Respect and employees
In my last blog I mentioned my father's business and his relationship with his employees. That is where I learned how important it is to sincerely respect others. No matter their station in life.
My father was one of 11 children born in Brooklyn, New York to poor Irish Catholic parents. He got kicked out of school in the fifth grade. He worked as a union worker in the printing business after WWII. He got transferred to Texas in August of 1953. Three small kids, summer in Houston, no air conditioning, apartment living and you left your extended family up north. I do not understand what my Mom's problem was?
When my Dad bought the business he then had the responsibility of negotiating the contracts for the presiding unions. I think there were 4 unions to negotiate with. Typographical, Pressman's, Bindery, and Strippers unions. For clarification, stripping was an offset printing process in the sixties.
My dad went from being a union member to negotiating with them from the other side of the table. He came home with stories. The best was the turkey negotiation. Fidelity Printing, for years, gave a free turkey to all employees for Thanksgiving. At the end of negotiations with the typographical union they wanted to negotiate the size of the
free turkey. The free turkey was 12 lbs. The union demanded a 16 lb. turkey for their union members. My dad spent hours negotiating the size of that turkey. He was frustrated after he had negotiated increased wages and benefits and that 4 lbs. of dead turkey stalled negotiations. Principles were involved. In the end there were no more free turkeys at Fidelity Printing Co. 19 union members kept over 80 others from a free meal. With those negotiations and a 92% tax bracket..... a Republican was born.
A business is not a democracy. It is a dictatorship. That said, dictators should always be respectful and protective of their employees. Small business owners provide the vision, the capital and expose themselves to financial risks. They deserve their share. The employees deserve theirs.
At Plants For All Seasons all employees get a year end cash bonus based on profit... but there are no free turkeys!
Upcoming Topic: The day my parents died.
Another great read.
For the past few years we have been able to give out a Christmas bonus to our handful of employees. I am really happy we can do this b/c you do have to take care of your employees and they should in turn take care of you (business).
Take Care~
~Jason~
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