I recall reading the report of a US Commission (presidential or Senate?)
looking at automation. Was it in the 50's? It seemed to come to the
conclusion 'nothing to worry about.'
On Wed, 25 Feb 1998, Jim Dator wrote:
> Yes, Tom, YES. That is what I was thinking about, and I would love to
> know more (maybe sending it privately if onthers on this list aren't
> intersted).
>
> Here is the book you were probably thinking of: John Diebold, Automation:
> the advent of the automatic factory. Van Nostrand, 1952, although he did
> write others.
>
> Anyone have other examples?
>
> On Wed, 25 Feb 1998, Tom Walker wrote:
>
> > Jim Dator expressed his interest in documenting the early debates and
> > responses to automation. The termed reputedly was coined in the early 1950s
> > by a guy named Diebold (can't find his first name at the moment). What to do
> > about automation was a big issue for the newly merged AFL-CIO in the
> > mid-fifties. The president of the UAW, Walter Reuther, was an outspoken, if
> > wavering, critic of automation. There's a story he told about being taken on
> > a tour of a new, highly automated car plant and asking, "but who is going to
> > buy all these cars?"
> >
> > Soon after the merger of the AFL and the CIO, the organization held a
> > conference on the shorter work week. I've got quite a bit of documentation
> > on the 1950s automation/shorter work time debate, which I can forward as
> > time permits. By the mid-1960s union alarm about automation seems to have
> > subsided and been soothed by 1. schemes for retraining existing union
> > members and 2. substantial increases in government spending, particularly on
> > military buildup, war and space exploration.
> >
> > Looking back at old magazines and news reports, one might go so far as to
> > say that Sputnik killed the four-day week. There's a fascinating footnote to
> > this history that reports Lyndon Johnson, then Senate Majority Leader,
> > calling for scrapping the 40-hour work week and full wartime mobilization to
> > meet the challenge of Russia's sputnik and missle development. ("Up Work
> > Week, Johnson Urges", Washington Post and Times Herald, December 11, 1957)
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Tom Walker
> > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> > Vancouver, B.C.
> > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > (604) 669-3286
> > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> > The TimeWork Web: http://www.vcn.bc.ca/timework/
> >
> >
>
>
