A Confidential Newsletter ForEmployees And Their Families.

Vol. 2, No. 7 July, 1970 Published by MUELLER£0., Decatur, I l l inois Joe Penne, Editor

STRIKE CONTINUESIN CHATTANOOGA

(Chattanooga) . . . The strike at the Mueller Co.plant in Chattanooga continues with no signif icantdevelopments to report at this time. Three unionsrepresenting the major i ty of production workers havebeen on strike since their contracts expired June 6.

A large portion of the brass and iron production inthe Decatur Foundry is normally used in Chattanoogaand as a result of the work stoppage there about 125workers at Plant 4 in Decatur have been working onlyfour days for a number of weeks.

The union contract l imi ts to f ive the number ofweeks that the work schedule can be cut to 32 hours.The contract reads: "It is agreed the work week maybe cut to thirty-two (32) hours in a department in orderto maintain a working force for a period of f ive weeksduring a calendar year, but after the exhaustion ofthis five (5) week period it is agreed that the workingforces should be cut and a forty (40) hour week wil lbe maintained for the employees with the greatestseniority unless both parties mutually agree to afurther reduction in the work week."

This defined l imit was reached the week of July20, but orders for castings were at a sufficient levelfol lowing plant vacation shut-down that it was neces-sary for the foundry to work f ive days during the weekof July 27.

Future foundry schedules wi l l be worked out ac-cording to casting needs and as mutually agreed to bythe company and union, pending the resumption ofwork in Chattanooga.

FAMILIAR FACESIN NEW PLACES

(Decatur) . . . Wil l iam R. Knorr, formerly productsmanager for the Headquarters Sales Division, waspromoted July 1 to the newly created position of salestraining coordinator. His primary duty wil l be productinstruction and famil iar ization, plus coordinating withthe general sales manager such phases of the salestraining program as company indoctrination, in-planttraining, sales pol ic ies and procedure and fieldtraining.

Arvil D.E. (Gene) Hullinger, formerly senior in-dustrial engineer, was promoted July 13 to manager ofindustrial engineering in Decatur. He succeeds ThomasC. Gerstner who resigned to accept a job with acompany in Syracuse, Indiana.

Dan N. Morris, formerly computer operator, hasbeen promoted to programmer trainee in the DataProcessing Section, effective July 7.

MUELLERJSA''GOOD'-'^COMPANY

"Mueller is a good company because it makesgood products," was a comment made recently.

The speaker wasn't referring to Mueller "quality"but rather the end use of the products. He talks,perhaps ideali s t ical ly , about Mueller products beingused in water supply, sewage treatment and naturalgas di str ibut ion-- industr ies which make the world abetter place to l ive.

Many cr i t ics of the "establishment" claim certainbusinesses or industries are "bad" because theycontribute to pollution, make products used in war,or fai l outwardly to improve our nation or the world.

Many people refer to Mueller Co. as a "good"company, but few of us have ever thought of our in-animate products from the point of view of a humani-tarian.

2 NEW ASSIGNMENTSMADE IN MANUFACTURING

(Decatur) . . . Two assignments in the Manufactur-ing Division occurred July 20 as the result of BreaPlant Manager Eli A. Lockard's hospital izat ion fol-lowing a serious car accident July 10.

Paul Hickman, v ice president-manufacturing, hasannounced that Lloyd W. Darnell has been appointedacting plant manager in Brea pending the return ofLockard who is on a medical leave of absence re-covering from injuries.

Darnell worked as assistant plant manager in Breafrom May of 1967 until December of 1968 when he waspromoted to assistant manager of the Decatur factory.

Charles W. Moore, ass is tan t to the vice president-manufacturing, has been appointed acting ass is tantfactory manager at the Mueller Co. plants in Decatur.Moore was assistant factory manager in Decatur from1959 to 1961 and also served as ass is tant factorymanager in Chattanooga for three years.

U.A.W., COMPANY CONTRACTEXPIRES IN ST. JEROME

(St. Jerome, Quebec) . . . The contract betweenMueller and the United Auto Workers Union represent-ing workers in the Mueller foundry in St. Jerome ex-pired June 15, but production continues even thoughno agreement has been reached.

Under Canadian law and after the contract hasexpired, the union must request the government con-ci l iat ion service to participate in ta lks and no strikemay occur until at least 60 days after this request.

YEAR 2000 IS NEARENOUGH TO PLAN FOR

(U.S.) . . . The year 2000 is a mere 30 years away. . . it is no farther ahead of us than the New Deal isbehind us ... it is only as removed in time as PearlHarbor.

