Corporate Life in St Louis Mo 2-26-25

Despite 4-6% inflation, the economy was never better. In 1965, manufacturing accounted for 53% of the US economy. This made the US a manufacturing powerhouse for over half a century. However, the percentage of the US economy that is manufacturing has since declined. As of 2023, manufacturing contributes about 10.2% of the US GDP.  

United Way St. Louis

In January 1965, I took my first corporate job as Division Director of the St. Charlea County Division. I had an office in downtown St. Louis and an office in St. Charles I used during the Fall campaign. The United Way Board Members included the CEOs of the largest companies in St. Louis. The St. Charles County Board included the CEOs of the largest companies in St. Charles.  I also helped the Small Firms Division Director for St. Louis.

United Way had a small staff and a big IBM computer. We got a “reverse directory” from the phone company and loaded it on our computer to create our prospect lists. Companies helped us fill out our Campaign Volunteers by assigning “Loaned Executives” to work with large companies in the campaign. Business owners volunteered to fill out the campaign organization chart and served on the campaign boards. It allowed contributors to pledge the amount they give annually and have it deducted from their paychecks. The goal in 1965 was $10 million and administrative expenses were below 5%. Agencies were well managed by Boards and were funded by United Way.

St. Charles was the fastest growing county in the US during 1965 and 1966 and the volunteer force was at record highs. St. Charles County had its own Agencies. The St. Charles Agency Board Chairman was also on the Metro St. Louis Board. The St Charles Campaign Chairman was also on the Metro St. Louis Board. We wanted to keep our St. Charles Division happy so they wouldn’t break away from the Metro group.

My first St. Charles Chairman was Doug Boschert. The St. Lous Board loved Doug Boschert. In 1965, the St. Charles Division raised 110% of goal. Doug Boschert went on to be the Presiding Judge of St. Charles County and later served in the Missouri State Senate. I founded the St. Charles County Council of Homeowners Associations in 1968 to establish a back-channel to Doug Boschert when he was the Presiding Judge. The Council had 300 subdivisions and 68,000 homes. It allowed homeowners to weigh in to support homeowners property rights and public service commission participation. Doug would call me and ask me to call Subdivision Presidents to get their take on zoning issues and call him back. The zoning board had no idea how Doug knew everything. I held monthly meeting in St. Charles for member homeowners to report problems and get solutions.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/stltoday/name/douglas-boschert-obituary?id=3066349

My second St. Charles Chairman was Roland Pundmann. Again the St. Charles Division raised 110% of goal. After that Roland had trouble finding a new Chairman for the next Campaign. I asked him if they would like to fold the St. Charles campaign into the Metro campaign structure. He said yes. That would make the St. Charles Residential Campaign part of the St. Louis Metro Residential Campaign. Small Firms would do the same. The St. Charles Agencies could remain intact if they wanted to.  

https://www.baue.com/obituaries/edward-j-pundmann-jr

I told my boss at United Way to contact Roland and work out a plan to consolidate. I sensed that the St. Charles leadership was intimidated by the success of the last two campaigns and were focused on continuing the expansion of the St. Charles County economy.

I also told my boss that I had accepted a Personnel Job at Kearney National. I had applied to a local employment agency to find me a Personnel Job. They referred me to Kearney and I got the job.

I got to eliminate my job at United Way and secure the Personnel Job I had trained for. My day-job work routine had averaged 50 to 60 hour weeks and I maintained that pace throughout my 28 year corporate career. Later, during my 24 year Consulting Practice the average increased to 70 to 80 hours per week because I officed at home and traveled to Client sites as needed. I operated as a Sole Proprietor and paid double Social Security Taxes. I had no employees.

Kearney National St. Louis

I joined Kearney in January 1967 as a Personnel Generalist. I learned the Kearney products, history and manufacturing and engineering operations and wrote Job Descriptions.  I recruited and Interviewed office and engineering candidates, wrote the monthly company newspaper, conducted Safety Training, learned Labor Law from the BLS Reports, learned Compensation from wage surveys, joined the ASPA Chapter, the St Louis Industrial Relations Club and secured benefits surveys. I won first prize for the best company newspaper in 1967.

I reported to the Personnel Manager, who handled the Teamsters Union in the St. Louis Plant and visited the Fayetteville Arkansas Plant.

Kearney manufactured products used by US Electric Power Companies, including connectors and high-line tools.

The Teamsters Union Contract allowed all manufacturing employees to be selected by the Teamster Hiring Hall. They had a Mafia Bookie working at their Shipping and Receiving Dock who took bets from the Truckers. St. Louis was not a “Right to Work” State.

