To
get all the fire equipment, all the safety equipment
out in the molding plant getting it moved and numbered,
getting eye stations installed. That was a lasting
one. You can look around and see (the changes). It
took us about a year. We could've done it a lot
sooner, but the workers were scared to do it and we
didn't have the authority.” Even though these were
safety precautions that can help the workers and
decrease the number of injuries at the plant, the
workers did not have the authority to get the safety
equipment identified or installed.

One man who works in the finish unit as a general
operator and inspector talked about methlylinechloride
which is a nonflammable cleaning solvent that is also a
carcinogen. It was used to clean the fiberglass mixing
tanks. He said it had been used in the plant for
years, and ”We used to bathe in it and now they don't
let it in the place. They knew how bad it was, they
just didn't care. Was nonflammable. A cleaning
solvent.” When I asked why this chemical was no longer
used, he replied: ”OSHA. The vapors would make me
pass out.” This provided an example where a government

agency was responsible for advancing safety in the

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plant. Management may have changed to another chemical
at some point, but it took OSHA to get them to remove a
harmful chemical from the plant.

Blaming the Victim

Often when researchers engage in an analysis of
the workplace, they ignore or delete structural
characteristics that contribute to the experience of
workers. Ignoring those characteristics, puts the
focus on the individual and places the blame for their
lack of success solely on them. This approach has been
identified by feminist researchers as “blaming the
victim” (Kemp:1994).

This ideology may also be applied to a group such
as well as an individual. For example in a previous
illustration, the plant manager blamed the union
because the company has not experienced any cost
savings and he blames the union because they refuse to
discuss giving up any of their positions. This is an
example of opposing agendas that “blame the victim”
and is a prevalent concept for managers to express.
Another way in which the plant manager demonstrates
this is revealed in the following statement:

“The other reality is as you walk through the

plant, this is a highly inefficient unproductive

workforce. Worst work pace plant I’ve ever seen
in 25 years of manufacturing experience. The

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reality of that because we’ve been in our closed
environment so long is, we’re great, we’re
wonderful (and) we’ve made all this money. That
is not the fact. The fact of life is this . . .
work rules that are 20 to 30 years behind the
times with flexibility of job descriptions. I
have run UAW steelworkers facilities that the work
rules have been more progressive for ten years.
Those union facilities are highly productive
facilities. It’s not a union or non-union issue
it's an inflexible union and living in the past
union.”

While this manager states that the issue is neither a union
nor non-union matter, he actually concludes his remark by
stating that it is a result of the nnign being inflexible
and living in the past that is a major contributor to the
current situation. He contradicts himself and still blames
the union for many of the problems the company faces. He
further states that the bidding system contributes to the
situation, and is linked to union inflexibility. The plant
manager made the following comment on this topic:

“(The) (w)ay we bid things for 25 years is an
indictment of our ability or inflexibility.
Flexibility is essence of survival. When you have
paradigms of inflexibility, shop rules of
inflexibility that have been propagandized for I
don’t know how many years with the union
mentality, and . . . management credibility
issues, all that is working against security.

(The union says) security is not my problem.
Profitability is all management’s fault. (We
must) think about root cause issues and the root
cause is excessive labor. Nobody is ready to come
to the table and say one of us must go.”

189

Here he sees the issue as the union who needs to make
adjustments, but it is not within the power of the union to
change the way in which things are bid with customers. That
is in fact an area that management has the authority to make
changes. The issue of nonflexibility in shop rules is a
traditional area of contention between union and management
and one in which one sees the conflict between labor and
management played out in the workplace. On the one side,
management blames the union for being inflexible in applying
shop floor rules and enforcing the union contract. On the
other, the union makes every attempt to preserve its base of
power. Of course, none of the managers are willing to
designate one of them as a position that can be eliminated
as a way to introduce cost savings.

One way for the union to accomplish this is through a
literal interpretation of the union contract and through
what the manager terms the “rigid application of shop
rules.” This conflict is repeated in workplaces throughout
capitalist enterprises even in the absence of a union. One
business unit manager stated: “Jobs and (the) union
contract are what run the top committee. The future is
something they think will always be there. They believe
that it is something that just won’t go away. I just don’t

think that they still today grasp the (financial) situation

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as it really is.” Several interviewees who are union
members related stories that the company has on a number of
occasions threatened to close the plant. Sometimes the
threat to close the plant was connected with requests that
the union giveback something they had won during previous
contract negotiations. Therefore, the union members found
it difficult to believe that the plant was really in
jeopardy and close to being closed by ”Corporate.” This
scenario is very similar to the fable of the "Little Boy Who
Cried Wolf.” That is, now that the plant may really be in
serious financial trouble, the union does not believe
management because of all the other times the company had
threatened this, but did not materialize.
Trust

An important aspect of labor-management relations to
consider is the level of trust that exists between the union
and management. When management follows through on
promises, then trust is more likely to develop between the
management and union. If the union believes that management
will do what they say, one can say that the union trusts
management. The level of trust at different facilities
varies and the level of trust is not constant. The level of
trust will increase and decrease over time and will depend

on what is occurring at the plant. Additionally, trust may

191

 

be generally good between the union and management, but
trust may be an issue between individuals. Certainly, the
level of trust between the union and management, provides
some insight into the class relations at the plant.

At the beginning of the EI program, the level of trust
between the union and management at XYZ was reported to be
fairly high. On the other hand, the trust level between
some key individuals in the union and management was not as
high. For example, one woman who was both a member of the
SC and the union top committee said: “. . . the trust
between me and the plant manager . . . it wasn’t there. He
was my enemy and I think I was his and before he was plant
manager, and I was a steward out there on the floor trying
to get things done, he would admit that he would stall just
because I was the steward out there. So we were not close.”
This characterizes the way the management and the union
tended to view each other at XYZ and is also a common
occurrence at other facilities, especially those that are
unionized.

Another union woman talked about the fact that while
the overall level of trust was good, there was little trust
between the union and management regarding the El program
when it was first proposed. The union entered into the

program with some hesitation because they were not sure what

192

would happen to the union under an El program. She said:
“We . . wanted to see what the company would do. We didn't
have the trust. We did not have the trust in the company to
not take advantage of the program.” This woman also noted
that once the E1 program was in place, many workers still
did not trust the company because they “. . .felt that it
was done to double your workload, eliminate jobs, (or) the
company was trying to pull something over you.”
EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT

Just as the conflict among the three personnel groups
was obvious in the pre-EI day-to-day operation of the plant,
it is also prevalent within the Employee Involvement
structure and processes. In fact, several interviewees
discussed numerous points of contention that were directly
related to the El program.

