industry/Business
Lab shutdown may end professional union Association of Industrial Scientists officers fear reduced effectiveness as Shell moves R&D labs from California to Texas The Association of Industrial Scientists—which for a number of years was a rare case of a union representing professionals exclusively—may be in danger of disappearing next year. At least that's the fear of some of the officers of the union, which represents scientists and engineers at Shell Development's Emeryville, Calif., research center (ERC), as a result of the company's intentions to close the facilities. Last month Shell disclosed consolidation plans in which ERC would be closed and moved to Houston, Tex., within one year (C&EN, Oct. 11, page 13). In addition, other Shell research laboratories at Torrance, Calif., Wood River, 111., and Woodbury, N.J., would also be consolidated in Houston over a three- or four-year period. AIS plans to challenge Shell's reasons for the move. And the explanation Shell gives for reducing, reorganizing, and centralizing R&D activities raises the question: Have industrial scientists and engineers improved their techniques to the extent that fewer scientists are now required for development work—and thus have they worked themselves right out of their jobs? Of some 400 Shell Development employees represented by the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union (OCAW), 68 have been invited to move to Houston and 52 have accepted, according to OCAW. Of the approximately 350-member professional group of Shell Development employees represented by AIS, which is affiliated with the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association (AFL-CIO), about two thirds are being offered positions in Houston. Reorganization. The move is part of a reorganization plan that has been under study for several years, Michael 16 C&EN NOV. 15, 1971
N. Papadopoulos, vice president of Shell Development, tells C&EN. "We are beginning a program reduction right now and hope to phase it out in an orderly manner, ending in the summer of 1972," he says. "We hope to be able to find other jobs for the vast majority of those who won't be going to Houston. In any case, no one will be terminated before mid-February." Following disclosure of Shell's plans, AIS-MEBA's first statement dwelled heavily on the fact that those employees offered jobs in Houston were asked to make their decisions in one week. "Those offered positions in Houston were indeed asked to make their decisions as quickly as possible," Dr. Papadopoulos says, "since their decisions will determine whether some others receive offers." However, the announcement should not have been a "bolt from the blue" to anyone concerned, he says, since, on several occasions over the past two years in both formal and informal discussions, the move had been indicated as a possibility in Shell's readjustment plan. Shell acknowledges, he says, that under extenuating circumstances some employees would require more time for the decision. A number of those who will not be going to Houston, whether by choice or from lack of an invitation, will be qualified to receive a company pension, Dr. Papadopoulos says. In fact, he says, some 35% of the professional staff could upon leaving Shell receive an income from pension funds of 60 to 85% of their current net incomes. The Shell Development officer tells
C&EN that union matters did not figure at all in Shell's decision to make the move to Houston. Shell has apparently shown no discrimination against AIS-MEBA members in filling available positions in Houston. Shell has said there would be room for about two thirds of the ERC professional staff in Houston, and exactly two thirds of the AIS-MEBA ninemember executive committee have been offered jobs in Houston. However, Stephen H. Garnett, chairman of the union's executive committee, tells C&EN that the move to Houston could well mean the death of the union. Although the union would engage in organizing activities in Houston, he says, its short-term effectiveness would be drastically reduced by dilution with personnel from other, nonunion Shell facilities. Owen Foley, senior lab assistant at ERC and spokesman for OCAW, agrees that unionism at Shell R&D facilities will suffer. He points out that Shell labs in Houston are not organized and OCAW's effectiveness will be greatly diminished after the move. Mr. Foley won't be going to Houston. He says he hasn't been invited. Nor will many of the more active OCAW members and organizers be going to Houston. Of OCAW's nine-member executive board and five-member workman's committee, only one person has been invited to Houston, Mr. Foley says. Dr. Garnett, who says he was offered a position in Houston and has accepted, says that AIS-MEBA intends to do everything in its power to prevent the move. "We don't feel that
Papadopoulos: phase out in an orderly manner
the move is manifestly dictated by the economic picture they [Shell's man agement] have presented," Dr. Garnett says. "In fact," he remarks, "the eco nomic picture presented seems quite ambiguous to us." According to Dr. Garnett, a number of union members feel that the decision was made to move to Houston and then "numbers were brought up to justify that de cision. "We are challenging their reasons for moving," Dr. Garnett says. "If they come up with a figure of, say, a 10% savings by consolidation and moving, we might offer to take a 10% pay cut to stay in Emeryville. When planned layoffs were announced in the past, we polled the membership and offered to take salary reductions in stead, but our offer wasn't accepted." Improve. Although the planned re duction will cut Shell's R&D employ ment of some 2300 by about 25%, Dr. Papadopoulos and Thomas Baron, president of Shell Development, say that they expect the R&D effort to re tain its effectiveness or even improve. Centralization itself, they say, will do much to improve communication among R&D people and between them and the people who set the course of Shell's business. Shell is also apparently shifting the direction of its R&D effort, however. "There are certain areas of activity, which I don't wish to discuss now, where we find that we are not com petitive enough," Dr. Papadopoulos says. "And there are areas that are becoming more important—environ mental conservation and unconven tional raw materials, unconventional fossil fuel sources, for example." Both spokesmen insist that Shell's interest in chemistry and chemical products is not waning. "But we will need fewer chemists, especially chem ists of a development nature, and fewer other technical people of a de velopment nature," Dr. Papadopoulos says. Technological advances and in creased efficiency in development tech niques, he says, will permit Shell to do its required development work with fewer people and fewer dollars than before. Development projects will be larger but will occur less often with less manpower and shorter chunks of time expended. This change in skill demand has im plications that extend far beyond Shell and the petroleum and petro chemical industries, Dr. Papadopoulos says, and, quite apart from economic climate constraints, is reflected in R&D all over the country.
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MERCAPTANS (THIOLS) *Ethyl Mercaptan *iso-Propyl Mercaptan *n-Propyl Mercaptan iso-Butyl Mercaptan *n-Butyl Mercaptan sec-Butyl Mercaptan *tert-Butyl Mercaptan sec-iso-Amyl Mercaptan *tert-Amyl Mercaptan mixed-Hexyl Mercaptans *n-Hexyl Mercaptan mixed-Heptyl Mercaptans *n-0ctyl Mercaptan *tert-0ctyl Mercaptans tert-Nonyl Mercaptans n-Decyl Mercaptan n-Dodecyl Mercaptan *tert-Dodecyl Mercaptans *tert-Tetradecyl Mercaptans *tert-Hexadecyl Mercaptans Mixed Secondary Mercaptans *Mixed Tertiary Mercaptans *Cyclohexyl Mercaptan Pinanyl Mercaptans-Type 2 Pinanyl Mercaptan—Type 10
Typical Purity Wt.%
99+ 98 99+ 98 98 97 98 97 98 97 96 97 98 96 97 95 96 97 94 82
η-Propyl Disulfide *tert-Butyl Disulfide n-Butyl Disulfide tert-Amyl Disulfide tert-Octyl Disulfide tert-Dodecyl Disulfide POLYSULFIDES tert-Butyl Polysulfide tert-Amyl Polysulfide tert-Octyl Polysulfide tert-Dodecyl Polysulfide SULFOXIDES AND SULFONES η-Propyl Sulfoxide η-Propyl Sulfone n-Butyl Sulfoxide n-Butyl Sulfone
96 94-98
99 96 98
DIFUNCTIONAL MERCAPTANS Ethylcyclohexyl Dimercaptan TCD (Tricyclodecene) Mercaptan Anethole Mercaptan *Dipentene Dimercaptan
DISULFIDES
98 97 98 98
CYCLIC SULFONES 3-Methylsulfolane 3-Methylsulfolene *Sulfolane *Sulfolene MISCELLANEOUS S-t-Butylthioglycolic Acid S-t-Octylthioglycolic Acid S-t-Dodecylthioglycolic Acid Ethylenetrithiocarbonate *Ethylthioethanol
SULFIDES Methyl Sulfide *Ethyl Sulfide Allyl Sulfide η-Propyl Sulfide tert-Butyl Sulfide *n-Butyl Sulfide 1
99 96-99
98 96 97 97
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1
66 At Phillips 66 it's performance that counts
CIRCLE 23 ON READER SERVICE CARD NOV. 15, 1971 C&EN 17
