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AUTOMATION

Does it mean more jobs...

JN THE eyes of Frank B.
Jewitt, Jr., vice-president
of the Vitro Corporation of

. America, automation is no job

destroying monster.

Recently he told a meeting
in Toronto:

“History and specific studies
show that automation does not
destroy labor. It is, instead, a
Word which describes the pro-
cess by which labor is up-
graded, paid more for its skills
while producing goods more

_ economically.” :

He argued that the increase
in total employment has been
greatest in the industries most
automated — citing chemicals,
auto and telephone as examples

He gave an example of the

On the
farm too

AOTOMATION is. com-

ing to the farms with
a vengeance—to the big
fafms that can afford ex-
pensive machinery, of
course,

Toronto citizens recent-

ly saw on display a mach-
ine that can plow, har-
.Tow, disc, fertilize and
Seed, all in one opera-
tion, and all while the
harvest is in progress up
front. It’s already in use
in the U.S. Called the
Wonsover, it weighs 12
tons and the price tag is
$37,000.

To Len Sykes, execu-
tive secretary of the On-
tario Retail Farm Equip-
Ment Dealers’ Associa-
tion, it means automation
for farming and the fur-
ther decline of the small
farm.

“The arrival of this
machine is particularly
significant in the light
of the Gordon report
which foresees a trend to
larger farms in Canada,”
Said Sykes. Drumming
up business, he added:

“I think it’s even safe
to forecast that. smaller
farms will think serious-
ly about a cooperative
Purchase of a machine
such’ as this, in spite of its
high price.”

The machine is usually
towed by a tractor, but
for farmers in a hurry. it
Can be drawn behind a
harvester and used to
work, fertilize and seed
an eight-foot strip of soil
while the crop is being
harvested. It prepares
and seeds an acre per ,
hour, or up to five acres
Der hour under ideal con-
ditions,

*l been replaced by 'a
apt ‘30 | figure. 1 might
ss. well getvoiled; too!”

installation of a $250,000 auto-
matic line for assembling and
soldering radio chassis. This, he
asserted, would cause the fol-
lowing. chain of events:

First 25 hand assembly work-
ers would be displaced, but
14 new and higher grade jobs
would be created in the plant.
The shift could be made with-
out a single layoff because of
an annual turnover of 450.

Production rate would be
stepped up 50 percent in the
same floor space, with more
quality.

Because 60 percent of his
manufacturing cost represent-
ed value of purchased compo-
nents, the manufacturer would
have to buy an additional
$3,000,000 worth from sup-
pliers creating 10 more jobs in
their plants.

Despite the small proportion
of labor in his manufacturing
cost, costs would be cut 10 per
cent over all.

Finally, the key to automat-
ed manufacturing, his sales

ywould be increased $500,000.
supply

Automation could

the economic driving force, in
this case a price cut, permit-

ting more economic production
of greater quantities of goods,

Once the process is set in
motion, effects are cumulative,
Jewett contended, the manu-
facturer’s increased produc-
tion justifying further automa-
tion among his suppliers, per-
mitting even greater economies
in output and a still greater de-
mand.

His conclusion is that auto-
mation will prove the greatest
material boon to mankind ever
known.

Machines can never replace
man’s ability to think and no
automated factories would ever
be workerless.

: eo @ @

AC TOMe DON Dr, Wil-
liam Westley of McGill

University says “with confi-
dence,” will result in unem-
ployment “and/or up or
downgrading of many of the
semi-skilled and skilled work-
ers.”

Dr. Westley is head of the
department of sociology and
anthropology at McGill. What
he said a few months ago to
the Quebec division of the
Canadian Manufacturers As-
sociation, gives a somewhat
less rosy picture than usually
presented by big business.

Today, he said, we may be
on the verge of freeing men
from repetitive jobs. If so,
it will mean a new era in
man’s history and a new dig-
nity to man himself.

But the new era will also
bring about drastic changes,
he warned.

For the worker, it will af-
fect career patterns within the
plant and ranks or grades. This
latter can be a serious matter
for a skilled workman with
many years of experience at
stake, which will be rendered

or more jobless?

useless with the advent of the
new machine.

In the plant, the most ob-
vious effect will be the break-
ing up of the pattern of infor-
mal groups and formal depart-
ments.

Jurisdictional boundaries
will change. There will be a
shift in personnel towards the
higher ranks — a serious mat-
ter in a market already short
of technically-trained men —
and a sharp decrease in the

number of production work-
ers.

In its effect on the commu-
nity, Dr. Westley foresaw a
shortening of the work week,
with a consequent increase in
the amount of leisure time,
and at the same time a higher
standard of living.

On the effects of automation
on the worker, Dr. Westley
posed three questions:

* + How will the worker greet
the prospect of automation in
his own plant?

+ Which workers will be
affected? and

+ How will these workers
be -affected? .

He offered these answers:

“It is probable that the in-
dividual worker will greet
automation with a great deal
of worry and antagonism
since he will fear the loss of
his job, downgrading or chang-
ed working conditions.

“These will be national fears
which will have to be met by
some kind of fair treatment.
But these fears can and will
be magnified beyond all reas-
onable proportions by rumors
growing out of uncertainty.

“If the workers are not
told just how the new machine
will affect them, their jobs,

their pay and their working’

conditions, they will undoubt-
edly believe the worst.

“Second, though automation
will indirectly affect every-
one, it will directly affect
the unskilled workers in the
office and the semi-skilled and
skilled workers in the plant.

“The skilled office worker
will still probably be neces-
sary and the unskilled manual
worker will undoubtedly still
be needed. But in the plant
the workers in the middle, and
the foremen who direct them,
are likely to feel the impact
most acutely.

“Thirdly, what are these ef-
fects?

“Well, although particular
industries will show-~ great
variations, I think we can say
with confidence that automa-
tion will result in the unem-
ployment, and/or up or down-
grading of many of the semi-
skilled and skilled workers,
and that it will change the
career pattern within the
plant, :

“The unemployment will, I
expect, be minimal in an ex-
panding economy, and many
of the industries which have
been automating rather rapid-
ly during the past. few years
have had little or no unem-
ployment, due to their rapid
expansion.

“But though unemployment
may be avoided, it will be im-
possible to avoid changes in
the ranks or grades of the
workers, and this can be a
very serious matter for a skill-
ed workman who has at stake
20 years of experience which
will become useless with the

advent of the new machine. -—

“Since automation, by defi-
nition, replaces. not only the
power of the worker but his
skills, it is bound to change
the distribution of ranks. A
few workers will be upgraded
or hired to shepherd the high-
ly complex machines but many
others whose skills have been
displaced by the machines will
be forced to accept simpler
jobs and lower grades.”

FEBRUARY 8, 1957 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PAGE ll