First, there were issues that arose in the context of

E1 that reflected the opposing agendas of the various groups
in the plant such as union and management. For example, one
business unit manager said: ". . .two agendas came into the
meetings. The hourly workforce had an agenda to make things
better for the hourly folks, and the management salary
portion came in with an agenda that were losing money and
we're going to use this (E1) to save money. They never

seemed to coincide." Essentially this points to the

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continuing conflict between the union and management over an
issue that is more important to one group than it is to
another. This unit manager is specifically referring to his
perception that the union never completely adopted the
management perspective that the foremost agenda for BI
should be the management goal to save money. An
administrative assistant said she thought the EI process
should have started with the managers and then been
disseminated to the rest of the plant. She stated:

“(I) went through several classes that they have,

uh, how DJC’s, the meaning of the DJC, how it’s

set up, what its purpose might be. . . I thought

in some areas it should of been started from the

top, instead it looked like it was working from

the bottom where it should have started from the

top and management would have been able to see the

purpose and started their own work before sending

it 0 their employees. Or maybe been able to put

it into, uh, a goal or something letting their

employees know this was their goal. It looked

like it worked backwards instead of being the way

it should have been.”
This is a clear example of the opposing agendas that existed
between management and the union at XYZ. This woman has
worked at the plant 35 years and is quite loyal to the
company. .Additionally, she is the same one who made the
comparison between the workers and the prisoners. This
reflects the line of thought that management should be the

ones holding the reins of power and control and it should

not be transferred in any way to the workers. In fact,

194

this EI program was designed to be a joint activity and
would not start with management. This is important because
the literature regarding EI demonstrates that programs that
begin without the active involvement of the workers and/or
unions tend to be unsuccessful. That is, they either did
not last very long or they did not move beyond the initial
implementation phase.

When the consultants applied for the grant to help
support the implementation of the BI project, it was
initiated by the union. Although management had previously
attempted to introduce the idea of an EI program, the union
had not been receptive to the idea. One of the chief
stewards said: “[I was] very leery of E1. Although it came
from our union, I felt that a lot of it was implanted still
by the company. I probably related it to the Quality
Circles that the company wanted for years and they'd been
told no on.” It is clear from this statement that even at
the initiation of the union, some union members were
hesitant about the company’s involvement in the
implementation of E1.

Another business unit manager reflected the opposing
agendas that emerged within the BI structure when he stated
that his hopes for the BI program were:

”(That) mgt and the union/hourly people would see

the situation that we found ourselves in and work

195

together to create an environment that was a

positive one that both the corporation and the

(people employed here would both prosper. By using

the people out there the way they said they wanted

to be involved and to use the knowledge that they

absolutely had, I thought it was, it is a sound

concept."
This manager did offer the following as an explanation for
managements’ position for citing the union as the group that
had to move toward a common goal with management especially
related to cutting costs. He said:

"I specifically talk to the hourly because we're

talking about the SC. I think the people who make

up the SC from the salary side are much more in

tune because we're the people who hear about it

and are expected to do something about it. The

hourly people are not under any dictate to do

anything about it from their leadership."

As noted in the previous chapter, the BI program is not
included in the collective bargaining agreement at XYZ
Motors, but is a parallel structure. Because it is not a
part of the contract, there are times when the company wants
the workers to conduct EI meetings without receiving
overtime pay, management felt this was an appropriate
request. The union, on the other hand, believes it is
important to enforce the contract and therefore refused to
work more than 40 hours a week unless they receive overtime
as it is stated in the contract. Members of the union to

whom I spoke indicated that they were not willing to “give

the company free time” because the company might use this to

196

justify asking them to give time to the company on occasions
other than EI meetings. The union applies a literal
interpretation of the contract regarding the payment of
overtime to prevent the establishment of a “customary
practice” which they feared would be used against them at a
later time. One front line supervisor stated that the
workers would only come to the E1 meetings if they were
being paid overtime for the meetings held before or after
work. He provided the following example: “. . . when it
got down to the employees giving of themselves, it (EI)
dropped off. Maybe like for our meeting (the DJC meeting)
maybe giving maybe an hour of their time for meetings and
then using time during the day to investigate things that
needed done (sic). They won't do anything unless paid for
it. You pay me time and a half to come in early and I'll
come in and do it.” Another supervisor also commented on
the fact that workers’ interest seemed to wane once the
company decided they would no longer pay overtime for DJC
meetings. He noted that the El program “. . . kind of fell
through. The reason it fell through, people found out it
wasn’t going to be done on OT. We were going to come a
little bit early, maybe an hour early and not get paid for
it and a lot of interest was lost there. When you tried to

switch to a point in time to do during the day, it broke

197

down.” These provide excellent examples of the view of
management and supervisors that they expected the workers to
act like salaried employees or management and volunteer
time.

Additionally, some union members also mentioned that
there are members who were not willing to come in early
unless they were paid for it. When two union men suggested
that the union apply a less literal interpretation of the
contract regarding overtime pay to accommodate EI, they were
accused of being “company men.” Several women who are DJC
members mentioned that it was not strictly the overtime
issue that prevented them from participating in meetings
without receiving overtime pay. Instead, for them, coming
in early or staying late meant they would have to pay
increased childcare costs and without the overtime, they
could not afford to pay the additional childcare expenses.
A prevalent attitude among the managers was that the workers
were interested in participating only if they were paid
overtime. The managers believed that the focus was on the
money, but for the workers, using a literal interpretation
of the contract was one way to protect the things they have
negotiated in the contract.

One woman who is a crib attendant also addressed this

issue when she discussed the way in which some of the

198

 

trainers/facilitators conducted meetings. She indicated
that there was pressure to conform with the point of view of
the facilitator and this left little room for any real
discussion. She said: “. . .some of the trainers. . .were
too directive or. . . (t)he facilitator would contradict and
say this is your number one problem.” So, instead of the
DJC actually prioritizing the problems they had identified,
the group was pressured to work on the problem the
facilitator had identified as most important. In fact, she
further noted that the trainer who engaged in this type of
pressure more than other trainers was one who had worked in
human resources before he became an El trainer. This
reinforces the view that the workers needed to come in line
with management’s thinking and do what the managers thought
was the most important thing to get done.

I believe management has some genuine interest in
increasing the participation of workers in the operation of
the plant, but they are not willing to really allow the
workers to have the authority necessary to participate at a
real level. For example, one union member indicated that he
did not think management was serious because he did not
think: “. . .management is listening enough.” Workers often
complain that management does not listen to them. While on

some occasions it appears that management is listening to

199

workers ideas, the workers indicated that there is a lack of
following through on workers’ suggestions. This then
reinforces to workers that management is not seriously.
listening to the suggestions made by the union. Some union
members may complain about management not listening and
others state that they think management will steal their
ideas. One worker stated: “Normally, if one of us comes up
with an idea, they’ll immediately say, lets take it under
advisement. That means they’ll think about this idea.”
Conversely, the union was reluctant to take the
. responsibility to be an active participant. The millwright
pOinted this out when he said: ”. . .the union body and the
management body of this shop weren't able to break down
those barriers totally and really look at this as a-
partnership situation. They still held too many things
sacred to each other that they were unwilling to put on the
table and do anything with." He further stated: "On the
union side, I think we were unwilling to develop what is
being forced today which is work cells, multifunctional
people. We didn't want that, we felt that a lot of that
paper work was a management thing...management had to
maintain man power (and) our people didn't have to be that
responsible for their job." Several members of the union

top committee indicated that to adopt a multifunctional job

200

classification would undercut the union's ability to protect
jobs. They feared that a move to a multifunctional job
classification would lead to jobs being lost and thus Would
lead to layoffs.

