Beyond Taylorism

The last decades of the twentieth century have seen rapid changes in the way work is performed, where it is done, the kinds of work available to people, and labour-management relations. Industrial organization is being re-shaped by two distinct yet inter-related processes — computerization and new labour relations policies, among them labour-management participation programmes. Popularly known as Quality of Work Life, or QWL, these programmes are organizational strategies designed to address production, motivation and control on the shopfloor and usually take the form of quality circles (QCs) in which small groups of workers and a supervisor discuss issues of quality and productivity.¹

UFC’s Pine Hill Plant was built at the beginning of World War II to produce airplane parts and accessories. At that time, the machine and production shops were very large with over 1000 machinists alone working at the plant. The United Electrical Workers (UE) organized the workers at the plant and represented them until a split within the union occurred and the International Union of Machine, Radio and Technical Workers (IUE) was voted as the sole representative of the shop workers.

The purpose of this work is to analyze the technical and organizational impact of automation on job skills and the degree to which they are upgraded, downgraded and computerized, as well as the extent to which work is shifted between occupations. Automation, collective bargaining agreements and labour relations and control over the labour process are key issues which are explored in analyzing these changes. In order to assess specific changes in skill, data are presented separately for each occupation, describing, analyzing and comparing conventional skills and those used with automation in its various forms. Comparisons are also made between occupations to understand the differences in impact of automation on skills and those factors that affect control over these skills in production.

Machining has been described as ‘part science and part magic’.¹ It is a craft not easily understood by strangers to the occupation and not easily described by those who practice it. The machine shop at UFC’s Pine Hill plant is a complete floor of conventional machines which, at first glance, look like huge abstract industrial art pieces with levers, spindles and handles extending from their frames. The larger, numerical control machines are in a room separate from the rest of the machine shop and resemble conveyors of different sized and shaped tools which, on command from a computerized program, spin around, choose the correct tool and carry out drilling and milling processes. There are a few smaller and much quieter machines — whose trade name is Hurco. They are the most advanced CNC equipment UFC has purchased. The men operating them appear to be somewhat more relaxed than those who work in the NC room — although just as alert.

The reorganization of work is taking place on the shopfloor and, where there are unions, in collective bargaining. Many of these changes, particularly in non-union environments, occur under the heading of ‘job redesign’. Where a union exists, these job redesign programmes are in the form of contract concessions.

Manufacturing at UFC includes the shop (machinists, sheet metal and assemblers) and process engineering. Process engineers, or ‘methods’ as they are commonly referred to on the job and in this work, are responsible for preparing operating instructions for machinists to use in part production. They program NC lathes, milling machines and punch presses.¹ Planning is not an autonomous operation, but a supportive function to machinists’ work. Although these occupations depend upon close cooperation with one another to produce parts, they are represented by different union locals. Machinists are represented by Local 3 and methods by Local 8.

Perhaps the most far-reaching changes in automated work will be in the area of drafting and design. Computer-Aided Design¹ (CAD) was developed in the 1960s with the growing use of computer technology as an information system. The development of the mini- and micro-computers significantly contributed to its application in engineering design and manufacturing.

Design drafters are the highest ranking occupation within the drafting department. Their job involves working with engineers to create a workable and accurate design of a part or product. Engineers provide the basic ideas and design drafters are expected to design and develop a physical representation of their conceptual work. The Dictionary of Occupational Titles defines design drafters as:

A term used to designate workers who make design drawings to assist in developing experimental ideas evolved by research engineers, using specifications and sketches and employing knowledge of engineering theory and its application to solve mechanical and fabrication problems.¹

Labour relations under capitalism have been affected by numerous social forces. The formation of labour unions, strikes, mass demonstrations and political unrest, immigration, and prevailing economic conditions have all had an impact on how corporations have responded to demands for change. The emerging bureaucratic reforms in the workplace — which Quality Circles are a part of — are not new. In order to understand the contemporary debate (and its often misplaced emphasis on industrial democracy and work reform), let us examine the historical programmes and bureaucratic changes which were often linked with the notion of democratic industrial reforms.

Over the last ten years, labour-management relations have undergone numerous changes. On the one hand, much organizational and financial resources have been devoted to various types of QWL programmes. The other trend has been an attack on collective bargaining, eroding past gains made by labour. Demands by corporations for concessions in every area of negotiations — from pension and health insurance to work rules and job categories and assignments — have become commonplace at the bargaining table. Plant closures are threatened as the inevitable consequence of labour’s non-compliance.

This book set out to study several changes which have recently been or are presently being implemented in industrial organizations and labour relations. The analysis has yielded several key findings. First, the impact of computerized automation on the labour process is complex, contradictory and multi-dimensional. The comparable effects on the skills of machinists, methods, drafters and design drafters are not uniform, nor can it be simply categorized as de-skilling or upgrading within each occupation. Moreover, the findings in this study clearly show that automation is not the singular ‘cause’ of changes in job skills and the organization of production. Managerial decisions about the definition and use of skills affect the implementation of automated equipment to the production process.