Work: After 1940

Waukegan factory output recovered during WWII and the post-war boom. In a profile published in the Chicago Tribune in 1951 that could have been written by the Waukegan Chamber of Commerce, Waukegan was praised as a “working man’s town-and how!” “The difference between Waukegan and the Gold Coast suburbs, from Evanston to Lake Bluff is emphasized by the position of Waukegan’s principle industrial district. It is right down on the lake shore in the front yard of the city…. The panorama might not please the esthetic, but few Waukegan residents find it offensive. The smoking stacks, the barn-like buildings are symbols of jobs and payrolls—vital considerations in a working man’s town.” Indeed, some of the biggest problems for the bustling town of 39,099 were a general housing shortage and a downtown parking shortage for the rapidly increasing automobile population. (1)

For those using public transportation, there were a series of strike actions affecting various lines and systems. There was a strike over wages in 1948 on the electric railroad; (2) Bus drivers and mechanics struck in the fall of 1950 for higher wages--from their rate of $1.37—and reduced hours from 49 to 40; (3) the strikers won a 13 cent raise. (4)
Other smaller strikes included a strike in 1955 at the United States Envelope Company (5); workers at Johnson Motors rejected a 4 ½ wage increase in 1954, hoping for better (6); machinists at Johnson Motors walked off the job for three days in 1959 in protest of installation of productivity-tracking equipment by the company; (7) another strike at the plant in 1961 idled 2000 workers for 29 days before being settled. (8)
A “wildcat” walkout hit American Steel and Wire in 1950 over reduced wages and “speed-ups.”.(9) Clerical workers struck American Steel and Wire in 1951 in a dispute over seniority, with union rank-and-file union members refusing to cross picket lines. (10)
One of the longest and most serious strikes of the post-war period was at Johns-Manville.

Johns-Manville

In May of 1943, Brown pleaded to the War Labor Board to rescind its directive granting a general 2 ½ cent and hour increase to Waukegan Manville workers, retroactive to September of the previous year. Granting the increase, the company warned, would only fuel inflation, the stated concern of the company. (11)
Manville labor troubles in Waukegan continued into June of 1943, when 175 workers walked off their posts in the magnesium department after the appointment of a new section foreman. (12) A few days later, the walk-out had swelled to 400. (13) The company countered that the strike was illegal since the factory was engaged in war production. (Asbestos was used heavily in ship construction for the navy.) Even as the war progressed, labor disputes continued. In 1945 the WLB found that Johns-Manville Waukegan had failed to restore agreed upon rates while ongoing union negotiations continued. (14) Workers struck, and again, a week later, even the skeleton crew keeping the plant on idle walked off, a costly shut-down process. (15) This strike was to continue for another 118 days, not settled until March of 1946. The new one-year contract “guarantees the company against any work stoppage, and provides for four paid holidays not worked and grants a 14 ½ cents an hour wage increase.” (16)
Production at the Manville factory in Waukegan continued to be brisk, even after war’s end. Converted Pullman railroad cars were used as temporary housing for up to 200 workers in 1946 as demobilized veterans created a local housing shortage. (17) By 1950, new equipment costing roughly $600,000 was installed to help double the output of asphalt floorings from 15 to 30 million square feet, once the operation was up and running in 1951. (18)
By the late 1940s the company had started a program of regular x-rays, though the information collected was not necessarily shared with the employees. In 1949 Dr. Kenneth Smith, corporate medical director for Johns-Manville summed up the corporation’s medical strategy:
“It must be remembered that although these men have the X-ray evidence of asbestosis, they are working today and definitely are not disabled from asbestosis. They have not been told of this diagnosis for it is felt that as long as the man feels well, is happy at home and at work, and his physical condition remains good, nothing should be said….as long as the man is not disabled, it is felt that he should not be told of his condition so that he can live and work in peace and the company can benefit from his years of experience….” (19)
In 1947, Rose Bertogliat, widow of a Johns-Manville foreman in Waukegan sought compensation from the company for his death. As foreman, Bertogliat had worked in general –presumably less dusty—areas of the plant so his exposure risk was assumed to be relatively light. When asked by safety engineer Hugh Jackson if, given the circumstances of Bertogliat’s exposure, corporate doctor Vorwald admitted that they would anticipate others working in the plant, even as “bystanders,” to be “similarly affected,” (20)

Despite industry efforts to dilute the findings, scientific research continued through the 1940s and 1950s on the health hazards of asbestos, and establishing links between asbestosis and lung cancer. In the late 1940s, Canadian J-M medical director K Smith, while studying Canadian asbestos mine workers noted “"there has been a tremendous increase in the number of articles in medical journals during the past year which deal with the subject of occupational cancer. Very high on the list of causes ... is asbestos. There seems to be increasing proof that asbestos fibers do cause lung cancer.” He further warned “this whole subject could cause our companies unlimited embarrassment and untold expense if labor leaders made use ... of the subject....” (21) though little is said with regard to the lives of the workers themselves.
In 1953, the Industrial Commission of Illinois promulgated rules for labeling of hazardous substances.AL Fisk, Jr of Johns-Manville’s legal department recommended putting warning labels on bags containing asbestos. For unknown reasons, this labelling was not added to bags for another 13 years. (21)
In March, 1960, a major fire swept through the Waukegan Johns-Manville (fire-proof roofing) plant. It took four hours for 200 firefighters from 9 companies to subdue and caused well over a million dollars worth of damage. (22)

By 1962 Irving Selikoff and colleagues established a definitive link between asbestos and cancer, which was widely accepted in the medical community. 1963, K Smith (now medical officer for Johns-Manville) recommended purchasing paper shredders so that “all copies of correspondence of such confidential nature should be thoroughly destroyed so that our position in Workmen's Compensation claims cannot be doubted." (23) By the mid-1960s, warning labels were finally attached to asbestos supplies and products. (23)

The Clean Air Act of 1970 classified asbestos as a hazardous pollutant, which started government regulation of asbestos use, handling and disposal, though the US, unlike many other developed countries, does not ban its use entirely.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 established independent regulation for industrial carcinogens, and removed the affected industries from dominating study and dissemination of information about industrial carcinogens.