The plant manager indicated in his interview that he
believed there are many different ways to attain a specific
goal and one of those might be a "participative mode. . .but
people must be on board, qualified, understand, have
ability, and will sign up for the responsibility to
participate." Another contradiction appears to be that a
participative management structure will be desirable only if
the workers are ready and willing to take on the
responsibility necessary to make the venture work.
Unfortunately, it is often the case that management only
gives lip service to providing workers with appropriate
level of responsibility and autonomy required to make a
participative venture to be successful.

In fact, I often observed instances where managers did
not permit employees sufficient autonomy to successfully
complete a project that had been approved by the EI Steering
Committee. For example, the SC approved a project to get
electrical cable and air hoses mounted on the presses which
was considered to be an important project because the hoses

and cords posed a safety hazard and the company could be

201

fined by OSHA. Many of the materials necessary to complete
the project were available in the plant in the form of scrap
metal. Once the project was approved, the materials were
purchased and two of the men from the skilled trades were
going to construct the mounts and install them on the
presses. Unfortunately, other duties prevented these
individuals from working on the mounts for the presses. In
her interview, one woman union member said:

"What was really frustrating was they bought the

hose reels to mount on the presses and they set

(sic) in the maintenance area for several months

and then they moved them again. They kept getting

closer to the back door. And then maintenance

starts taking them for their own personal use, and

very few ever got put on the presses. Hoses and

electrical cords contribute to poor housekeeping
because they get oily and you can't clean around

(them) so people quit cleaning. And they're a

hazard because people trip over them.”

Another woman in the union and a member of the SC
supported the view that the company acts in ways that serve
to prevent the success of the BI program. When she was
asked whether the E1 program had lived up to her
expectations, this finish unit general inspector said: “The
company wouldn’t let it. The company always had the final
say.” When I asked her if there is someone in specific she
had in mind when she said the “company had the final say”

and she replied: “The plant manager and the finance control

guy.” Her choice of words here are very telling because the

202

manager of the accounting department also carried the title
of “controller” of the local plant. This is a title that is
often used to identify the individual who is in charge 6f
finances. And interestingly, the man who is the controller
is often seen as someone who needs to control things or to
have the final say on a given subject. He was described by
one of the union men as: “I don't think he felt the other
managers or the union peOple had the ability or knowledge to
understand what we were getting into.” In other words,'the
controller had to be involved to ensure that things would be
done the way he thought they should which meant things had
to be done in the most cost effective way possible.

Similarly, one of the skilled tradesmen provides an
example of management having the final say and the negative
impact that had on the El program. He said that when the
new plant manager arrived:

“In that time frame, Oct-Nov, they (management)

just stopped, they said we're not going to do that

anymore. [It will be] (b)usiness as usual. The

union side of it was immediate withdrawal from it.

. . The union entourage_just said: ‘Yeah this is

just what we figured’. We just immediately put

the wall back up and said yep, we knew it the

company just wanted to get things out of us, a

freebie from us, they've gone as far as they want

with E1, they feel it' s time to stop it there's

nothing we can do so we just threw the wall back

up and got on our own side of it.”

An example of the communication pattern between

management and the union within the context of the E1

203

program provides an example of the way in which information
is not communicated to everyone who should receive it. A
form to be used for the agenda at EI meetings was developed
by the SC but the existence of this form was not adequately
communicated to all members of the DJCs. For example, one
union member stated: “I remember I was asked to be
facilitator and our meetings started fumbling because I had
no idea there was a prepared sheet to fill out for doing
minutes, order of business and stuff like that.” In this
particular DJC, each of the management members was aware of
and used the form for the agenda while this worker and
others did not. It appears that the flow of communication
did not reach everyone who was involved in the DJC groups.
This could be explained because the managers would meet in
other meetings besides the DJC meetings where the topic of
the activities of the SC and the DJCs would be discussed.
So, if a manager missed a DJC meeting, he was likely to find
out about new forms or activities in another context. Since
workers only attended DJC meetings, if they missed a meeting
then they would not be privy to the information shared in
the other meetings.

Another example of the way communication does or does
not flow at XYZ is provided by a former president of the

local union. He notes that prior to the introduction of the

204

EI program, employees would not be likely to volunteer any
information about how well a product was running on any
given day. He said: “Without EI you wouldn’t have any of
that. The employee would just traditionally (be) doing that
job and would not share in knowledge or input of the
product.” But, as a result of EI being implemented, if only
temporarily, workers are more willing to share information
about how well the part is running. One of the general
operators in the mold unit told me that he has always kept a
small notebook in his pocket to keep track of information
about different parts and the daily conditions. “I know how
this place works that I've kept in reserve in the twenty
years I've worked here.” In the context of the E1 program,
he did begin to share this information he has been
recording.

Additionally, within the context of the El program,
issues of status were mentioned by several of the salaried
workers. It emerged that some of the salaried workers
resented the upward movement of the workers. Specifically,
they resented those workers who became full-time EI trainers
and thus were freed from their jobs on the line. For
example one a woman took issue with the way the trainers
were selected because she felt she was very qualified for

the position. She said:

205

“I’d like to back up to the beginning of the E1

program. How it came about, there were some bad

feelings about it. We wondered how certain people

got picked when other people were qualified. ‘Let

me give you an example, Karen. My background is in

interpersonal and public communication. I studied

at Central, I have a degree in it and yet, was I

ever considered for the El, even though I would

have loved to have been involved in that. You

know, I never heard about it until some of these

training groups.”
Once the trainers were engaged in training and other EI
activities on a full-time basis, these individuals were
happier and that happiness is directly related to their role
as EI trainers. Another salaried worker commented on this
situation. She said: “When I look . . . at Connie and Jim,
I still think they have themselves on a pedestal and up
there and why should they be back on the floor because
they’ve had all this training. . . you shouldn’t set
yourself up above the other employees.” She was obviously
resentful of the ability of these two trainers to devote
their energies to the E1 program and to union duties and not
have to work on the shop floor. Of course, it would not
have been possible for the trainers to do what had to be
done for the E1 program and be assigned to their regular
jobs as well.

