<--PREV Doc #1446  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #1448 Document #1447; February 20, 1960 To Jacob Koppel Javits Series: EM, WHCF, Official File 124 The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XX - The Presidency: Keeping the Peace Part VIII: "Friends and Foes"; September 1959 to February 1960 Chapter 20: "No substitute for personal contact"   Dear Jack: Early this winter you wrote me to suggest a major White House Labor-Management Conference on Productivity, to be held in 1960, looking toward the development of labor-management productivity councils.1 I regarded the continuing improvement of productivity as one of the most important of our national economic goals, and I want to do everything that is practicable to promote it. I doubt, however, that it would be wise to try to hold a White House Conference on Productivity this year. A great deal of preparatory work is required for any technical conference, and there is question whether there would be sufficient time to complete all the detailed preparations which would be necessary.2 Moreover I have some reservations about a national conference directed solely to the improvement of productivity. It seems to me that this is only one phase -- a very important one, to be sure -- of the broader problem of labor-management relations, and can best be discussed in that setting.3 I believe that we should do all we can to encourage labor-management discussions away from the bargaining table, especially at the plant level where, after all, the real work is done. Such discussions hold much promise in working out improvements and adaptations in specific work situations, which would lead to greater productivity. The organization of formal "Productivity Councils" might prove to be too limiting. I understand that experience with productivity committees or councils, both here and abroad, has not been particularly impressive.4 I shall continue to stress, as I know you will, the urgent need both for continued gains in productivity and for more frequent discussions by labor and management at all levels to explore their mutual problems. I appreciate your having made this suggestion.5 With warm regard, Sincerely 1 New York Republican Senator Javits had written on November 19, 1959 (same file as document) to propose that the departments of Labor and Commerce sponsor a major White House Labor-Management Conference on Productivity. Javits’s proposal was inspired by testimony given by Allen Dulles before the Subcommittee on Economic Statistics of the 1960 Congressional Joint Economic Committee. Eisenhower had sent Javits’s letter to the Secretaries of Labor and Commerce and to the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors, Raymond Saulnier, for comment. This letter was based upon a draft prepared by the Department of Labor (Feb. 12, 1960, same file as document). 2 The Department of Labor had stated that while "continuing improvement in the productivity of our economy is vital both to national security and to a further gradual rise in the standard of living," it was doubtful whether it was "possible to get ready for a full-scale conference on the subject of productivity." 3 The Labor Department had warned the President that it "would be unwise to hold a conference on such a controversial subject in an election year. The question of growth of the American economy in relation to that of other countries is already a political issue, and productivity would hardly be discussed dispassionately." 4 Javits had proposed the development of local labor-management productivity councils, "benefitting from our experience with such councils during World War II." The Labor Department, however, had advised Eisenhower that "a number of experienced American observers have concluded that the productivity councils, as such, accomplished comparatively little." 5 The Administration would not hold a White House Conference on Productivity during the remainder of Eisenhower’s term in office. Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. To Jacob Koppel Javits, 20 February 1960. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 1447. World Wide Web facsimile by The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission of the print edition; Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, http://www.eisenhowermemorial.org/presidential-papers/second-term/documents/1447.cfm <--PREV Doc #1446  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #1448

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