The next 30 years promise to be as dynamic as thelast 30 according to a recent Chamber of Commerceof the United States study done by a special com-mittee in the Economic Analysis and Study Group.

In America, a new breed of special ist has emergedknown as the "futurist." These people are thinki-ngabout the future because they increasingly real izethat many of today's decisions rest on conjecturesabout the future, on speculations about what l ife wil lbe like tomorrow and about how political, social,economic, technological and international develop-ments will shape tomorrow's world, the report begins.

While indulging in long-range future-oriented think-ing, the study committee warns that we need to keepfirmly in mind the distinct possibility of such calama-ties as depression, world war, and other problemswhich could disturb the pattern of speculations.

To condense the 40-page report into a few wordsis impossible, but to summarize, the problems of 2000are the same as they are today—people problems. Ifwe can feed, educate and find worthwhile jobs for theexpected booming world population, then our outlookis promising.

Clearly, population growth is a major factor in allplanning for the future. In the year 2000, there maywell be almost 7 bill ion people in the world—doublethe presen-t total. The U.S. may grow from 200 mil l ionto 325 million. By 1985, it is almost certain that theU.S. wil l grow by 64 mil l ion people—an increase thatis equal to all of those who now live in all 24 stateswest of the Mississippi River.

To meet the food needs of the growing world, foodproduction must quadruple by 2000.

Although food production must go up, few new jobswill develop in this area. About \Yi million new jobsmust be created for each of the next five years aloneto absorb the labor supply which is growing becauseof age changes, more women entering the work marketand more nonwhites seeking jobs.

As for the projected needs for labor in 1975, thegrowth in service-producing act iv i t ies wil l continue.We are the only country in the world which deploys amajor i ty of its workers in the production of services

rather than goods. Service workers reached half thelabor force in the 1950s and the r ise has been con-tinuing ever since. By 1975, service employment willreach about 65 per cent. The fastest growing sectorof the service industry is government and this pro-mises to continue to grow.

The labor force profile for 1975 could be:

More than one out of every six workers wil l beengaged in government service.

One out of every five persons will be earning aliving by buying and selling.

Less than five per cent of the work force will

produce all of the food, feed and fibers in the agri-cultural sector.

The unskil led wi l l represent less than five per centof the work force.

Increasing affluence, rising education, new methodsof production, and a vastly changed future environmentare bound to change people's attitudes toward thevalue of work. The concept of hard work as an all-consuming necessity has already been called into,question by the younger generation.

•Added to these notions is the fact that by 1975 no-mofteHhan 25 per cent of the work force will be di-rectJy involved in manufacturing products, mining,growing crops and constructing buildings.

A study by one of the largest U.S. corporationsfound that tomorrow's blue collar workers may adoptpresent-day middle-class work values, while the pro-fessional and scienti f ic workers of the future maytend to a less driving, more avocational attitude ofwork.

In addition, the average work week will continueits historical decline and the length of vacations willincrease. It is predicted that the American of the year2000 wil l work only 31 hours weekly on the average.Some Americans may prefer two 20-hour per week jobsto keep busy and to increase income. Others may pre-fer to work for pay only six months per year. Stillothers may prefer to work very hard for pay for 10-15years so that they can retire at age 40 and indulge inother act iv i t ies for the rest of their lives.

The Chamber of Commerce report goes on to saythat by the year 2000, family purchasing power wil lbe about two-thirds above the present. (Prices in theyear 2000 may be about 60 per cent above currentlevels, but wages tend to increase about twice asfast as prices, so buying power wil l rise.) By 2000,hourly wages wi l l average $7.50, compared with$2.82 today.

Talking about the future is a very risky businessin a world where social change is so rapid and whereknowledge is said to be doubled at five year interval s.However, there is a purpose to be served by indulgingin speculation about the future for it will help usthink about tomorrow's opportunities and challengesand perhaps enlighten us a little about some of thethings happening today.

RetirementsThe following list gives the retiree's job at time ofretirement, years of service and date of retirement.

Brea

Will iam J. Beaudry, Assembly Dept., 13 years, 7months and 21 days, July 10.

Decatur

Harold Taylor, machine repairman, 36 years, 3 monthsand 6 days, July 12.Carl Smith, electrician, 28 years, 3 months and 7days, July 7,

Service Awards

The following Mueller employees received serviceawards during July.