The interviewees were asked: “Were the members of the

DJCs treated any differently than any other employee?” The

purpose in posing this question was to determine whether or

206

not those who were involved in the BI program were perceived
as being in some sort of a privileged position. Although
many of those interviewed responded in the negative, one
response demonstrates the perception that some of the
salaried personnel held toward the line workers who are
trainers. This woman responded to the question by saying:

“I know there was a lot of conversation about

people leaving their jobs to go to training or to

meetings. I know there was a lot of concern or

something about the people who were involved, the

trainers and the coordinator. We had four people

who were doing nothing but spending eight hours a

day or how many hours they were on the DJCs. It

just seemed that there was a lot of comments about

that. [Also] (h)ow were these people picked and to

spend that much time and stuff like that.” '
This woman works in the accounting department and, had just
finished completed a college degree in accounting and she
felt she was more qualified for the position of trainer than
any of the workers who were chosen. “You know, I had set up
training schedules and whole programs, planning and
scheduling. . . I could have been teaching or was more
skilled in teaching the class than the people who were
teaching.” These women clearly resented the opportunities
that workers from the shop had to be involved in EI
activities that took them off the shop floor. It seemed
that they believed that the salaried workers should have had

the first opportunity to become the trainers. Resented

apparent autonomy workers got while they had to do their

207.

regular jobs and participate in EI projects and activities.
Also, because they believed they are just as good if not
better trained to do the problem solving training.

Salaried personnel were not the only ones who perceived
the trainers in a different light. Several union members
made comments regarding trainers and those who participated
in the DJCs. From the perspective of those on the shop.
floor, the workers who became trainers were perceived to be
“in bed with management.” One trainer expressed in his
interview that some of the people on the shop floor thought
he was “selling out to the company.” One woman noted that
she thought the trainers were perceived to be “agents of
management” by some of the workers on the shop floor. In
response to the question: “Do you feel you lost anything
because of the E1 program?”a trainer provided this insight
into the perception that shop floor workers had of the
trainers: “I lost some friends or at least people I thought
were friends because of where I was because there were some
diehard union peOple who did not understand an hourly person
as a trainer or mediator between hourly and management.”
Again, this is one time when the participation of the
trainers became suspect and is viewed as selling out to

management which puts them in a privileged position.

208

The members of the DJCs were not spared this
perception. One union worker said: “The ones that were
involved and the ones that cared about (EI) had a brighter
outlook on it. . . outsiders, they just looked at the people
in the DJCs as kiss asses.” He went on to explain that he
thought some of this happened because it “. . . brought out
the jealousy in some people.” Following this same line of
thinking, another worker said that members of the DJCs
“caught flak” and were “a bunch of brown nosed ass kissers.”
He heard an exchange between two workers on the line, one
who was in a DJC and one who was not. The DJC member was
interested in getting out a good quality part while the
other person was interested in functioning the way he always
had which was to let the next person down the line worry
about the part’s quality. This is an example of friction
that occurred on the shop floor between those who are
members of DJCs and those who are not. Additionally, one of
the mold plant supervisors said: “The plant, I think, maybe
the plant catered to the people in the EI groups than to
someone who just came up with an idea.” This definitely
demonstrates that workers who were members of DJCs were
perceived by shop floor workers as being treated as more

privileged.

209

 

One general operator/inspector in the Finish Unit
commented that he thought the members of the DJCs were
treated differently than those who were not members of a
DJC. He stated: “At first it seemed like a big social club,
foremen picked favorites, they got to get off work and
stuff. . . (and) some of the hourly employees actually had
full time jobs in EI. They were (not) just picked at random
(but) because they were friends. That’s preferential

‘

treatment as far as I was (sic) concerned. It certainly
wasn’t because of any ability.”

.Although these examples are directly related to the EI
program, a former president of the union local said, ’
“Anybody that’s been in meetings with the company over the
years, there’s remarks made on the side- - (are they) a
company person now? And they even said that about me too.”
This is a common occurrence in facilities where joint
meetings take place. Those who are not part of the process
tend to believe that whoever is part of it has sold out to
the company.

CHANGES IN STRATIFICATION

Although much of‘the class structure was not altered by

the introduction of Employee Involvement at XYZ Mbtors, some

of those interviewed noted that there were some poSitive

changes that occurred because of the Employee Involvement

210

program. Changes occurred between union and management and
between the salaried employees and the union.

For example, one change noted was an increased
acceptance or a decrease of friction between the union and
management. One woman who was a member of the SC and a
general operator in the Finish Unit felt the EI program had
shown the “company the workers weren’t out here just pushing
buttons running a molding plant press or just taking a
sander and doing sanding work. I always told people we were
an untapped resource with ideas that could be used. It (EI)
proved it. The company was impressed with some of the
people.? This feeling was_echoed by the local truck driver
who said: “People feel that management (is) working more
with them now and they do have a say. . .Supervision and the
company listened to people finally. It’s improved quality
and performance for the plant. You have people from the
company coming to you and asking you if there’s a better way
to do the job.” Prior to EI, this would have rarely
occurred where management asked the workers for their
opinion on how something could be done better. Another
worker who is a general operator in the Mold Unit said he
believed the company was willing to “listen more than they
did before. EI made company aware of what potential they

had out there as far as information.” Often, prior to E1,

211

even if management did seek the opinion of the worker, they
would listen, but would not implement the suggestion of the
worker. While management may have had a legitimate reason
for not following the suggestion of a worker, it appeared to
the worker that management was not listening to what they
had to say. This change in the attitude of management
toward the workers was also noted by a utility worker in the
Finish Unit who said he believed there is “a better working
relationship between management and hourly. And we had some
people who weren’t scared to bring their ideas up to
management people.”

Another worker felt that there was some movement away
from the us/them ideology that is so prevalent in"
organizations. He said: “Well, you figure, when this thing
started, it was still them and us. . . And now we’re pretty
much an us.” This general operator who works in the Mold
Unit also said he believed there had been a change in
“Attitudes, ‘cus they had a couple good DJCs on 2d shift,
too. They used to have quite a few loose cannons rUnnin’
around there. So, they got ‘em harnessed (through the
DJCs).”

When I asked a general operator in the Mold Unit if she
thought EI had made a difference in the organizatiOn of the

plant she responded:

212

“Yes, I think it did. . . like the white collar

workers or the salaried people would give the

hourly people a chance to give their opinion to

what needed to be done. . . So I think it made

the hourly people feel a little more involved with

salary people rather than they think they are

better than we are and we aren't gonna, you know,

we aren't going to say anything to them or

whatever. With the DJC it kinda brought them

together more where,_you know the agreement was

between us rather than one sided."

.Although the purpose of the question was to determine
whether any structural changes had occurred as a result of
IE such as a flattening of the hierarchy, this statement
provided an indication that the separation between the union
and management ranks decreased because of the individuals’
participation in the DJCs. Additionally, it was an instance
where it appeared that management was beginning to listen to
what hourly people had to say about the workplace.