By the late 1970s and early 1980s, Johns-Manville was facing an estimated 16,500 asbestos lawsuits and legal fees that ran to $2 million a month. (23) On August 26, 1982, Johns-Manville corporation filed petitions under chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code, “in what has been called the largest and most complex reorganization in history.” (24) As explained in a later court case, “The Johns-Manville bankruptcy was initiated to find a way to compensate in an orderly fashion the enormous number of then-existing and anticipated future asbestos health victims. Had Manville not sought the protection afforded by title 11, its continuation as a viable enterprise would have been acutely threatened by the ever-increasing number of judgements rendered against it in asbestos related suits. Such a denouement would have left thousands of present and future victims without compensation or any recourse, save a mere corporate charter.” (24) A trust was established to cover claims against the company.

“The Waukegan plant continued to manufacture asbestos products until 1985, when it switched to products such as floor tile that didn't contain the substance.” (25) The plant closed for good in 1996, and the buildings were razed “because federal law would hold Manville liable for any future contamination problems” (25)

As of 2018, Johns-Manville had 9,740 employees working in 55 manufacturing facilities in North America, Europe and China. They long longer operate in Waukegan. In 2001 the company was purchased by Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway.(26)

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the World Health Organization classifies asbestos as “carcinogenic to humans,” based on its ability to cause mesothelioma and cancers of the lung, larynx (voice box), and ovaries

The Greiss-Pflegger Tannery

The end came for the tannery, one of the longest-running large employers in Waukegan history in 1973. It closed its doors to operation in July of that year. Company president Donald Stephens cited “shortages of raw materials, foreign competition and anti-pollution regulations as the reasons. (27) By the fall of 1973, the buildings were sold to Consolidated Edison just across the mouth of the Waukegan river from the site, which planned for their demolition in December. A workman inspecting the building in November with an acetylene torch sparked a spectacular fire, which engulfed the entire structure. (28)

Decline

The final decline of manufacturing jobs in Waukegan accelerated as the 20^th century wound down. One by one, large firms that had employed thousands of workers over the century either contracted, moved away, or closed entirely. US steel reduced its work force by “a few thousand;” (29) The North Shore Electric railroad—the interurban trollys that connected Milwaukee with Chicago through all the towns in between—ran its last run on Jan 21, 1963; the tannery closed in 1973; Waukegan Paint and Lacquer Company at the south end of Market burned in 1976; Fansteel closed its VR-Wesson Division on lower Market street in 1987, despite union concessions and wage cuts, the company citing it’s “high cost base.” The average hourly worker at Fansteel made $12.38 an hour in wages and an additional $5.23 an hour in benefits.(30) Diamond scrap yards filed for bankruptcy in 1993, and the bank foreclosed on their 11-acre site on Market street; Johns-Manville closed its plant in 1996; Johnson Outboard motors filed for bankruptcy in 2000, laying off 7,000 workers,( though a smaller research and development operation under the Bombardier Corporation, which acquired Johnson after the bankruptcy continued in Waukegan;) With the closing of shoreline factories, the EJ&E railroad which serviced those industries also reduced its operations. The large roundhouse east of Market street near Belvidere had been removed between 1980 and 1993, the tracks running east of Market abandoned and overgrown with weeds.

Work: After 1940

Notes

(1) Waukegan: It’s working man’s town-and how! Chicago Tribune Wed Jan 31, 1951, p3

(2) Hopes fade for averting rail strike, The Pantograph, Bloomington, Ill, Thurs March 25, 1948, p1

(3) Waukegan-N Chicago bus strike threatened, The Decatur Daily Review, Decatur, Ill Thur Nov 23, 1950, p 45

(4) Waukegan-Chicago bus service resumed Decatur Daily Review, Decatur, Ill, Thu Jan 4, 1951, p 19

(5) 250 envelope workers strike, Jacksonville Daily Journal, Jacksonville Ill Sun Oct 9, 1955, p 1

(6) Milwaukee Motors firm workers strike; Edwardsville Intelligencer, Tue Nov 2, 1954 p 4

(7) 200 die casters in Waukegan end strike, Freeport Journal-Standard, Freeport, Ill, Thu Aug 20, 1959, p 6

(8) New Pact ends Johnson strike, The Daily Times, Davenport, Iowa Thur Nov 30, 1961, p2

(9) Walkout halts big Waukegan steel plant, Chicago Tribune, Sat Sep 23, 1950, p13

(10) Clerical Workers strike at AS&W, Journal Gazette, Mattoon, Ill Fri April 27, 1951 p1

(11) J-M’s Brown hits WLB for raising wages, The courier-News, Bridgewater, new Jersey, Mon May 10, 1943, p5

(12) 175 on strike over Waukegan foreman shift Chicago Tribune, Tues, June 22, 1943, p16

(13) More than 400 men strike in Illinois Johns-Manville Plant, Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Mississippi, Thurs June 24, 1943, p12

(14) WLB Finds Waukegan Corporation unfair Dixon Evening Telegraph, Dixon, Illinois, Sat Nov 24, 1945, p2

(15) Skeleton crew leaves J-M Plant, The Courier-news, Bridgewater, New Jersey, Wed Dec 5, 1945, p9

(16) 118-Day Strike at Manville ended The Central New Jersey Home news, Sat March 30, 1946, p1

(17) Use of Pullmans for Temporary homes asked by Johns-Manville The Central New Jersey Home, News, Wed July 31, 1946, p6

(18) Johns-Manville Doubling Waukegan plant output, Chicago Tribune, Sat May 27, 1950, p27

(19) Dying for Work: Workers' Safety and Health in Twentieth-Century America (Interdisciplinary Studies in History) Published by Indiana Univ Press (first published February 22nd 1989)

(20) Asbestos: Medical and legal aspects by Barry I. Castelman, Stephen L Berger, Aspen publishers, 2005, 894 pages

(21) The Silence: The Asbestos Industry and Early Occupational Cancer Research-A Case Study David E. Lilienfeld, MD, MPH, MS Engin, American Journal of Public Health. 1991 Jun;81(6):791-800.

