Beyond Combative Labor Relations Some Companies Are Diluting Top-Down Management to Involve Workers in Decisionmaking

Mark Trumbull, writer of The Christian Science Monitor, The Christian Science Monitor

LATE last year was crunch time at Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation. Its cavernous Trentwood Works - 60 roofed acres in Trentwood, Wash., built to fabricate aluminum for World War II aircraft - was in trouble.

The problem: a downturn in defense/aerospace business coupled with industry overcapacity in beverage-can sheet, which accounts for two-thirds of the plant's output. With Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) closing a plant in Indiana, and another rival slashing two-thirds of its work force at a Chicago-area unit, something had to change fast at Trentwood.

So instead of imposing a fix from the top, as in previous downturns, Kaiser managers decided to …

Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information: Article title: Beyond Combative Labor Relations Some Companies Are Diluting Top-Down Management to Involve Workers in Decisionmaking. Contributors: Mark Trumbull, writer of The Christian Science Monitor - Author. Newspaper title: The Christian Science Monitor. Publication date: August 1, 1994. Page number: 8. © 2009 The Christian Science Publishing Society. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.