Changes also occurred for some of the managers. Of
those I interviewed, one of the Business Unit managers said
that he had developed more compassion for “life out on the
floor and decisions (I make) went from autocratic to less
than autocratic. I tried to use people’s ideas and let them
help and/or make decisions.” Although this was a change for
him, a careful consideration of the way he made the
statement reveals that it is still he who has the authority

to make a decision or to let a worker make a decision. I

asked the manager the following question “Have you

213

 

experienced any benefits or gains because of the El program?
If yes, what do you feel you gained?” His reply indicated
some of the positive movement toward a more cooperative
workplace. He replied: “Sure, probably more so personally
than with the business. I'm much more comfortable going out
on the floor or having hourly workers in my office. I put
more value in their thoughts and how they see a particular
situation than 10 yrs ago. I have more respect for their
intelligence and the contribution they can make.” He also
noted that he saw people “taking more interest in their job
and quality of the product they put out.”

Another Unit manager expressed a similar sentiment and
said that because of the E1 program, “I believe that I’m
much more aware of . . . the hourly . . their mind set,
where they come from. It’s easier to understand them after
sitting with them for all this time. It becomes a matter of
at first sitting off you can blame them, but after a while
you become more aware of their situation and what they are
really trying to say.” This is certainly one of the things
that has been demonstrated when opposing groups have been
brought together to work on a common goal or project. The
barriers between them come down and it is less easy to blame
the other group for the problem. He went on to note: “I met

very good people outside of the top committee out on the

214

floor thru this. I perceive the people out on the floor as
much more valuable. . .” For this manager, the El program
allowed him to get to know some of the workers from the shop
floor which allowed him to change his perception of them.
CHAPTER SUMMARY

We have seen that inequality, stratification and
conflict were present before the E1 program started and were
reproduced within the structure of the Employee Involvement
program. This reproduction was observed and emerged in the
interviews through the use of language such as the use of
plural subjects with singular verb forms and the way words
were pronounced by salaried, management and union personnel.
The pattern of authority and power followed class patterns
both before and after the implementation of the BI program.
The types of decisions each group made reflects the level of
authority or power. The method of dress reflects one’s
class at XYZ and the managers resisted changing the way in
which they dressed even though they said they were
interested in reducing the division between them and the
workers.

The job hierarchy at XYZ follows traditional divisions
of labor with managers and skilled trades in the most
desirable positions. The introduction of Employee

Involvement did not change this pattern and in fact, a new

215

layer of stratification was added. Even though the new jobs
that were created because of El were not accompanied by a
change in the rate of pay, the individuals in the jobs
enjoyed a higher sense of status and were perceived by
people in all strata as being in a privileged position.
Last, conflict was present and was replicated within the E1
framework. This conflict was apparent in the opposing
agendas of management and the workers, the presence of the
ideology of blaming the victim and the level of trust.

Some change did occur and while the changes noted by
the interviewees could not be directly related to the
implementation of the E1 program, several changes could be a
result of the E1 program. First, there was an increased
acceptance of the union members and their ideas by
management as well as acceptance by the union for ideas put
forth by management. As a result, there was less of a
division evident between the two groups. As one person put
it, there was less of an “us versus them atmosphere at the
plant.” Several managers noted that they had developed
compassion for life on the shop floor. Even with the noted
changes, there were no real changes in the division of labor

or stratification at the plant.

216

CHAPTER 7
GENDER, LABORéMANAGEMENT RELATIONS AND PARTICIPATION

In this chapter, I summarize the findings of my
research, provide a critique of Acker’s model of gendering
organizational analysis, consider the importance of my
findings for the discipline of Sociology especially in the
areas of stratification, inequality, work and gender.
Additionally, I will discuss possible directions for future
research suggested by my finding.

RESEARCH FINDINGS

Using feminist and Marxian lenses, I did a descriptive
case study of XYZ Motors and the experiences of the women
and men who work there. I conducted an analysis of
documentary and field data and provided answers to the
research questions put forth in Chapter 1. .Although I
present information regarding gender and class power as
separate concepts, they are phenomena which are linked to
each other. The overarching research questions were: In
what ways is the XYZ Motors gendered in relation to the
processes, practices, images, ideologies, and distributions
of power? ‘With the implementation of the Employee
Involvement program.at XYZ Motors, what did the workers
experience? By observing interactions between members of
the organization and through interviews, it was clear that
inequality, stratification and a division of labor by class

217

 

and gender were all present at XYZ Motors before, during and
after the implementation of the labor—management
participation program.
Gender

The gendered nature of XYZ was apparent and was
reflected in and reproduced in the Employee Involvement
program. First, the gendered nature of job divisions at XYZ
remained essentially unchanged and was reproduced in the El
program. Women still tend to be located in less desirable
jobs more often than men and even the one woman who was
hired into a managerial position was hired into a department
that is not connected to an internal labor market. During
the E1 program, the company experienced an economic downturn
through the loss of a product line and as a result, layoffs
occurred. Therefore, no openings occurred in the skilled
trades so I could not directly assess whether the El program
might have encouraged more women to apply to the program. I
can speculate that since the organization did not have a
strategy in place to attempt to include more women in the
skilled trades, it is likely that if an opening occurred, it
would probably not be filled by a woman applicant.
Typically, the jobs occupied by women required fewer skills,
had less task diversity, and involved less decision-making.
For example, only women were support staff, more women were
general operators or inspectors and more men were mold

218

 

 

operators, and more women worked in the Mold Unit which is
more physically strenuous and less clean work than that in
the Finish Unit. Also, women’s complaints or concerns were
taken less seriously at the plant than were similar
complaints voiced by men.

Within the Employee Involvement program, gender was
reproduced in the selection of the trainers and the E1
Coordinator. More men were selected to be trainers and the
individual “preselected” to be the coordinator was one of
the male supervisors. Also, the types of activities the DJC
members reflected the gendered nature of the plant. The
women tended to engage in activities that are traditionally
done by women such as record keeping and taking minutes
while the men mentioned data collection and problem solving
as activities in which they participated in the EI program.
Further, when the DJC/SC participants were asked whether the
group they were in had a leader, the person identified most
often as a leader was one of the men in the group. Seldom
was a woman identified as a leader. Symbolic
representations persisted in the way managers and skilled
trades workers dressed, the use and treatment of space, and
the use of language such as denigrating comments toward
women or the use of the pronoun “he” to refer to mixed

gender groups or positions.

219

One area in which the El program appeared to have a
positive effect on the participants was their perception of
the change in power and authority. While I had expected the
participants to indicate that they had not experienced an
increase in power, both men and women indicated that they
experienced an increase in power and authority.

The workers reproduced gender in their interactions at
work. Gender was reproduced by men through jokes they told
that denigrated women. The women reproduced gender by
engaging in gossiping and tattling. Moreover, subordination
and dominance were reproduced through interaction between
women and men. This occurred when women placed themselves
in a subordinate position to men at the plant and in the way
men approached women.

