When I first joined Industrial Relations Counselors, Inc. in 1960, I had very little knowledge of the early beginnings of the organization and had even less of an appreciation for that history and its impact on the field that became the focus of my own personal and professional development. Over the years, however, I learned more and came to appreciate the impact that the events starting in 1914 in Ludlow, Colorado, termed the Ludlow Massacre, had on this field through its effect on the thinking and contributions of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Thus started my personal love affair, not only with the history, but with the contributions that a relatively small organization could make to what I believe to be one of the most important fields of management—namely, human resources and industrial relations.
From the beginning, Mr. Rockefeller appreciated the importance of seeing the relationship among employees, management, and shareholders in a multidimensional context that had not been fully appreciated before his time.He also contributed to the idea that no company is an island and that it must interact with its people and the society of which it is a part, so that it has the possibility of having a continuing and fruitful existence by working positively in that society.
Much is said about the formulation of the employee representation plan that was advanced by Mr. Rockefeller’s advisers, and Mr. Rockefeller himself. But few recognize the prescience of that development in terms of modern-day theory about worker involvement in decisions that affect them and their work, and the need for that involvement in order to advance the business interests of the enterprises for which they work. It’s also long been forgotten that concern on the part of politicians in Washington in the 1930s interested in facilitating union organization in the development of the National Labor Relations Act not only made company unions unlawful, but also did the same to employee representation plans. (Probably because such plans made organization by outside unions most difficult.)
Today, in the European Union, the focus on the processes of information and consultation is strangely reminiscent of some of the issues addressed originally by Mr. Rockefeller in trying to help solve problems in the industrial workplace through the formulation of the employee representation plan. In the U.S., and indeed throughout the industrial world, employees are being given more of a voice in their work, despite section 8(a)(2) of the NLRA in the U.S. These developments shed a strong light on the relevance of Mr. Rockefeller’s contributions and the relevance of his ideas, propounded almost 85 years ago, which shaped his thinking in establishing Industrial Relations Counselors, Inc.
This small volume describing this early history contains a remarkable story. All the facts are not available to us because some have been lost in history. Some have been altered over time because many of them were emotional, had political consequences, or were being addressed by people with passionate reactions to the incident leading up to the Ludlow Massacre. Thus it is not surprising that Mr. Rockefeller was, on the one hand, referred to as a monster, but on the other hand recognized as a person who changed the orientation of American business leadership over the years as business and social responsibility came to be seen in ways that could not have been imagined prior to Ludlow.
It is with great pleasure, therefore, that we present this description of the early beginnings and the development of Industrial Relations Counselors, Inc. It is the reason why IRC has adopted its theme for the next chapter in its history as “Shaped by history—dedicated to the future.”
Richard A. Beaumont
Director of Research, IRC
2001
Copyright © 2001, 2006 by Industrial Relations Counselors, Inc. All rights reserved.