De ideals of Stork: Social Benefits
|
A following lifetime aim was setting up a package of social benefits. As a convinced liberal, he believed that care for the individual was not a matter for the government. In his early years as a textile manufacturer, one weaver in his factory could earn four times as much as another, because Charles believed that it was performance that counted. But later, he began to see things in a slightly different light. He himself described his drive for success as an inborn part of his character. According to a letter to his wife, he felt compelled 'to use his good sense in following that urge'. As he himself said, he gained his earliest inspiration from a French novel (the title of which he had forgotten) about the fair-minded owner of an engineering works who gave all his workers the opportunity to reach their full potential. Those who showed the most application, strength of will and patience could reach the highest positions. The French manufacturer also benefited by treating his people well, and this served as an example for Stork. His big inspiration was Jaques van Marken of the Nederlandse Gist- & Spiritusfabriek (Dutch yeast and spirit factory) in Delft, whom he got to know when the latter ordered machines from him. However, his greatest incentive to succeed came from his Protestant faith, which made him want to be a good shepherd of the resources entrusted to him - just like a machine in God's hands - and a good father to his workers. Industrial accidents A characteristic of the Stork & Co. social benefits structure was its great complexity. Charles and his son Dirk, who entered the business in 1872, were just about the only people who understood it. However, the principle was clear: sums of money were deducted from the employees' wages for each form of benefit; a scheme which according to father and son Stork was for the good of all. That also applied to the insurance against industrial accidents, which was started in 1887. For industrial accidents which were not the fault of the employees, their full wages were paid for up to one year after the accident. Employees who were permanently disabled received fifty to a hundred days' pay, and for fatal accidents the benefit payment was six hundred times the daily wage. Pensiun Fund But it was only when the results of the engineering works improved (after 1880) that Charles Stork could really make a start on achieving his social ideals. His first creation was the Vereeniging tot behartiging van de belangen van het personeel verbonden aan de machinefabriek Gebr. Stork & Co. (Beneficial association for employees of Stork & Co. Brothers engineering works), followed by further organisations such as a co-operative society for the purchase of groceries, a health care fund, a widows' fund and a pension fund. Most of these bodies were financed by contributions from the members of the association, and by payments made by the company. Stork believed that social rights should not be of a charitable nature. The pension fund paid out a lump sum from which pensioners had to live, however old they became. From 1907, however, the employees received a guaranteed pension of sixty per cent of their basic wage. Consultation In 1883, following the examples of Van Marken and the Frenchman Leclaire, the company gained a works council, which was called Kern, and had a combination of members who were elected and appointed by the management. Matters of consultation were working times, night work, overtime, Sunday working and all kinds of social structures. The consultation at Stork worked better than at Van Marken, because father and son Stork were more accommodating to their workforce, and had a less paternalistic approach. Chairman Dirk, Charles' tactful son, responded favourably to wishes that were expressed by Kern. Labour disputes at Stork were unknown right up to 1919. Personnel newspaper Once again following the example of Van Marken, Stork issued a personnel newspaper from 1892, the Hengelosche Fabrieksbode (Hengelo factory courier). Coen II, Charles' youngest son, was the editor, and for many decades wrote the leading articles under the motto 'Working together, not in conflict but in co-operation'.
Association Building The Armonia music society, the Thalia dramatic society, Stork's male voice choir, the Hercules gymnastics association, a library, a nursery school and a soup kitchen were all given a home in the 'Association Building' donated by Stork to its personnel on the occasion of the company's 25th anniversary, and which was also open to the entire population of Hengelo. Lectures by board members on travel impressions and the art of painting sometimes attracted an audience of as many as two hundred. Political meetings were forbidden, because Charles had an aversion to the business of politics. As a member of the Upper House of the Dutch Parliament (until the age of 70), he preferred to exercise influence behind the scenes rather than from the floor of the house, partly because he was not a great orator. The aging Stork repeatedly called on his contemporaries to look more frequently beyond the national boundaries. In 1872 he still had occasion to repeat in the Upper House: "Apart from in our East Indian possessions, there are no Dutch in Asia or America. The Germans, Swiss and British are everywhere. This can and must change. The improved education, which is penetrating increasingly to all levels of society, will produce employable young people. Merchants and manufacturers have to provide training in the factories and offices and then for branch offices in East and West." To promote his own exports he sent his brother-in-law, H.J. Ekker, to the Far East. He himself was always present as an exhibitor at international industrial exhibitions. In 1893, the silver jubilee, the founder was 71 and his oldest son Dirk took over the reins as the new manager of the engineering works. In the works magazine of 4 September Charles announced: "My sons and I have another ideal: to make our factory not one of the biggest but one of the best engineering works. This ideal can be achieved if all those working in the factory are convinced of the need to do their duty and co-operate in achieving this aim in the interests of their own welfare.".
|
|
Boilermakers became deaf as a result of rivetting hollow boilers. 