The Boston Stock Exchange

Report on profit-sharing and labour co-partnership in the United Kingdom

Bibliographic data

Monograph

Identifikator:: 1847184839

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-240916

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: The Boston Stock Exchange

Edition:: Priv. print

Place of publication:: Boston

Publisher:: Privately printed

Year of publication:: 1930

Scope:: 32 Seiten; graph. Darst.

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

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&6 II.—PRIVATE FIRMS AND COMPANIES. appear necessary 'with a view to obtaining 1 any desired alterations in the conditions of employment. Accordingly, the Union insisted that the profit-sharing 1 scheme should be abolished, and [subsequently explained to be a mistake for or] that the men who had accepted it should be removed from the works; and to enforce this demand over 2,000 men (practically the whole of the company’s stokers) came out on strike on December 12, 1889. The company filled the places of the strikers; and the strike, having virtually worn itself out, came to an end on February 4, 1890. The lines upon which the profit-sharing scheme was carried out were materially changed in 1894, when it was arranged that the rate of bonus should be increased from 1 to ljj- per cent, on wages for every penny at which gas was sold below the standard price; provided that, when the rate of bonus reached 9 per cent., the further increase was to be at the old rate of 1 per cent. The new arrangement applied to employees who should agree to have one-half of the whole amount of their bonus for the current year invested for them in the stock of the company; the bonus was to be calculated on the daily wages, no account being taken of over time, and as to men on piece-work, on the amount the men would have earned at their ordinary rates in the regular working hours; the sums to be thus set aside out of bonus were to be invested in the names of trustees (three in number, one director, one officer, and one profit-sharing workman); and when a man had so credited to him an amount sufficient to buy £5 worth of stock (the price of which was then £12 15s.) a stock certificate should be issued in his name. Such winter men only as arranged to come back the following winter were allowed to have their bonus on the new scale. The company also undertook to allow 4 per cent, interest upon all withdrawable amounts and any other savings, and to arrange for the investment of any such sums in its stock or shares. The agreement which the company required its employees to sign as a condition of their participation in profits* required the employee to state that he was not a member of the Gas Workers’ TJniont and the continuance of his employment was made con ditional on his not joining that Union* ; but these restrictions were dropped many years ago. The form of agreement, which for a long time has been and now is in force, is printed at p. 145; the period for which the men engage themselves is, for the most part, 12 months, save in the case of the winter men, whose terms of service vary from 3 to 6 months. The Rules of the scheme provided for the appointment of a Profit-sharing Committee (the * “ The directors reserve the right to refuse permission to sign an agreement to any man who takes no interest in the welfare of the company, or who is wasteful of the company’s property, or careless or negligent in the performance of his duty.” t l’ or the reasons which induced the company to insert this declaration in the profit-sharing agreement (which originally contained no such declaration) see the evidence given by Sir G. (then Mr.) Livesey before the Labour Commission, Evidence before Labour Commission, Group C., Yol. III., p. 244, also p. 238 and p. 598. 4 The Company also had a rule against the employment of members of the Coal Porters Union ; in a circular issued by the Chairman of the Company in September, 1899, it was stated that “ the prohibition stands to this day, but no inquisitorial methods are adopted to enforce it.”

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