Johns-Manville Industrial Relations Conference Leaders' Reports on Working Conditions (1966)

The reports of the ten discussion groups on "Working Conditions and Employee Attitudes" at J-M's Industrial Relations Conference in Phoenix, January 10–14, 1966 (eight pages, here in two copies). Every group said its plants had adverse working conditions, and most said they were still creating them. The first group blamed "lack of funds," the "low priority of working conditions improvements" and a lack of engineering know-how; others said "production requirements take preference" and "we refuse to spend the money, in many cases, to do the job right at the start."

What it shows

These are J-M's own plant and industrial relations managers speaking to each other. They named dust among the problems, said new plants were "under-designed for good working conditions," and one group wrote that where poor conditions existed the company should act "rather than allow the union to force the issue." One group also asked whether J-M should have "full-time people to study and controvert unfavorable statements concerning health conditions," and left it as a "higher management decision." At the same meeting Dr. Kenneth Smith told the managers he had seen no concrete evidence linking asbestos to cancer.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

Johns-Manville's own chronology of what the company knew describes this document as follows:

At Industrial Relations Managers meeting held 1/10/66 through 1/14/66, the conference leaders discuss the poor working conditions which exist at their plants. Leaders blame poor working conditions on the following: 1. Lack of funds; 2. Low priority of working conditions improvements; 3. Lack of engineering and engineering know-how; 4. Lack of approval of appropriation requests; 5. Lack of proper plant organization.