Mueller, Limited

20 Years: Arthur Hutchingame

30 Years: Basil Thompson, Eric Wood, RobertBannister, Robert Whi te '

Brea

5 Years: Tom Summers, Delmar Cox, Fern McCallum

15 Years: Gerald Wheat

20 Years: Fred Liebherr

Chattanooga

5 Years: James R. Mil lsaps, Edward Hughes,Johnny Bryson, Jerry M.Myers, J.MichaelDorsett

10 Years: James H. Dunnigan

15 Years: Bennon Dees, James 0. Hise, Norena R.Gann, J.L. Barren, Albert Lee Thompson,Persie L. Campbell, Emory L. Bolden,James W. Rice, Reecie Evans, OdellTaylor, John A. Foster, Jr.

20 Years: Robert C. Walton, Marvin S. Boykin,Berry L. Ayers, James L. Owens

25 Years: Edward Parham

Decatur

5 Years: Harold E. Fyke, Robert R. Finney,Patricia A. Herring, James Paslay,Mildred Hicks

10 Years: Lee R. Smull, Thomas Monks, Robert L.McCoy

15 Years: James W. Jones, Vance E. Heckman

20 Years: Kenneth L. Moore, Elmer 0. Ball, DelmarE. Bagenski, Floyd W. Erlenbusch

30 Years: Paul R. Ammann, Kennes K. Karnes,Wi l l iam 0. Misenheimer

Outside Sales

15 Years: Louis P. Mautz, Paul B. Watts

20 Years: Frank R. (Dick) Seevers

RETIREES PLANAUG. 13 MEETING

(Decatur) . . . The Mueller Co. men retirees inDecatur plan to resume their regular monthly meetingson Aug. 13 at Ashby's House of Plenty, King andMonroe streets. Last month's meeting was canceledbecause of a fire at the restaurant in mid-June, but itis expected to be re-opened around the f i rst of Augustand should be ready for the retirees.

CREDIT UNIONS-PEOPLEHELPING EACH OTHER

There is strength in numbers and as a result theworld is ful l of special interest groups today, madeup of individuals who have a common cause or reasonfor organi zing.

One of the common denominators today is moneyand so we have the basis for the success and growthenjoyed by credit unions. A credit union is a commoninterest group which agrees to save together and tolend money to each other as needed.

Thej-e. axe more than 52,000 credit unions aroundthe'world,'Including 23,500 in the United States andincreasing at the rate of about two per cent a year.These numbers include 19 credi t unions in Botswana,Afr ica; 307 on the F i j i Island; 4,500 in Canada; 27on Barbados in the Caribbean and four representingemployees of Mueller Co. and Mueller, Limited.

Of the 36 mil l ion members worldwide, more than2,800 of them are Muel ler employees and their fami l ieswho have about $3 mil l ion of the $16 bi l l ion in sav-ings found in credit unions all over the world.

This is big business handled, managed and ad-ministered by the members of the credit unions them-selves.

Credit Union operations are not new. The MuellerCo. Employees Credit Union in Decatur celebrated its25th anniversary last year and in November theMueller Co. Employees Federal Credit Union in Breawill have its 20th birthday.

Although all of the Mueller credit unions have en-joyed success for a number of years, the credit unionmovement dates back to 1849. The story began in a

farm vi l lage of Flammersfeld in Western Germanywhere depression was sweeping the country andvi l lagers were reduced to destitution and perpetualdebt bondage.

The mayor of Flammersfeld decided that his peoplecould help themselves only by banding together tohelp each other. The result was the first credit unionwhich had these three conditions:

1. Only those who belonged to the credit union couldborrow from it.

2. Loans would be made only for "provident and pro-ductive purposes."

3. A man's character would be the most importantsecurity for his loans.

These guidelines continue to steer the credit unionmovement today which provides from 10 to 15 per cent'of all instal lment lending in North America.

Alphonse Desjardins, a Canadian parliamentaryreporter, organized North America's f i rst credit unionin 1900 among the poor of his economical ly depressedhometown of Levis, Quebec. Spurred by Boston mer-chant Edward A. Filene, the Massachusetts legis-lature nine years later enacted the f i rst credit unionlaw in the United States.

For mil l ions, credit union membership spel lssecurity, f inancial independence and better living.

5 UNIVERSITY STUDENTSWORKING SUMMER JOBS

(Decatur) . . . Five university students are workingtheir summer vacation in var ious departments ofMueller Co. in Decatur.

Two mechanical engineering students are workingin the Engineering D iv i s i on ' s student co-op program.Under the co-op program, the student, who has ad-vanced beyond his freshman year, spends the equiva-lent of a semester in a work situation and the nextsemester on campus and in c lassrooms, alternatinghis training between the two under a closely super-vised program.