Gender was also reproduced gender through internal
mental work. For example, women noted that they developed
skills that are typically identified as traits found in
women more than men such as listening and patience. Another
woman referred to herself as “scatterbrained” which is not a
term used to describe men.

Worker Experience of Class Power

Even though the capitalist owners of the means of
production were not located at the plant, the managers acted
as agents of the capitalists. The system of class power
operated before and after the El program was implemented and

220

was minimally influenced by the E1 program. For example,
the hierarchical structure of the organization did not
flatten as a direct result of the BI program. .Although the
hierarchy remained, interviewees indirectly linked some
changes to the BI program such as the introduction of the
joint safety committee and the Quality Line Stop procedure.
Also, with the introduction of Employee Involvement, two new
positions were created that were perceived as positions of
status even though they were not accompanied by an increase
in wages. .A reorganization of the plant did lead to the
elimination of several supervisory positions but this did
not decrease the layers of hierarchy because the layer of
supervision was not eliminated. Some of the supervisors
whose positions were eliminated were absorbed into other
departments while others sought employment at other
facilities.

When change did occur, it was not experienced by all
members of the organization in the same way. I found that
the power and authority structures were not directly
affected by the implementation of the Employee Involvement
program. Essentially, organizational power and authority
are still concentrated with management personnel. Power in
terms of access to organizational resources was not
redistributed with the exception of a small discretionary
fund for each problem solving group to use for projects.

221

L

 

However, shop floor workers did perceive a difference in the
level of power or authority they believed they had in
relation to their jobs. Of those interviewed, six women and
seventeen men reported an increase in authority and six
women and thirteen men reported an increase in power.

Another area in which change might have occurred is
decision making. The problem solving groups and the
Steering Committee members were all trained in consensus
decision-making and was the strategy used in those groups.
When interviewees were asked about who made decisions before
and during the BI program, most answered that it is their
supervisor, foreman or boss that makes decisions about the
workers day-to-day work routine. It appears that workers
gained little authority over their daily work lives. The
pace of the work was still dictated by the cycle time of the
machinery being used and production quotas. However, some
individuals did report feeling empowered because they could
set up the press themselves and could implement the Quality
Line Stop procedure.

While interviewees indicated that there was a decrease
in some class conflict, it has not been eliminated. The
workers are still not the owners of the means of production
and managers still serve as agents of the owners. The
opposing agendas of labor and management were still evident
at the conclusion of this research. Management’s primary

222

goal is to increase profits and decrease the costs of
production. The Employee Involvement program was a strategy
management sought to use to advance those goals. The union,
on the other hand, is still interested in preserving jobs
and improving working conditions and they utilized the E1
program to further their agenda. Although these results may
not be surprising, my research supports previous findings
that participative structures seldom influence class
relations in capitalistic organizations.
.A CRITIQUE OF ACKER'S CONCEPTUAL MODEL

The model I used to consider gender in this research is
a useful framework for analyzing organizations and although
it appears to be a fairly straightforward model, I
discovered some inherent difficulties in applying the model.
First, it appears that the model assumes the existence of
class and in order to bring out the specific ways in which
class is present at XYZ Motors, I addressed gender and class
separately. If I had not created this artificial separation
of gender and class, the class power relations would have
been far less visible than I have presented. Further, while
I followed the model and separated Acker’s four processes
for the purpose of discussion, they were not discrete
processes but at various junctures they actually overlap.
For example, there were instances that internal mental work
and processes of subordination were closely linked. When

223

women described themselves as becoming better listeners,
this may actually be a combination of internal mental work .
and the reproduction of subordinate and dominant relations.
At the same time, being a listener is often the subordinate
position in an interaction and thus, they are recreating
subordination.
IMPORTANCE OF THE RESEARCH

This research is important because it provides support
for previous studies on labor-management relations and
participation programs. My findings confirm that the
relations between the groups do not change, or change very
little, under such a structure or program. Second, this
research goes beyond previous research because I explicitly
examine gender within the context of the Employee
Involvement program at XYZ. The literature on participative
structures does not specifically address gender and tends to
perpetuate the ideology of the worker who is genderless.
Third, by examining labor-management relations and gender in
a participative structure, I attempt to make a contribution
to the conceptualization of gender, class and work in
Sociology. I would propose that further research needs to
be done to provide an empirical foundation for
conceptualizing the ways in which the reconstruction of
gender and class power serve the organization and the
individuals in it. Additionally, I would suggest that

224

 

future research explore the ways in which class, gender and
race intersect to perpetuate the divisions we find in the
work place.

IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

It appears that real partnership was not achieved at
XYZ but things went in a circle from the introduction of the
El program through its demise and returning to a traditional
management structure. Although there are a few changes that
occurred at the organizational level, changes between
individuals did occur. For example, the level of trust
between the chief steward and the plant manger increased.
Also, the perception of an outspoken woman changed from
being one of a “whiner” to the accepting that she had
legitimate ideas and suggestions.

Because labor-management relations and gender are
inextricably linked, I believe another model that keeps both
processes at the forefront of analysis would provide a more
comprehensive analysis of the processes and structures in
organizations. Workers reconstructed gender images and
interactions and they did so because it served their own
interests such as the example of the press operator who
wanted her machine fixed. Also, the reproduction of gender
may accommodate the interest of the employer. At other
times, the reconstruction of gendered images actually

contradicted the interest of their gender or class

225

interests. For example, when the women in a salaried
position tattled on the trainer for refusing to bump into a
production job, she excluded the working class woman from a
definition of gender. Does this then mean that the woman in
the salaried position is merely a victim of the system? I
do not believe that she is merely a victim but is acting in
ways that allows her to make sense of her work environment
even though she may have internalized dominant class and
gender images. Neither of these women may actually be
comfortable in their respective positions because they are
both in positions that are traditionally held by men and
thus they may feel as if they do not belong in the place
they occupy at XYZ.

This research is a preliminary investigation upon which
further exploration of organizational life at XYZ could have
been built. With the sufficient passage of time, the
workers might be less distrustful of a quantitative method
such as a survey, especially if the survey is developed and
administered by an outside researcher and not by management.
The survey could further examine the research question
regarding the influence the BI program has on class and
gender structures. Specifically, survey items could be
developed which would provide additional information on the
distribution of power and authority at structural and
individual levels. Since some interviewees indicated they

226

experienced an increase in power or authority, a survey
could provide further insight into why they experienced the
increase when other workers did not. Also, a larger segment
of the plant population would have the opportunity to
respond and provide information regarding their perception
of the influence of the EI program. .All this would then
make the information gathered more generalizable.

This research could be replicated in manufacturing
facilities which have changed or are changing to a “lean
production” system. I would recommend that baseline
information be gathered through interviews with key
personnel from each layer of the organization and administer
a survey to an appropriate sample population. These
activities can be replicated at another time to do a
comparison before and after the implementation of a
participative program. Conducting the research in this way
would allow the researcher to identify whether any change
took place and to what degree the labor-management and
gender structures changed. This is an important
recommendation because the most recent literature indicates
that employee participation appears to be occurring in
conjunction with the introduction of lean production and
quality management systems. Within these systems, managers

often talk about the empowerment of workers, but workers,

227

 

whether in a union or not, often express continued conflict
and dissatisfaction.

In addition to expanding the knowledge about the
influence of the BI program at XYZ, this type of research
could also be conducted in other sectors of the economy such

as the service sector, educational institutions and

 

government. Each of these institutions currently faces many )

of the problems manufacturers are facing today. They are

 

all interested in improving quality and decreasing costs.
Thus, this would afford opportunities to explore various
strategies used by the different types of organizations to
determine whether they are successful in improving quality
or to decreasing costs.

For anyone who is attempting to implement some form of
employee participation or empowerment programs, I make the
following suggestions. I suggest that the workers be given
not only the responsibility to identify problems but
authority to solve them. The authority will most likely
have to be introduced in a gradual way and be linked with
appropriate training for employees at all levels of the
organization. Additionally, every effort should be made to
involve personnel at all levels of the organizations. If a
steering committee of some sort is utilized, I recommend
that all groups at the facility be represented, for example,
salaried, union and management personnel. .Additionally,

228

eliminate the perception that the steering committee is just
another elite group on which only management and top
committee members have the opportunity to participate. To
accomplish this, I suggest that the membership of the
steering committee be rotated to provide more opportunities
for all those who are interested to participate at that
level. These recommendations may improve the work life of
personnel in organizations with employee involvement or
other participation programs. I would not expect complete
satisfaction to occur as long as the means of production and
day-to-day control of work remains outside the purview of

the workers.

229

APPENDICES

230

 

4.a.

4.b.

5.

7.a.

.APPENDIX.A

INTERVIEW’QUESTIONS
For Departmental Joint Committee (DJCs) Members,
Steering Committee, and other shop floor employees

Name (if willing to provide it).
Gender: F M

How long have you worked at XYZ Motors Automotive?

In which business unit do you work?
Department?

On what product do you work?

Job duties?

Have you ever been a member of a DJC (departmental joint
committee) or the SC (steering committee)? YES NO

If yes, how long?

When did you first learn of the DJCs?

When did you first have an opportunity to join?

If no, why do you think you haven't been a member? (If
they have not been a member of a DJC, go to questions
for non—members)

What hopes did you have of the EI program?
Did the E1 program live up to your hopes/expectations?

Did anyone approach you to become a member? Yes No
Who? Their job in relation to you?

Why did you become a member of the DJC/Steering
Committee?

Did you learn any new skills as part of the DJC/SC?
YES NO
If yes, what did you learn? Data collection,
Presentation to the PWSC (Plant-Wide Steering
Committee)

.As a member of a DJC/SC what did you do?
Could you describe some of the activities?
Meetings, Problem Solving, Rewards

Did your participation in any of these activities have

any effect on your work here? YES NO
If yes, what?

231

8. Did your DJC/SC have a leader? YES NO
Who was the leader?
His/her job?
How was he/she selected?

9. What did your DJC/SC accomplish?

10. Did the DJC program change your work in any way? YES
NO
How? (If yes)
Why not? (If no)
Why do you think it didn't?

10.a. Did the El program change the way people talked about
their work?

11. Did the implementation of EI change the way your
department was organized?

YES NO

How? (If yes)

Why not? (If no)

11.a. Did the BI program change the way the plant was
organized? Did the same people work in the same jobs,
and side of the plant? YES NO

How?

12. Who made decisions about your day-to-day work before
the E1 program started?

Has there been any change?

Are decisions made be the same person(s)?
Management/supervisors only?

13. Before the BI program began, who could authorize
purchases?
Who can authorize purchases now?

14. Are there any changes that you have observed that you
think were the result of the Employee Involvement
program?

What were they?

15. Would you say the El program was successful?
If yes, what was successful?
If no, why do you think it was not successful?

16. Have you experienced any benefits or gains because of
the BI program?
If yes, what do you feel you gained?

232

 

16.a. Have you lost anything because of the El program?
YES NO
If yes, what do you feel you lost?

17. Have you seen any improvements that you feel are the
result of the El effort?

18. Is there anything you would like to tell me about the
BI program that I haven't asked about?

POSSIBLE GAINS/LOSSES
DUE TO THE EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT PROGRNM

GAINS LQSSES HQ

Job related skills

 

 

Knowledge or information
(job related)

 

 

Authority

 

 

Power

 

 

Problem solving
skills

 

 

How do you define authority?

How do you define power?

233

INTERVIEW’QUESTIONS
For NON-Departmental Joint Committee (DJCs) Members,

Steering Committee, and other shop floor employees

1.

4a.

4b.

4c.

5.

6.

Name (if willing to provide it).

 

Gender: F M

How long have you worked at XYZ Motors Automotive?

In which business unit do you work?
Department?
On what product do you work?

Have you ever been a member of a DJC (departmental joint

committee) or the SC (steering committee)? YES NO
If yes, how long?

When did you first learn of the DJCs?

When did you first have an opportunity to join?

What hopes did you have for the BI program?
Did the El program live up to your expectations?

Did anyone approach you to become a member? YES NO
If yes, who?

Their job in relation to you?

If no, is there any reason you didn't become a member?
(If they have not been a member of a DJC, go to
questions for non-members)

INTERVIEW’QUESTIONS
(For employees who were not members of a DJC)

Are you aware of the kinds of activities for which the

members of DJCs were responsible? YES NO
What are they?

a. Meetings

b. Data collection

c. Presentations to the PWSC

Were the members of the DJCs treated any differently

than any other employee? YES NO

If yes, How?

(Recipients of rewards - pizza parties for successful
resolution of a problem, getting off work for meetings,
data collections, & presentations, pens, t-shirts)

234

.10.

ll.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

Who were the people in your department who became
members or were active in the DJCs?

What positions did they hold in the department? Are
they still doing exactly the same work?

YES NO

Why not?

Even though you were not a part of the DJC, were you
ever, involved in any DJC activity?
If yes, what?

Do you think the DJC program changed your work in any
way? YES NO

How? (If yes)

Why not?

Why do you think it didn't?

Did the implementation of DJCs change the way your
department was organized?

YES NO

How? (If yes) Why not? Why do you think it didn't?

The plant?

Who made decisions about your day-to-day work before
EI? Has there been any change? YES NO

What-has changed? Who makes them now?

Are decisions made by the same person(s)?

Who could authorize purchases prior to the formation of
the DJCs? Who can authorize expenditures now?

Are there any changes that you have observed that you
think were the result of the Employee involvement
program? YES NO

What were they? How long have you observed this/these
change(s)?

Would you say the DJC program was successful?