Our St. Louis plant also served as the Headquarters for Dison Kissner, our parent company and the Headquarters For Kearney National Inc. I was tapped to serve as the Financial Analyst in a 3 person team that included the VP of Finance for Dison Kissner and the Chief Financial Officer of Kearney National. I analyzed benefits and costs for all Dison Kissner holdings and  produced the reports. When they told me they were looking to acquire a company in Atlanta GA that made the same of products, I suggested that we sell the St. Louis Plant to get rid of the Teamsters. They agreed.

When the announcement came out for the Plant Closing, I told them I would not be taking the transfer to Atlanta. The Kearney Advertising Manager had friends at the Monsanto Headquarters in St. Louis and he referred me to his contact at Monsanto. I interviewed and got the job.

Monsanto HQ St. Louis

I joined the Monsanto Textile Division Staff as a Compensation Analyst in June 1967. Monsanto was considered the best company in St. Louis. The Textile Division Personnel Staff included Economic Evaluations, Employee Development and Compensation. My job was to represent the Division Compensation to Monsanto Corporate Compensation. I reviewed all Division Personnel job changes, survey data, plans and proposals to the Corporate Compensation Director. The Textile Division had over 12,000 employees.

The Textile Division included a nylon plant with 6000 employees in Pensacola FL and a nylon plant with 3000 employees in Greenwood SC and an acrilan plant in Fayetteville AL plus Sales Offices across the US and a Nylon Plant in Germany.  

My experience at Monsanto was exceptional. Monsanto had adopted Art Miller’s System for Identifying Motivated Abilities, SIMA. Their VP Personnel was Bob Berra, the founder of the American Society for Personnel Adimistration, ASPA. Their Personnel Systems were fully automated. They were successful in maintaining non-union status and annually defeated the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union organizing attempts.

Monsanto added the Textile Division to its holdings in the 1950s when they bought Chemstrand and brought the Textile Division Staff from New York to its St. Louis Headquarters in 1967. 

https://frankhardymademyphotographstwo.com/2013/03/20/chemistrand-plant-in-pensacola-florida-1950s/

I took on the task of completing their post-acquisition jobs by converting their original 9 factor job evaluation plan to the Monsanto system. 

I had traveled to the Plants and the Sales office in New York and participated in meeting with their senior personnel staffs at meetings held at the St. Louis Headquarters. At one of these meetings in 1970, I learned that there was a water treatment issue at the Alabama Plant. The cost to upgrade the system was $125,000. I told the group that it would cost more to delay the upgrade and they agreed. The EPA was on a crusade to clean up water pollution.

Monsanto had been a major supplier of raw chemicals and was slowly developing capabilities down-stream to produce end-use products. They had introduced Astroturf as a nylon-based floor covering product. But they were still vulnerable to wide variations in demand due to economic downturns. This was anticipated in 1970. I was offered a promotion to the New York Sales Office.

New York was a mess and the cost of living was too high. I turned it down to remain in St. Louis and took a lay-off package.

I felt drawn to keep the unions out of the Universities.

Washington University St. Louis

My experience at Washington University in St. Louis from 1971 to 1975 was enlightening. I had turned down a promotion to New York at Monsanto that included a 30% increase. I was ready to prevent unionization at Washington U. I answered an ad for a Personnel Job at Washington U Medical School to establish the Personnel Function at the Medical School Campus the Medical School Faculty served as Chiefs of Service at Barnes, Children’s and Jewish Hospitals. My grandfather had graduated form Barnes Medical School in 1905 and was appointed as Professor of Internal Medicine. He taught at Barnes while completed his surgical residency. I was revisiting my grandfather’s past.

The Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri was established in 1891. It was formed by merging the St. Louis Medical College and the Missouri Medical College, the first two medical schools west of the Mississippi River. 

Barnes Medical College was founded in 1892 in St. Louis, Missouri. The school was named after Robert A. Barnes, a wealthy banker and merchant who left money to build a hospital in the city. 

As an avowed Manufacturing Careerist, I excused myself from my career to spend some time with this Private University.

When I applied for the job at the Washington U Medical School Campus, I was interviewed by their Business Manager and referred to Dr Bill Danforth, the Vice Chancellor for Medical Affairs. The Danforth family founded Ralston Purina. Both Bill and John Danforth began with Theology Degrees. John chose a career as a Lawyer and was serving in the US Senate. Bill chose a career in Medical Research and was about to become the next Chancellor at Washington U. I didn’t mention the union threat in my interviews. I took the job and started work in January 1971.

