As chief engineer of a large oil refinery, I was on a four-man bargaining committee representing management in negotiating a new labor contract with the union that represented our employees. The union had a wide reputation as being very difficult to deal with, and it frequently made belligerent and unreasonable demands upon employers.
The bargaining began; thirteen employees and the union business agent represented the union, and they met several times a week with the bargaining committee I was on. The main demand of the union was that there be no crossing of craft lines in the refinery construction department. This meant that a pipe fitter, for instance, could not assist a carpenter, even for a moment, in completing some task. Nor could a welder briefly lend a hand to a machinist or any other craftsman.
This demand appeared to our management committee to be totally unacceptable, and we felt we had no alternative but to oppose it vigorously—which we did during weeks of bargaining.