YES NO If yes, what was successful about it?

Have you experienced any benefits or gains from the E1
program? YES NO

What did you gain or benefit?

Have you lost anything because of the E1 program?

YES NO What do feel you lost because of the EI
program? If no, why do you think the program was not
successful?

235

18. Is there anything you would like to tell me about the
BI program that I haven't asked about?

POSSIBLE GAINS/LOSSES
DUE TO THE EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT PROGRAM

GAINS WW

Job related skills

 

 

Knowledge or information
(job related)

 

Authority

 

Power

 

Problem solving
skills

 

How do you define authority?

How do you define power?

236

.APPENDIX B
INTRODUCTION TO INTERVIEW/INFORMED CONSENT

.As you may recall, in October, 1989, an Employee
Involvement Program was started here. As part of my
dissertation, I am interested in finding out what you think
of the Employee Involvement Program. I will be asking you
some questions to find out whether you think the EI Program
made any impact on the way you do your work.

I have selected your name at random from a list of all
employees. The interview will last approximately one hour
to one and a half hours. Your participation will cost you
nothing other than your time. You are not required to
participate and if you wish to decline, you may do 50.

Anything you say will be kept strictly confidential.
No one here at the company or in the union will ever see
your individual interview. I will provide a copy of my
final dissertation to the Plant Manager and to the President
of IUE Local 420.

If you have any questions regarding my research, you
may contact Dr. Kevin Kelly at Michigan State University.
His phone number is (517)355-7747 or (517)355-6640 (message
number). You may also call me at (517)339-9070.

Do you have any questions?

I greatly appreciate your participation.

237

INTERVIEW'CONSENT FORM

I agree to be interviewed by Karen L.
Lambourne regarding my work and the Employee Involvement
Program.

 

I also understand that this is a confidential interview
that no one but Karen Lambourne will have access to my
individual interview. I further understand that my name and
any others I may mention will be changed should quotes be
used in her dissertation and/or book. I understand that I
may choose to stop participating in this interview at
anytime.

 

 

NAME DATE
I agree to have my interview tape recorded.

I do not wish to have my interview tape recorded.

238

APPENDIX C

 

 

 

XYZ MOTORS POSITION DESCRIPTION Review edB y: Date/Initial
l. _ 5.
2 6.
3 7.
4. 8.

Position Classification Number:
(Position Title)
W Reports to:
(Div/Plant/DethLocstion) (Position Title)

Exempt _X_ Non-Exempt __ Functional Reporting Relationship:

(Position Title)
POSITION SUMMARY
A. Brief Description of the Position: (‘ " ' ' ' activities bv; L * " and

 

 

mining an 2259 am ammpnatg 121C A“ ' ‘ and training new mmhm‘ ' "
'.. . .‘ W.‘.' '.' .I‘

 

 

 

 

 

MINIMUM RECOMMENDED POSITION REQUIREMENTS

A Education (Check One) Major Major
Field Field
_ Less than High School _License/Certificstion___ __Bachelor‘ 5 Degree
XX High School or Equivalent _Trade School _Masl;er’ s Degree
_Associate Degree

B. Experience and Training (Related to this position.) (Express' in monthsPb or years, and describe In detail
the internal, or extemal if applicable, experience required for this position )

_Intemal _External _Combination _No experience required
5-7vears ' ' ' .- . --.' -.

 

 

C. On the Job Training Time Required_6_Weeks/Mgmhs/chrs to Reach Satisfactory Performance

239

promoted/transferredImoved from mm to this position

Usually Employees Are
promoted tommmmmmmmm this position-
MAJOR POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES
(Common To This Position - List in Priority Sequence) (% Time Spent on Each)

 

25%-Monitm£asists.mul21€ls.inamblmsnlmum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SKILLS IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

l. 3. 5.
2. 4. 6.
ACCOUNTABILITIES

Items to be mentioned include: Sales Volume, Cash, Assets, Capital Expenditures, Value of Purchases,
Purchasing Authorization, Advertising Expenditures, Inventory Value, Manufacturing costs,
Manufacturing Volume, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Payroll Costs, and Credit Authorization,
as well as others not mentioned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
List internal and external job contacts, if applicable, and mention any notable characteristics of the
position such as travel considerations, overtime considerations, number of difl‘erent operations under
his/her supervision/job elements, amount of difl‘erent products controlled, etc.

 

W

 

 

 

 

 

Reviewed by: Dept. Mgr. Div/Plant Personnel Mgr.
(Name) (Name)
Div. Exec. MGR, Salary Administration
Last Review Date:

 

240

.APPENDIX D

Collective Bargaining Agreement Between
XYZ Motors and Union Local 890

ARTICLE III
.Management Rights

1. MANAGEMENT RIGHTS

The direction of the working force and operation of the
plant (including the right to hire, discharge, promote,
demote, discipline, transfer, or relieve employees from duty
for any legitimate reason, or the increase or decrease of
the working force or working hours, or to make work
assignments) is vested exclusively in the Company. In
addition, the products to be manufactured, location of
plant, the schedules of production, the methods, processes
and other means of manufacturing, are solely and exclusively
the responsibility of the Company. The application of these
rights shall not conflict with the provisions of this
agreement.

241

APPENDIX E

Goals/Intentions

The intention of the XYZ-IUE Joint Committee project is
to improve overall labor-management relations and to create
an atmosphere where greater trust and frank communication
exist. We intend to achieve long-term job security while
providing a good standard of living, and safe, healthy
working conditions for all employees. We intend to benefit
from the collective knowledge, skills and abilities of every
person in the plant.

Objectives/Tactics
0 increase communication & cooperation within XYZ, by
‘ informing people & encouraging their active
participation
- solve problems in the work environment and in

production methods, both technical & human, in an
effort to improve product quality, process efficience,
and working conditions

- embower & involve people at all levels in planning,
problem-solving, & decision—making
0 train employees in methods of joint decision—making
- begin plant-wide changes toward more cooperation and
more participation in all
activities
Pledge

Plant management intends that current employees should
not economically suffer as a DIRECT result of the activities
and decisions of the IUE—XYZ Joint Committee project.

This, of course, does not preclude layoffs, which

normally may occur as a result of the loss of a product line
or any market demand or sales factors, or attrition.

242

Issues Boundaries

Off-Limits Issues

Wage rates and wage concessions
Hours of work

Benefits

Overtime

Job classifications

Matters covered by the collective bargaining
agreement

Union grievances

Discipline

Collective bargaining proposals
Personalities

Legitimate Issues

Improvements in work processes, methods or systems
Improvements in facilities, tools or equipment
Improvements in product and process quality
Improvements in work environment and plant
appearance

Improvements in health and safety

Elimination of waste of materials and supplies
Job security

Job skill

Training

Scrap and rework

Location of equipment and materials

Product design

Image of plant in the industry

Factory design

Career development

243

 

 

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