The Medical Faculty was devoted to advancing medical science. They were smart and fun to work with. I was assigned to work with a small team tasked with writing the Affirmative Action Plan required to comply with HEW rules for Federal Contractors. I was also handed a brilliant plan to claim Affirmative Action by becoming a co-investigator on a grant proposal to NIH to build a cage washing facility for the Animal Lab to increase productivity and offering AALAS Certification Training to 90 black animal caretakers to be conducted by the AALAS Technicians at Ralston Purina. The grant application was approved and we got $10 million. I hired a Recruiter to help recruit Research Technicians. I was elected Education Chairman of AALAS and had to deliver a paper at their convention.

It didn’t take long before I got a Notice for Election from the NLRB. The newly formed Service Employee Union was petitioning for election. I acknowledged receipt and requested their LM-2 Report that included the SEUs Financial Statement. I received this along with a copy of one of their Contracts. I alerted Dr Danforth who called a meeting. I explained that the SEU Contract paid less than our current Housekeeping Employees were making. The meeting included the Executive Vice Chancellor, the Vice Chancellor General Council, the CEO if the Law Firm and the new Vice Chancellor for the Medical Campus, who asked me what the Housekeeping Employees should do. I told them that they should not join the union and should do this annually. All for the Lawyers laughed. Dr. Danforth gave me permission to meet with the Housekeeping Employees.

In my first meeting, I tried to put the group at ease. I told them that I knew they were divided, but should relax and allow the process to proceed peacefully. I explained the methods used to determine competitive pay and the minimum wage and tax laws.

In my second meeting, I talked about why employee groups might seek union representation including “not being respected by their supervisors.  An employee in the back row said “You got that right”. I said “Thank You”. After that meeting I called a meeting with the Supervisor and Manager.  I told the supervisor that the union had arrived because he was not respectful of his Housekeeping Staff.  I told them that Doctors were paranoid about bacteria in the hospitals and would yell at the Manager, who in-turn would yell at the Supervisor. I told them that these Hospital Housekeepers were doing all they could to keep bacteria levels low and had an average of 10 years of Service.

In my third meeting with the Housekeepers, they were all smiles. The Supervisor met with them and apologized. They thought I was magic.

The 2 Union Organizers were Teamsters from Chicago and they looked too Mafia-like for them.  I told them I wanted them to meet with the Business Manager who would also be on the University Bargaining Committee. They had a ball with him.

I won the election with a 80% to 20% vote.

A few weeks later I heard that the Director of Personnel on the Main Campus had resigned. Dr. Danforth had assumed the Chancellorship and sent his Affirmative Action Manager to offer me the Director of Personnel job. I told him that I would prefer that Mary Weiss, the Asst Director of Personnel with 24 years of Service and who knew the Faculty and University policies be given the job. I would prefer to take an Assistant Director spot and keep my automation projects. I would handle Union Negotiations, Regulatory Compliance and Compensation. Mary would handle the Budget and supervision of Main Campus Employment and Benefits.

In 1972, I completed the Systems Analysis based on the Monsanto Personnel System. This included employee records that included everything from their current salaries or wages, that included name, hire date, title, department, annual pay and codes for race, sex, education, etc. required for Government Reports and to allow the automation of 9,000 Annual Appointment Letters.

In 1973, we loaded the system to test and I visited each department and wrote the job descriptions for support staffs based on skill level. I matched each job level with wage and salary surveys from the College and University Personnel Association CUPA and the local surveys from the St. Louis ASPA Chapter. I wrote the Compensation Manual.

In 1973, Nixon imposed a 5.5% limit on wage increases. I pulled a CCH copy of the law from the Law Library and met with the Vice Chancellor and General Council. I was in negotiations with the Main Campus Unions in 1973. I was able to announce the 5.5% increase to all University Employees ahead of the Union Negotiations. The Main Campus Union requested that negotiations for wages be moved to Arbitration. I offered 5.5% the first year and 2% for the 2^nd and 3^rd years and the Arbitrators approved it.

This caused the Main Campus Union employees to decertify the Union.

Mary was scheduled to retire in 1974 and I was winding up the Automation Project and established a HRIS System. I completed my visits to each Main Campus Academic Office and finished all non-academic staff job descriptions based on levels of skill. I added a local wage survey to the College and University survey to set salary ranges and completed the Compensation Manual.

I recommended that Gloria White, the current Affirmative Action Manager be appointed to the Director of Personnel job to replace Mary Weiss.  Gloria had just completed her Law Degree at night school and had 10+ years of service.

I accepted an offer from Schwan Foods in 1975 to move from St. Louis to the Pizza Plant in Salina Kansas to automate the operation.

Washington University Revenue was $1.5 billion in 2023.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader