History A. E. Staley

1 history

1.1 chicago bears football team
1.2 lake decatur
1.3 a.e. staley lockout

history

augustus eugene staley (25 february 1867 – 26 december 1940) founded sales company food starch in baltimore in 1898. on 6 november 1906, incorporated starch business had created in baltimore, maryland in order start production of food starch. in 1909 mr. staley purchased inoperative cornstarch plant in decatur, il. paid $45,000 , spent 3 years rebuilding , upgrading plant capital had raised stockholders. factory began processing on march 12, 1912.

the company has produced many famous household brands including staley pancake , waffle syrup, sta-puf fabric softener, , sta-flo liquid starch. 2 latter brands subsequently sold dial.

a. e. staley manufacturing 1 of largest processors of corn in united states, second archer daniels midland corporation, based in decatur, illinois. processed soybeans under partnership agreement archer daniels midland @ decatur, illinois plant. archer daniels midland, through subsidiary, owned 7.4% of a.e. staley , time, archer daniel midland assist a.e. staley filling corn syrup orders cpc international when company in short supply of product. both companies had joint ventures producing corn sweeteners in central america.

in 1985, a. e. staley purchased cfs continental, wholesale grocery company, $360 million. a. e. staley stated need diversify away bulk food processing. after acquisition, a. e. staley changed name staley continental.

in 1988, british company tate & lyle acquired 90% of a. e. staley $1.42 billion. prior purchase, tate & lyle announced planned sell cfs continental sysco, wholesale grocer, $700 million fund acquisition. in 2000, tate & lyle acquired remaining 10% of a. e. staley.

chicago bears football team

in march of 1920 man telephoned me ... george chamberlain , general superintendent of a.e. staley company ... in 1919, [the company s fellowship club] had formed football team. had done against other local teams mr. staley wanted build team compete best semi-professional , industrial teams in country ... mr. chamberlain asked if come decatur , work staley company.

staley founded company football team, decatur staleys, in 1919. players worked semi-professionals in factory. team charter member of became national football league in 1920. in 1921, staley turned team on george halas, moved chicago, changing team name chicago bears year later. team s mascot since 2003 staley da bear.

lake decatur

in 1922, gene staley proposed project city of decatur create lake decatur, illinois’ largest artificial body of water. staley required artificial lake in order maintain plant’s necessity of 19 million gallons of water day sustain production. staley threatened decatur city council, if city refused allow construction of artificial lake, close plant , move peoria, illinois. decatur allowed company go forward project, , in 1922, construction of 2,800 arches , 30-mile shoreline of artificial lake started.

a.e. staley lockout

on sunday, june 27, 1993, a.e staley officials decided lock out a.e staley employees members of allied industrial workers of america union. lockout incident result of decade of labor disputes between management , staley’s unionized workers. decline in pay , wages began in 1985 when a.e. staley merged continental foods, forming staley continental. during next 3 years, union forced make concessions management concerned plant remaining viable. base pay frozen @ $10.80 per hour , workers complained of long overtime hours , declining safety conditions. after london based tate & lyle bought a.e. staley in 1988, conditions got worse factory workers. in 1989, contract negotiations began new three-year contract. while bargaining committee hoping end salary freeze , improving safety standards, company ushering in new practices, such rotating shifts , deskilling of jobs elimination of many safety procedures. in 1991, company hired new labor relations director known promoting union busting practices. workers years , decades of experience @ plant fired , new supervisors forced workers ignore osha regulations. new attendance policy instituted , workers shocked find out on 7 absences per year fired , number of allowed absences decrease every year. few months later, company management announced new set of offences grounds immediate termination. list included “smoking outside of designated areas; loafing; dishonesty; sleeping on duty; insubordination; refusal work overtime directed; unauthorized possession of camera; , use of abusive or threatening language.” gross violation of union contract, states employers cannot fire employees without having “just cause” so. due new regulation, more workers fired during next year had been fired in previous twenty years combined.

considering climate, no surprise continued contract negotiations unsuccessful. under guidance of jerry tucker, union began organize in-plant “work rule” campaign, workers pressure management reach fair campaign altering behavior on job, opposed going on strike. @ staley’s, meant workers collectively decided told supervisor without past knowledge , experiences. performed outlined job duties , nothing extra. goal of work rule campaign show management factory not run without knowledge , skills of workers. in many ways, staley’s perfect environment type of labor tactic, unionized workers had acquired skills on years boosted overall production , quality of product. management , new supervisors did not have knowledge , skills instruct workers. evidenced in fact on next 11 months during work rule campaign occurred, production fell drastically. staley spokesperson estimated production had fallen 32%, union estimates upwards of 50%.

the new york times reported decision resulting in lockout staley union employees due staley officials claiming workers had been sabotaging plant operations weeks prior lockout. representatives allied industrial workers of america, claimed there no reports of employees being reprimanded sabotage, going 9 months since lockout.

the a.e staley lockout result in 2 , half-year labor movement end in 1996. during period, union workers fought win fair contract, eliminate mandatory 12-hour shifts , mandatory overtime, , address safety concerns. lockout turned national labor movement when union workers 2 other decatur-based companies, caterpillar inc. , firestone tire , rubber company, walked out on contract disputes in august 1994 , joined lockout workers a.e staley in protests, picketing , public demonstrations.

the staley plants operated @ full capacity white collar works , union ended giving in company demands.