Back again this summer in the engineering o f f i ceis Larry Weld who is a senior at the University ofMissouri at Rolla. Beginning the co-op program thissummer is Bruce Kopetz, sophomore at Bradley Uni-versity, who is working in the Engineering Test Lab.

Three Miliikin University students, two in in-dustrial Engineering and one in Advertising and SalesPromotion, are working in areas al l ied with theirmajors. John Mitchell, a senior in marketing, is work-ing in Advertising and Sales Promotion, and JohnPhil l ips and John O'Ri iey, seniors in business andindustrial management, are working through a Mil i ik inIE intern program and receive some credits for it.Through the summer, the latter two men wil l be ex-posed to various phases of industrial engineering asthey work in cost estimating, tool engineering,methods and time study.

Rich Dulaney, who worked in this IE program lastsummer, graduated this spring from Mil i ik in and hasbeen hired by Mueller Co. as a ful l-t ime member ofthe Industrial Engineering Section.

One other college graduate joining Mueller Co. ona permanent basis this summer is Thomas J. Boehme,a math and economics major from Rose PolytechnicInstitute, who is in the company's sales trainingprogram.

BIG TAX BILL COULDHIT WORKING COUPLES

(Washington) . . . Married couples who work mayface a whopping tax bill next Apri l because too littlewas withheld from their pay this year, the InternalRevenue Service warns.

Withholding has never been geared to retain ful ltaxes due on the combined income of a workingcouple. Now a new low-income al lowance included inin the Tax Reform Act of 1969 makes this disparityeven greater. The IRS suggests that working couplesclaim fewer exemptions so that more is withheldthrough the year ___„

TURN THE OTHER CHEEK. A truck driver wassitting by himself in a l itt le diner in Tennessee, mi lesfrom nowhere, when three motorcycle toughs stro l ledin. One of them helped himself to the dr iver 's ham-burger, another to his coffee and the other took hispie. The driver meekly got up, paid his bill and left.The waitress stood by the cash register, watching asthe hugh trailer truck pulled away. Referring to thedriver, one of the toughs said, "He ain't much of aman." "Nope," said the waitress. "He ain't much ofa truck driver either. He just ran over three motor-cycles."

News Briefs(Chattanooga) . . . E. J. (Jim) Hosto, plant en-

gineer at the Chattanooga plant, has been electedpresident of the Chattanooga Tri-State Chapter of theAmerican insti tute of Plant Engineers. Jim served asvice president last year and heads the organization

-for; % 1970-71 year.- - . , - - ! : « » » » » » » » »

(Decatur) . . . Herman E. Jackson, Mueller retireewho worked many years in the Advertising, SalesPromotion and Catalog sections, recently was electedinternational president of the Dale Carnegie AlumniAssociat ion at its international convention. Hermanand his wife have been members of the associationfor more than 20 years.

JACK JOHNSON BEGINSFIELD SALES TRAINING

(Decatur) . . . Sales Trainee Jack B. Johnsonmoved to the Portland, Oregon area about Aug. 1 towork with F. V. (Doc) Martin in the f ield phase ofthe company's sa les training program.

Martin's territory currently consists of the westerntwo-thirds of the states of Washington and Oregon, buteventually wil l be split in anticipation of Martin'sretirement in February, 1972.

Upon Johnson's completion of his f ield salestraining program about Dec. 1, 1970, he wi l l be as-signed to the Oregon sector of the present territoryand continue working with Martin until his retirement.

By Dec. 1, 1970 the terr i tory's split wi l l be clear lydefined and Martin's successor in the Washingtonportion wi l l be named.

Johnson, a native of New Kensington, Pa., startedwith Mueller Co. in the Brea Sales Off ice in 1966 andentered the sales training program in 1968. He andhis wife Peg have three children.

SURCHARGE ON INCOMETAX CAME OFF JULY 1

(Washington) . . . Income tax deductions on yourpay checks should be a little less after July 1, thanksto the Tax Reform Act of 1969 which eliminates thesurcharge on income tax. Originally the tax was 10per cent, then reduced to f ive per cent from Jan. 1 toJuly 1. A couple of examples using a worker beingpaid every two weeks and claiming four exemptionsil lustrates the changes. If our worker makes from$240 to $250 every two weeks his withholding shouldbe about $1.80 less per pay period. A similar workermaking from $300 to $320 every two weeks shouldhave his withholding tax reduced by about $2.60every pay period. Less tax means more income!

WHAT'S NEWSWITH YOU?

If you have any ideas for stories or news itemsabout events, awards or accomplishments of you, yourfamily, and men in service, pass them along to EditorJoe Penne in Decatur.