Voting for Pay

Workers set their own wages

The sign on the bulletin board at Seattle's Romac Industries, a pipefitting manufacturer, stood out from the usual mimeographed ads of cars for sale. It was Welder Tim Baker's appeal for a 45-c- hourly raise. "I'm requesting this increase because of inflation," he wrote alongside a color photo of himself busy welding a stainless-steel clamp. "The cost of living keeps going up, and the pay's the same. I work hard--just ask me. P.S.: Girls cost more to take out too."

Baker was not pitching to management, but to his 55 fellow employees, who would decide whether or not to grant his raise. In a secret ballot five days later, they voted overwhelmingly to boost his pay from $5.55 an hour to $6.

Romac began letting its employees decide their own wages in 1974, after a second attempt by the Teamsters to unionize the plant was only narrowly defeated. The management began posting on the bulletin board both monthly production figures and the wages of all workers up to plant supervisor. The idea was that employees could see the output trends, figure how much the company could afford and decide who deserved the most. Says President Manford McNeil, whose salary of "more than $25,000" is set by the board of directors: "The workers are bound to have a better idea of how hard-working or reliable an employee is than I have. If it were up to me, I'd probably give the wrong guy a raise."

The company generally hires unskilled workers and starts them out at $4.50 an hour. After six months, new employees may request raises by filling out a form; an applicant lists the size of his last raise, if any, his current pay, the amount of the requested raise and the reasons for it. Each worker sets an election date at least five days after so that other employees will have time to observe him on the job. The majority rules.

In all, 95% of the requests are granted. John Heins, who works in the rubber department, got two raises in two months for a total 80-c--an-hour increase (to $6.50), and plans to request another in May. Pay requests have been so reasonable, averaging 10.9% last year, that management has never exercised its veto right.

This year, fortunately, Stage II allows for wage increases above the 7% guideline if productivity also increases. So far at Romac, productivity has surged, and last year the company had record sales of $3 million. By all accounts, workers like the chance to have their peers acknowledge a job well done. Says John Heins: "The system makes this a pretty good place to work." qed

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