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Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Master's Theses Theses and Dissertations 1990 Integration of the Workforce in the Steel Industry: The Inland Steel Experience 1945-1969 Carolyn Hernandez Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses Part of the Labor Relations Commons Recommended Citation Hernandez, Carolyn, "Integration of the Workforce in the Steel Industry: The Inland Steel Experience 1945-1969" (1990). Master's Theses. 3875. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/3875 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 1990 Carolyn Hernandez INTEGRATION OF' THE WORKFORCE IN THE STEEL INDUSTRY: THE INLAND STEEL EXPERIENCE 1945-1969 by Carolyn Hernandez A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Loyola University of Chicago in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Industrial Relations July, 1990 Copyright 1990 by Carolyn Hernandez All Rights Reserved PREFACE All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership. 1 Labor and management in the steel industry have been and remain historically in conflict with each other. This conflict has usually erupted into strikes and government intervention. The mid-1940's were a time when both parties were trying to develop a working and living relationship. Individuals involved in labor-management situations have historically been "unique individuals." They have been leaders who have been able to create a vision and inspire others to share that vision. These are the types of leaders of which history is made. If one were to do a study on any one particular person, be it management or labor, during these early years, there would be many individuals who would have interesting and exciting stories to tell. The steel industry was very volatile between 1939-1944. Inland Steel was no exception. Strikes and workers discontent 1 John Kenneth Galbraith, The Age of Uncertainty (Boston: Houghton Mifflin co., 1977), 330. ii were the product of the environment. The workers were responding to managements' demand to increase production, with a lack of concern for the person. The companies, in turn were responding aggressively to employee demands. The union's success in organizing the steelworker was due to the fact that the working conditions were poor. Wages, benefits, safety and the racial integration in the workforce were all major issues which needed to be addressed. These were, however, ignored by management. Inland Steel's was very dictatorial. 2 Due to a high turnover rate in management during the years 1939- 1944, employees' morale and trust in the company was virtually non-existent. The Chicago plant had six managers during this time period. In a two year time-span, the plant had ten personnel managers. Management instilled the belief in supervisors that the best way to maintain productivity and discipline was to have employee's afraid of losing their jobs. 3 The purpose of this thesis is to examine the evolution of labor-management relations, industrial policies and race relations at Inland Steel, from 1945-1969. Other policy issues, such as those of wages and social insurance programs (e.g. accident pay, life insurance, pensions, etc.), deserve further investigation. These issues however, are not 2William Foote Whyte, Pattern For Industrial Peace (New York: Harper & Bros., 1951), 157. 3 Ibid. I 8. iii examined in this thesis.• This thesis was initially intended to be a biographical oral history of Mr. William G. Caples who was employed at Inland steel from 1945, until his retirement in 1969. Due to his untimely death, the focus changed to an examination of labor-management and race relations policies in the steel industry, and in particular, an oral historical study of Inland Steel. Several former Inland employees were interviewed. 5 The information gathered from these interviews highlighted the fact that Inland's success story in the area of race relations was due to the commitment of upper management and to those individuals willing to take risks, such as Mr. Caples. Mr. Caples, with upper management's support, developed the mechanisms to address the race relations problems regarding the integration of the workforce 4The author recognizes the fact that during this time period the strikes which occurred were many times economic. From 1937-1961 wages were the focal point of contract negotiations. ("Inland Steel wage chronology," typewritten (revised/updated to April 15, 1963) Section I, 1-12.) The issue of pensions and other social insurance programs being subject to collective bargaining were also of great importance and merit in-depth studies unto themselves. For example, Inland's case on pension's is one which is well documented because it was the case which decided pensions would be subject to collective bargaining. (Inland Steel Co. v. NLRB, 77 NLRB 1, enforced 170 F.2d 247 (1948), cert. denied, 336 U.S. 960 (1949). 5Pete Calecci, interview by author, 2 August 1989, East Chicago, IN, tape recording; Frank Cassel, interview by author, 4 October 1989, Evanston, IL, tape recording; Bill Dillon, interview by author, 8 September 1989, Chicago, IL, tape recording; Bill Lowry, interview by author, 13 July 1989, Chicago, IL, tape recording. iv at Inland steel. Mr. Caples paved the way for change, as did other national leaders. It is human nature to remember the George Wallace's and issues like segregation and the nightmare of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. People like Dr. King left us a legacy and had a major effect on the evolution of race relations in this country. On a smaller scale there were many other individuals who were also paving the way for the changes which came about. William G. Caples was one of these individuals. Mr. Caples joined Inland in 1945, just as management and the union were beginning to develop a more cooperative relationship. He played a significant part in changing the relationship between union and management into more of a positive one. Mr. Caples also played a major role in the evolution of race and industrial relations policies which were beginning during this time period. One year after Mr. Caples was hired into the position of Staff Assistant to the President, he became the first Industrial Relations Manager. His goal was to assist in the development and implementation of labor relation policies and to improve the company's relationship with the Steelworkers union. Having been Staff Assistant to the President, he had the support of top management. The relationship Inland developed with the Steelworkers union was one which involved both parties commitment to work together and give all workers an equal opportunity. v In examining industrial relations policies, one must take into account not only the people involved, employees, government, management and union leadership, but also the industrial relations system itself. Because the focus of this thesis centers around the steel industry, and Inland Steel, the industrial relations system and the environment in which it evolved is explored. This thesis is an in-depth examination and analysis of the industrial relations system at Inland Steel. Race relations during this time period are also explored in relationship to labor-management relations and industrial relations policies. The external environment played a major role in the evolution of labor-management relations, but if it had not been for the foresight, vision and innovation of individuals such as William Caples, changes would have taken much longer. Many events occurred which led to the integration of the workforce in the steel industry. The Steelworkers Organizing Committee (SWOC) held their first convention on December 14, 1937. 6 Delegates adopted eight objectives for the swoc. The first one was as follows: To unite in one organization, regardless of race, creed, color or nationality, all workmen and working women eligible for membership, employed in and around iron and steel manufacturing, processing, and fabricating mills and factories of the American 6Vincent D. Sweeney, United Steelworkers Of America: -=T"""w...,.e"""n.... t...,y.___,Y .... e~a=r=-=s-=L=a...,.t ... e'-=-r ( Pittsburgh: United Steel workers of America), 40. vi continent. 7 It was several years later that the government took action in the employment area. on June 25, 1941, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802, which established a Fair Employment Practice Committee (FEP) to "receive and investigate complaints of discrimination" and to "take appropriate steps" to obtain compliance.' In 1942, the congress of Industrial Organizations established a Committee to Abolish Racial Discrimination. 9 That same year, when the swoc became the United Steelworkers of America not one black10 steelworker was appointed to any major position in the international union. 11 At this same convention, more than twenty locals submitted resolutions against discrimination in the mills and Jim Crow laws in the South. 12 At the same time they were adopting these anti-discrimination resolutions, they were providing black delegates with a list of "colored 7 Ibid., 42. 'Herbert Hill, Black Labor And The American Legal System Volume I: Race. Work. and the Law (Washington, D.C.: Bureau of National Affairs, 1977), 179. 9Phillips s. Foner, Organized Labor and the Black Worker 1619-1973 (New York: Praeger, 1974), 256. 10Black - a person with origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. 11Foner, Organized Labor and the Black Worker, 263.

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