(22) Estimate loss in Waukegan factory blaze, Chicago Tribune, Sat Mar 6, 1960, p23

(23) A lesson in history: Founder of bankrupt Johns Manville died of asbestos-related illness

by Steve Korris , Madison St Clair Record. Jun. 17, 2005

(24) Ocasek V Manville Corporation asbestos disease compensation fun, united states court of asppeals for the seventh circuit, 1991

(25) Asbestos Plant In Waukegan Nears The End, Chicago Tribune, Oct 10, 2000

(26) Johns Manville Corporation - Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on Johns Manville Corporation http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/96/Johns-Manville Corporation.html#ixzz53oKTNICW

(27) Spectacular blaze guts tannery building, Waukegan News-Sun November 15, 1973.

(28) Workman’s torch sparked tannery fire, Waukegan News-Sun

(29) Waukegan's Economy and Development, Federal reserve Bank of Chicago, Aug 24, 2009

(30) Fansteel Closing In Waukegan , Chicago Tribune, January 28, 1987

Appendix

(1) Waukegan: It’s working man’s town-and how! Chicago Tribune Wed Jan 31, 1951, p3

Waukegan: It’s working man’s town-and how!

City glories in smoking stacks along lake

By Clayton Kirkpatrick

Waukegan, local folks will tell you, is a working man’s town and proud of it. It is a distinction that sets their city apart from other north shore cities and villages.

The difference between Waukegan and the Gold Coast suburbs, from Evenston to Lake Bluff is emphasized by the position of Waukegan’s principle industrial district. It is right down on the lake shore in the front yard of the city.

From the high bluff on which the city grew thee is an excellent view of the factories stretched out along that once immense sandy beach. The panorama might not please the esthetic, but few Waukegan residents find it offensive. The smoking stacks, the barn-like buildings are symbols of jobs and payrolls—vital considerations in a working man’s town.

Most plants outside the city

Yet altho Waukegan’s boosters like to proclaim economic independence from Chicago, which produced the wealth displayed by their neighbors to the south, it is a fact that Waukegan is itself something of a “bedroom” town.

Among the half dozen or so big industries that keep Waukegan bustling and growing, only one, says Mayor Robert E Coulson, is wholly within the city limits. This is the Johnson Motor company, one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of outboard motors. Its plant stands at the lake front.

The American Steel and Wire company plant stands on the boundry between North Chicago and Waukegan, with about one-third of its area in the smaller town. North Chicago also is the home of Abbott Labroatories, pharmecutical manufacturers ranking first in number of employees in the area; the cyclone fence company, Fansteel Metalurgical corporation and the Deep-freeze division of the Motor Products corporation, all big employers.

Another rejects annexation

Another big industry, Johns-Manville corporation, has its plant in unincoporated territory, outside the city and has rejected annexation.

Nevertheless, it is Waukegan, with its population of 39,099 that is the home of most of the workwers in these industries. North Chicago, contiguous to Waukegan on the south, is much smaller, with a population of 8,700.

Furthermore, Waukegan is the leading center for the entire Lake county area bounded roughly by Zion on the north, Lake Villa and Mundelein on the west and Lake bluff on the south. A recent study made by the chanber of commerce disclosed that Waukegan draws about 87 per cent of the retail trade in the area.

Because of the close ties between Waukegan and North Chicago most busdiness men consider the two cities an ecomonic unit. The chanbver of commerce is tiotled the Waukegan-North Chicago chamber of commerce and the boundry is considered an artificial political line rather than an economic barrier.

Say Marquette camped there

Waukegan is much older of the two towns. There is a tradition that the French explorers Marquette, La Salle and Hennepin camped ther before 1700, and that a French trading post had been established there during the French ad Indian intercolonial wars.

Earliest amps of the territory indicate that the French named the outpost Little Fort River or little Fort. Ruins of the fort were found when the first American settlers arrived in 1835. The name Little Fort persisted until 1848, when the village was incorporated and the new name Waukegan was adopted.

Waukegan is a Pottawattomie word that means little fort. Earlier it had been the name of the stream that emptied into thelake below the fort.

This stream and two or three others have provided Waukegan with some of its distinctive topigrafical features—wide and deep ravines that cut through the bluff along the lake shore. For the most part they have been filled, but some portions still remain and they have been preserved as part of the modern city’s park system.

Waukegan grew slowly until 1890. The early settlers were Yankees from the east and a sprinkling of Germans who paused at the midway station between Chicago and Milwaukee. The industries were small—a flour mill, a brick kiln, a furniture factory. Lake commerce provided some jobs and income, but the trade was hampered by lack of a natural harbor.

In the last decade of the 19th century, however, Waukegan was transformed. The Elgin, Joliet, Eastern railway was pushed to its northern terminus here. The Washburn ad Moen wire mill was moved from Worcester, Mass to Waukegan. A sugar refinery and starch works were built.

Wire mill brings influx

The wire mill, later incorporated into the steel and wire empire assembled by John W (Bet-a-Million) Gates and Judge Elbert Gary, brought Waukegan its first great influx of immigrants from Europe.

The bulk of them were Swedes and these Scandinavian immigrants and others who followed thwm are still one of the dominant groups in the city. The 1940 census showed that there were 600 Swedish born residents of the city. Their number was exceeded only by the finns, with 663 and the Lithuanians with 609.

These groups came later along with many Poles, jugoslavians, Italians, Dutch and English. They now are largely assimilated, and the 1940 census reported the city’s population to be 81.4 per cent native white.

Where is the working man’s town headed now? Mayor Coulson, a young (37) attorney, says that Waukegan, always a good place to work, is going to be a better place to live.

In the last few months the city has been overhauling its building ad Zoning codes. It has a new plan commissiion, a new Lake front improvement association, and a new Housing authority. It has plans for new schools, better parks and it working on an extended sewer system.

“Housing probably is our most pressing problem,” said Coulson. “If we could provide rental housing for new workers, I believe the population would increase 30 per cent in the next 10 years. We’re tryiong to do something about t. The new building code should encourage construction and we have drafted it so that pre-fabricated houses will be permitted.

Plan city auto parking

“Furthermore, Waukegan is one of the first three Illinois cities to obtain a federal grant for slum clearance. We have invested between $7,000 and $9,000 in planning for this project and we hope to move along rapidly.”

Improved parking facilities in the downtown district are also high on the agenda of civic improvements. G Robert Galloway, secretary of the chamber of commerce says committees are exploring the possibility of building municipal parking lots financed by bonds that would be retired by fees from the lots.

Tho it is generally agreed that little can be done to reclaim the lake front, as has been done in Chicago and Milwaukee, the state government has helped the city by creating a new park stretching about 12 miles along the beach between Waukegan and Zion.

(2) Hopes fade for averting rail strike, The Pantograph, Bloomington, Ill, Thurs March 25, 1948, p1

Hopes fade for averting rail strike

Waukegan, Ill (AP) Mayor Frank G Wallin of Waukegan declared Thursday there “isn’t a chance in a thousand” of averting a strike called for Saturday on the Chicago, North shore and Milwaukee railroad.

The mayor expressed this opinion in discussing his call for a meeting Friday night of representatives of communities served by the line. The meeting will be in Waukegan.

Wallin said the main objective of the meeting would be to look into the future of the carrier rather than the present wage dispute.

Efforts to settle the year old controversy over wages failed Wednesday and a strike of more than 700 workers appeared certain.

Chairman rank Douglass of the National Mediation board announced in Washington Wednesday night that attempts to halt the strike had collapsed.

(3) Waukegan-N Chicago bus strike threatened, The Decatur Daily Review, Decatur, Ill Thur Nov 23, 1950, p 45

Waukegan-N Chicago bus strike threatened

Waukegan, Nov 22 (AP) Seventy-five bus drivers and mechanics voted Tuesday night to strike against the Waukegan-North Chicago transit co Jan 1 if pay6 demands are not met by them.

The employees, represented by division 900 AF of L Amalgamated association of street, electric railway & Motor coach employees’ union are seeking a 40 hour week with the present pay for 48 hours plus a 10-cent hourly increase and vacation allowance concessions.

The present hourly rate is $1.37.

Negotiations have been in progress since mid-October.

The company operates the public transportation system in Waukegan and North Chicago.

(4) Waukegan-Chicago bus service resumed Decatur Daily Review, Decatur, Ill, Thu Jan 4, 1951, p 19

Waukegan-Chicago bus service resumed

Waukegan Jan 3 (AP) Busses rolled again today in this area after settlement of a two-day strike against the Waukegan-North Chicago Transit co.

The walk-out had denied bus transportation to 75,000 residents of Waukegan, North Chicago, Zion and Winthrop Harbor.

Officials of the AF of L Amalgomated association of street, electric railway & motor coach employes announced end of the strike Tuesday night. They said a 13-cent hours raise was offered 55 union drivers and 11 shopworkers and that members voted to accept it.

(5) 250 envelope workers strike, Jacksonville Daily Journal, Jacksonville Ill Sun Oct 9, 1955, p 1

250 envelope workers strike

Waukegan, Ill (AP)—a union leader said Saturday that one issue in the strike of 250 CIO United paper workers is whether a company-wide contract shall be negotiated with the United States Envelope co. of Springfield, Mass.

The walk-out Friday shut down the firm’s National Envelope co division plant in Waukegan—one of 14 operated by US Envelope in eight states.

Donald Thomas of Chicago, the union’s Midwest area ditrector, said that unanimous strike authorization was voted by employes of the U S Envelope plant at Indianaplois. Thomas said a strike “appears likely soon” at Indianapolis. There have been no wage talks at the Indianapolis plant yet.

(6) Milwaukee Motors firm workers strike; Edwardsville Intelligencer, Tue Nov 2, 1954 p 4

Milwaukee Motors firm workers strike

Waukegan, Ill, (UPI) about 2,000 workers at Johnson Motors co went on strike Monday after turning down a 4 ½ cent package from management.

William B Smale, president of the Marine ad Machinists assn. Union (Ind.) said the employes went on strike to eforce demands for a 12 ½ cent package offer.

The workers voted 695-252 to reject the 4 ½ cent offer at a meeting Sunday.

(7) 200 die casters in Waukegan end strike, Freeport Journal-Standard, Freeport, Ill, Thu Aug 20, 1959, p 6

200 die casters in Waukegan end strike

Waukegan, Ill (AP) About 200 die-casting employes of the jophnson Motors plant today ended a three-day wildcat strike and began returning to work.

The men failed to report for work Monday and said they objected to company installation of machines to record each worker’s production.

Plant manager Eugene Kreagher said returning workers have made no requests for talks on their grievence.

Fifty-four maintenance men in the die-casting departmet were temporarily laid off during the strike.

The plant emplys about 2,300 men in production of outboard motors.

(8) New Pact ends Johnson strike, The Daily Times, Davenport, Iowa Thur Nov 30, 1961, p2

New Pact ends Johnson strike

Waukegan, Ill (AP) the ending of a 29 day strike sent 2,000 persons back to work today at the Johnson Motors co.

The firm and the Independent Marine and Machinists association reached a settlement Thursday. Members of the union ratified it last Wednesday night by a vote of 1,037 to 168.

9) Walkout halts big Waukegan steel plant, Chicago Tribune, Sat Sep 23, 1950, p13

Walkout halts big Waukegan steel plant

The American Steel and Wire company plant at Waukegan, a subsidiary of United States Steel corporation employing more than 2,100 workers was made idle yesterday by what officials termed a wildcat strike. Union representatives called it an unauthorized stoppage that began when some of the members “got out of hand” in a meeting.

The meeting was called in the working hours, the company said, adding thatabout 400 left their jobs and did not return. More failed to return from their lunch hours, a spokesman said. Approximately 1,900 workers are members of the CIO United Steel Workers.

Three of the firm’s plants in Cleveland have been strikebound since early this week. A union source said the men are dissatisfied with ‘reduced wages and speed-ups” resulting from a new incentive system. The company did not know what the greivence was and would not discuss it with the union while the strike is on.

(10) Clerical Workers strike at AS&W, Journal Gazette, Mattoon, Ill Fri April 27, 1951 p1

Clerical Workers strike at AS&W

Waukegan, Ill (AP) the CIO clerical workers Union Local 2353 struck today against the American Steel and Wire co in a dispute over seniority rights.

The union set up a picket line and some 2,000 mill workers, members of the CIO United Steelworkers Unuion local 1115 refused to cross it. The plant suspended operatrions.

American Steel and Wire is a subsidiary of US Steel. The company made no comment. A E Machak, president of the Clerical workers’ local said the dispute was chiefly over seniority rights and that wages were not involved.

(11) J-M’s Brown hits WLB for raising wages, The courier-News, Bridgewater, new Jersey, Mon May 10, 1943, p5

J-M’s Brown hits WLB for raising wages

New York (AP) Lewis H brown, president of Johns Manville Corp. Expressed the belief Saturday that the war Labor Board has “determined to relinquish the fight against inflation by breaking through” its own “little steel” formula for wage control.

Brown’s statement was made in reference to a WLB directive granting a general wage increase of 2 ½ cents an hour in the company’s Waukegan, Ill, factory. The wage order was said to be retroactive to sept 5, 1942 and to call for maintenance of union membership and check-off of union dues.

At the same time Brown made public a letter to the WLB in which he said:

“I believe the country at large should be informed that you have determined to scrap the ‘little steel” formula, and that it is no longer in effect…Johns-Manville…and many other industries, as well as the public, must prepare to fortify themselves against the advance of inflation that would result from the general application of such a decision.”

Brown asserted that “average straight time wage rates at Johns-Manville’s Waukegan plant have been increased 23 per cent in the period specified by the Nationa War Labor Board “little steel” yardstick,, which sets 15 per cent as the standard limit. Average weekly earnings or “take home” are about $41 per week, an increase more than 46 per cent in the same period. Wages are not sub-standard and are in line with other comparable industries in Waukegan…I can only draw the conclusion that you have determined to relinquish the fight against inflation by breaking through your own formula.”

(12) 175 on strike over Waukegan foreman shift, Chicago Tribune, Tues, June 22, 1943, p16

175 on strike over Waukegan foreman shift

One hundred and seventy-five employees of the magnesium department of the johns-Manville company’s Waukegan plant went on strike yesterday in protest against a change of foremen. Union officials said the strike wa unauthorized and attempted to straighten out the dispute with company officials.

Harold H Peterson, industrial relations manager at the plant, said the employees struck when Herman Warnecke, a foreman, was shifted to a new crew in the magnesium department and Everett Truax put in his place.

Owen James, financial secretary of the union said the employees would go back to work if the company would take Traux off the job temporarily and submit the matter to arbitration.

The workers are members of local 19508 of the federal labor union (AFL)

(13) More than 400 men strike in Illinois Johns-Manville Plant, Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Mississippi, Thurs June 24, 1943, p12

More than 400 men strike in Illinois Johns-Manville Plant

Waukegan, Ill, June 23—(NS) More than 400 workers at the Johns-Manville products corp. plant in Waukegan were on strike tonight.

The strikers, members of an AFL union, struck in protest against the retention of a foreman in charge of schedules, and their spokesman said they will not return to their jobs until he is removed.

Federal conciliators are attempting to settle the dispute which they said is being certified to the WLB. The plant is engaged in war production.

(14) WLB Finds Waukegan Corporation unfair, Dixon Evening Telegraph, Dixon, Illinois, Sat Nov 24, 1945, p2

WLB Finds Waukegan Corporation unfair

Washington, Nov 21 (AP) The War Labor Board announced yesterday that the johns-Manville Corp, Waukegan, Ill had failed to comply with its wartime directive.

Johns-Manville, the board said, failed to restore the incentive rates previously effective in one of its departments or to continue a temporarily established guaranteed rate which was to remain in effect until a new incentive rate was negotiated with the union. The union involved is the AFL Federal Labor Union.

In its findings, which are unanimous, the board declared “the national policy and the public interest call for full compliance.” The directive was issued under the War Labor Disputes Act.

(15) Skeleton crew leaves J-M Plant, The Courier-news, Bridgewater, New Jersey, Wed Dec 5, 1945, p9

Skeleton crew leaves J-M Plant

Manville—word was received at Manville today that Atrthur R Cook of Chicago, organizer for the International Chemical Workers Union and Owen James of Zion, Ill, both in Waukegan, Ill to lead a strike of Johns-Manville plant employees, had called out the skeleton plant protection crew at that plant in violation of an agreement made with the company at the beginning of the strike.

Boilers shut down

Under the agreement with the company, made after the recent strike vote was taken, the union had agreed to permit plant protection men to cross the picket line in order to protect the idle plant against damage by fire or freezing temperature, company officials said. As a result of the action taken by the union today, the boilers are being shut down and upwards of 150 to 175 miles of steam ad water pipe, including the fire protection sprinkler system, are being drained. This leaves the big Waukegan plant completely without fire protection and in all probability will cause much damage to steam and water lines. It was emphasized by company officials at Waukegan that it will require a minimum of four to six weeks at Waukegan after the strike is settled to reopen the Waukegan plant.

When informed of the action taken by the Waukegan strikers, John E Begert, Manager of the Manville plant of Johns-Manville said:

“I can well understand why it will take so long to reopen the Waukegan plant after the strike is settled, but I cannot understand the thinking of the union leaders in Waukegan, which by such an ill-advised action will take four to six weeks pay unnecessarily out of the pockets of the rank and file union members. The action can have no effect on the settlement of the strike and I am sure we all—both management and union workers—want to get back to work as fast as we can the minute we are able to reach a settlement of our differences.

Manville not affected

“I must say strike leadership at Manville has certainly pursued a more intelligent course up to this time. In our case, we sat down immediately after the Manville factory strike vote was taken and the union agreed there was nothing to be gained by eliminating the small plant protection force. The company and the union at Manville signed a written statement whereby the small crews necessary to prevent damage to the machinery and equipment and to guard against a fire which might deprive us all of jobs for many months to come would be permitted to enter the plant freely so long as the strike continued.

“It is a tremendous job to get a plant back into operation once the steam lines get cold. Without question it would take a minimum of four weeks, and possibly eight weeks to get into operation at Manville after the strike has ended, should such an action be taken.”

(16) 118-Day Strike at Manville ended, The Central New Jersey Home news, Sat March 30, 1946, p1

118-Day Strike at Manville ended

13 ½ cent pay boost is granted

2,400 workers to return to jobs within week or 10 days

Contract signed by union and firm

The central New Jersey Home News, New Brunswick, New Jersey, Fri Mar 15, 1946, p1

J-M Waukegan strike is over

Manville, March 30—settlement of the strike in Waukegan, Ill plant of the Johns-Manville corporation was announced here yesterday. The Waukegan factory, closed since November 20, when the International Chemical workers Union local 60 walked off the job, will resume full operations Monday.

The Waukegan Johns-Manville plant manufactures products from virtually the entire line of 1,200 building materials and industrial products produced by the company.

Settlement of the strike was based on the wage and employment pattern observed generally by industry in the Waukegan area. The new contract, signed March 28, will be for one year. It guarantees the company against any work stoppage, and provides for four paid holidays not worked and grants a 14 ½ cents an hour wage increase.

(17) Use of Pullmans for Temporary homes asked by Johns-Manville, The Central New Jersey Home, News, Wed July 31, 1946, p6

Use of Pullmans for Temporary homes asked by Johns-Manville

Form proposes to convert railroad cars for housing quarters at plant in Somerset county

…The “Pullman” plan has been used successfully at the J-M plant in Waukegan, Ill,” Begert stated and has attracted nationwide attention.

“It was designed to provide temporary, emergency housing for demobilized war veterans and others who couldn’t hold jobs without homes, and to increase the production forces needed to speed up the flow of critical building materials.…eighteen Pullman cars were spotted on a siding adjoining the Waukegan plant. This temporary housing space immediately resulted in jobs and temporary homes for more than 200.

“Much favorable nation-wide comment accrued to the Waukegan municipality and to officials who gave their full cooperation as a result of Johns-Manville action there. …

“The plan provides jobs and shelter for employees. The cars house the plant workers, one to a Pullman section, and two to each room. Upper berths are used only for “gear.” Plumbing, heating and electrical lines are connected with the plant’s systems. Residents pay only a small charge to cover the costs of laundering bed linen and for cleaning the cars. Shower baths are available in buildings adjoining the cars.

“most of those living in the ‘homes on wheels’ say they find it comfortable living, and a good ‘base of operation from which to seek permanent housing while continuing to work….

(18) Johns-Manville Doubling Waukegan plant output, Chicago Tribune, Sat May 27, 1950, p27

Johns-Manville Doubling Waukegan plant output

Johns-Manville corporation is increasing its annual output of asphalt floorings from 15 to 30 million square feet thru instalment of $600,000 of equipment for a new mechanized high-speed production line at its Waukegan plant, a spokesman said yesterday. The new line, to be set up in present buildings, will be in operation early in 1951.

(19) Dying for Work: Workers' Safety and Health in Twentieth-Century America (Interdisciplinary Studies in History) Published by Indiana Univ Press (first published February 22nd 1989)

During this five-year period there were few major new scientific papers on asbestos-related diseases. However, company doctors in asbestos plants around the country continued to take x-rays and examine asbestos workers, and they had to deal with growing numbers of asbestosis victims employed in the plants.

In 1949 Dr Kenneth W Smith, corporate medical director for johns-Manville, summed up J-M’s corporate medical strategy in a now famous memo to his corporate superiors:

It must be remembered that although these men have the x-ray evidence of asbestosis, they ae working today ad definitely are not disabled from asbestosis. They have not been told of their diagnosis for it is felt that as long as the man feels well, is happy at home and at work, and his physical condition remains good, nothing should be said. When he becomes disabled and sick, then the diagnosis should be made and the claim submitted by the company. The fibrosis of this disease is irreversible and permanent so that eventually compensation will be paid to each of these men. But as long as the man is not disabled it is felt that he should not be told of his condition so that he can live and work in peace and the company can benefit by his many years of experience. Should the man be told of his condition today there is a very definite possibility that he would become mentally and physically ill, simply through the knowledge that he has asbestosis, 53

How this strategy was manifest is seen in reports of a series of medical conferences about individual workers by J-M medical staff, released and made public during legal suits by asbestos victims.54 basically, as the medical conferences indicate, company physicians initially did not tell workers that they had asbestos disease. But as the disease progressed through continued exposure and the worker became disabled, the company physician would reveal to the victim—slowly and in guarded terms—his or her true condition. In the following medical case reports, the first date indicating some chest x-ray abnormality in the patient that triggered physician concern is indicated by an “ND,” a “No dust” restriction, by means of which these physicians advised the company management to place the worker in a non-dusty environment. The health counselling session (“HC”) was the time when the physician had a personal meeting with the worker/ patient to review his or her medical situation, to present the medical diagnosis and advise on job or personal medical precautions (e.g., give up smoking). Often several years elapsed between this no dust restriction and the health counselling session. Sometimes, as the record below indicates, some mention was made of the person’s medical condition short of a full counselling session…

(20) Asbestos: Medical and legal aspects by Barry I. Castelman, Stephen L Berger, Aspen publishers, 2005, 894 pages

Rose Bertogliat, widow of a Johns-Manville foreman at the Waukegan, Illinois plant approached the company in 1947 seeking compensation payments for the death of her husband.

Sections from Dominic Bertogliat’s lungs were sent by the company to Dr Vorwald at the Saranac Laboratory, who concluded that Mr. Bertogliat must have suffered “considerable respitory difficulty” with his asbestotic lungs. J-M headquarters safety engineer Hugh Jackson, who worked with Mr. Bertogliat at Waukegan, wrote back that “appropriate steps have been taken…toward the settlement of this case.” But Jackson was “particularly concerned that the type of exposure to which Mr. Bertogliat was subjected should produce the evident results.” He continued,

To our way of thinking, although he had worked in the general area for a number of years, the degree of exposure was relatively slight. That is, he was subjected not to a concentrated exposure of any particular part of the process but rather only to that of the general atmosphere. Since there are numerous others who also have this type of exposure, I would appreciate your opinion as to whether Mr Bertogliat might have had some individual susceptibility to the asbestos irritation and /or whether we should anticipate others with similar exposures to be similarly affected. (Aug 13, 1948)

Dr. Vorwald replied on Aug 19, 1948 that “I can see no other alternative than to anticipate others with similar exposures to be similarly affected.” 111

The implication of Mr Betrtogliat’s experience would appear grave for others at the J-M Waukegan plant; and for workers elsewhere exposed to asbestos manufacturing and fabrication dust as “bystander.”

(21) The Silence: The Asbestos Industry and Early Occupational Cancer Research-A Case Study David E. Lilienfeld, MD, MPH, MS Engin, American Journal of Public Health. 1991 Jun;81(6):791-800.

The January 31, 1949, draft of the report had the section entitled "Neoplasm" marked through with the word "out."81 The revised report was published in 1951.82 One member of the investigative team has stated that this act was unrelated to sponsor pressure.83 On March 8, 1949, Brown wrote Sabourin that "because of our close association in Canada with others interested in the solution of the asbestosis problem, the results of these experiments should be made available to them in advance of publication.... I am providing you ... as counsel to Quebec Asbestos Mining Association [the successor to the QAPA}- with two copies of the report."' By June, 1949, the report had begun to be promoted in the United States. For instance, Gatke noted that the Massachusetts Industrial Board "would likely be more lenient in 794 American Journal of Public Health June 1991, Vol. 81, No. 6 Public Health Then and Now their decisions if they had the advantage of the information disclosed in this report."85 As K. Smith, MD (the medical director of Canadian Johns-Manville) noted, the report left many questions unanswered, including the importance of fiber size, and specific aspects of the asbestos-cancer issue.8'-87 Vorwald wrote to Smith in October, 1949, suggesting that the x-rays o fthe Quebec workers be reviewed for lung cancer.88 A study protocol was quickly formulated.89

Smith wrote to Lindell (president of Canadian Johns-Manville) that "there has been a tremendous increase in the number of articles in medical journals during the past year which deal with the subject of occupational cancer. Very high on the list of causes ... is asbestos. There seems to be increasing proof that asbestos fibers do cause lung cancer. This conclusion is drawn only from articles reported in the journals.... I have been unable to find any x-ray evidence of lung cancer among our employees ... but this whole subject could cause our companies unlimited embarrassment and untold expense if labor leaders made use ... of the subject.... If we are to defend ourselves in the compensation courts, we must have proof. I believe that we should discuss this matter at a Q.A.M.A. Meeting and . . . ask ... [the Saranac Laboratory] to outline a suggested plan of study."90 (Smith had already reviewed the Saranac Laboratory report at the QAMA meeting in 1949.91) He noted: "As far as J-M is concerned, I know of two hazards in our operations which may lead to pulmonary malignancy, namely asbestos and silica. There is ever increasing evidence in the medical literature today that these materials lead to lung cancer." A study was needed. …

In February, 1952, A. L. Fisk, Jr. (Johns-Manville's Legal Department) wrote to Lanza: "As you are aware, the Industrial Commission of Illinois has promulgated rules as to the labeling of substances harmful to the health and safety of employees ... in our opinion asbestos fiber comes within the preview of the regulations.... It is our intention to label our bags containing asbestos fiber, using the following: " 'CAUTION-ASBESTOS FIBER' Inhalation of asbestos fiber over long periods MAY BE harmful. The material should be used as not to create dust or, if this is not possible, employees should be equipped with adequate protective devices." 06

For unknown reasons, a warning label was not added to the bags for another 13 years….

news of this symposium provided "wonderful public relations value. ,133 By the early 1960s, the industry and its associates had succeeded in suppressing much of the knowledge gleaned over the prior two decades concerning asbestos and cancer.

During the 1960s, academic scientists and physicians, such as Selikoff and Wagner, discerned the relationship between asbestos with cancer."3 These findings were quickly appreciated by the general medical community.135

The industry was in a compromised position. In 1963, K. Smith suggested the purchase of a shredding machine to "destroy completely all copies of correspondence which you do not wish to retain... . I believe that this is highly essential but all copies of correspondence of such confidential nature should be thoroughly destroyed so that our position in Workmen's Compensation claims cannot be doubted."'l3

In the mid-1960s, the industry began to place warnings either on the bags of asbestos or on the sides of the wooden crates used to ship the products containing asbestos.

(22) Estimate loss in Waukegan factory blaze, Chicago Tribune, Sat Mar 6, 1960, p23

Estimate loss in Waukegan factory blaze

The fire which swept thru the roofing plant of the Johns-Manville products corporation in Waukegan Thursday night caused damage “well over a million dollars,” a spokesman for A B Marchant, manager of the roofing division, said Friday. Other estimates were that the loss would total 4 to 5 million.

The blaze routed 31 workers who escaped without injury. After four hours 200 firemen from nine fire departments brought it under control. The damaged building, one of 12 on a 56 acre plant site, will be out of operation for several month, Marchant’s aid said.

(23) A lesson in history: Founder of bankrupt Johns Manville died of asbestos-related illness

by Steve Korris , Madison St Clair Record. Jun. 17, 2005

Henry Ward Johns started experimenting with asbestos in 1879, at age 21. His work laid the foundation of Johns Manville, a great American business. It also killed him.
A coroner attributed Johns' death at age 40 in 1898 to "dust phthisis pneumonitis." But hindsight makes obvious what the coroner missed--Johns had inhaled asbestos fibers, which irritated his lungs and eventually destroyed them.
Nineteenth century doctors did not recognize a connection between asbestos and lung disease, although circumstantial evidence had offered itself 2,000 years ago.
Nobles of the Roman Empire impressed dinner guests by throwing asbestos napkins into fireplaces and bringing the napkins out whole and white. Roman historians noted that some slaves coughed a lot and died young. These slaves had woven asbestos napkins.
Medical research on the effects of asbestos exposure began in 1924. In 1927, doctors identified lung damage from asbestos as a disease. They called it asbestosis.
A foreman in the weaving department of a Massachusetts asbestos factory filed a worker’s compensation claim in 1927. The state awarded compensation.
Other early examples include:

 In 1929, 11 workers sued Johns Manville for asbestos exposure. They settled in 1933 for $30,000.

 In 1932, a maintenance worker in a federal hospital filed an asbestosis claim that resulted in the first disability award.

 In 1935, workers at a Johns Manville plant in Waukegan sued the company. A judge threw out the suit, saying the workers had no right of recovery at common law or through worker’s compensation.

That decision curtailed litigation until 1957, when a worker sued Johns Manville. The plaintiff and the company settled in 1959 for $35,000.

 In 1960, a worker sued Eagle-Picher. The plaintiff died, and his widow pursued the case. Her amended petition added Johns Manville, U.S. Rubber, Owens Corning Fiberglas, and seven other companies as defendants.
The multiple defendant strategy backfired. A judge dismissed the suit, saying the widow could not prove whose products her husband had used.

 In 1961, a worker filed a wrongful death suit against Johns Manville. He and the company settled for about $10,000.

 In 1964, doctors at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York City published a study estimating that 21 million Americans had been exposed to asbestos at work from 1940 to 1980. The study predicted 8,000 to 10,000 deaths a year for the next 20 years.

Asbestosis suits increased. More and more plaintiffs named multiple defendants.

 The widow of a plaintiff in federal court in Texas won a judgment of almost $80,000 against 11 manufacturers. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed in 1973, ruling that multiple defendants could be held jointly and severally liable for damages.

 In 1975, a jury in a Minnesota federal court ordered Johns Manville to pay $200,000 to a plaintiff, Karjala, who had worked for the company from 1948 to 1966.

The company appealed under the statute of limitations. The appellate court ruled that the statute started to run when harm manifested itself, adding that when harm manifested itself was a jury question.

 Hundreds of workers and survivors of workers at a Texas factory that made sleeves for pipes on Navy ships sued manufacturers and the United States. A 1977 settlement provided $20 million including $5.7 million from the federal government.

 In 1982, five juries awarded more than $3 million to Johns Manville plaintiffs. The company faced 16,500 asbestos suits. Its legal fees ran to $2 million a month.

The company’s owners estimated that their liabilities exceeded their net worth and their insurance limits combined. Johns Manville declared bankruptcy.

In the next 20 years, 77 more companies attributed bankruptcies to asbestos liability.

According to Barry Castleman, author of "Asbestos – Medical and Legal Aspects," published by Aspen, about $70 billion in damages have been paid, with projections of ultimate payments of $200 billion.

According to "Forecasting Product Liability Claims," a textbook published by Springer, plaintiffs have sued more than 6,000 companies in virtually every industry.

The book says the number of defendants per case grew from 20 in the 1980s to 60 or 70 in the 1990s.

At the end of 2002, the book says, about 250,000 asbestos claims were pending in state and federal courts.

(24) Ocasek V Manville Corporation asbestos disease compensation fun, united states court of asppeals for the seventh circuit, 1991

On August 26, 1982, Johns-Manville corporation and affiliated entities (collectively, “Johns-Manville”) filed petitions under chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code with the united States Bankruptcy court for the Southern District of new York (the “Bankruptcy court”). On December 22, 1986, the bankruptcy court confirmed the second amended and restated plan of reorganization (the “plan). Oct October 28, 1988, the confirmation order became final and non…

The Johns-Manville bankruptcy was initiated to find a way to compensate in an orderly fashion the enormous number of then-existing and anticipated future asbestos health victims. Had Manville not sought the protection afforded by title 11, its continuation as a viable enterprise would have been acutely threatened by the ever-increasing number of judgements rendered against it in asbestos related suits. Such a denouement would have left thousands of present and future victims without compensation or any recourse, save a mere corporate charter.” In re Johns-Manville corp, supra, 66 Hank, 517, 522 (SDNY, 1986) The reorganization was an attempt to avoid the inequitable, piecemeal disbursement of the Manville estate that would have benefitted only those claimants who were first to the court house.

Because future asbestos liability was the “raison d’etre” of the Manville reorganization, the ultimate issue in the bankruptcy proceeding was to find a way to ensure that all claimants, both present and future, would be satisfied. Kane v. Johns-Manville copr, 843 F2d, 636, 639 (2d cir.) cert. denied, sub nom, McArthur co v. Johns-Manville, 488 US 868 (1988). The challenge was to determine how to compensate today’s claimants without exhausting the resources necessary to care for tomorrow’s. Id

For more than four years, disparate groups representing Manville corporation, asbestos health claimants, future asbestos health claimants, creditors, equity security holders and others interested in the manille estate, grappled with these and related issues in what has been called the largest and most complex reorganization in history. In history. In re Johns-Manville corp., 68 bank. 618 (Bank. SDNY1986), aff’d 78 Bank.407,408 (SDNY 1987), aff’d,843 F2d 636 (2d cir.) cert.denied, 488 US 868 (1988)

Through it all, (the bankruptcy court), the debtor and the parties in interest…had to address societal, legal and economic issues (of national significance) on a scale (then) unknown to title 11 proceedings.” Id., 68 Bankr. At 624-25

The cornerstone of the plan was the creation of the trust, a mechanism created to satisfy the claimants of all asbestos health victims, both present and future. The trust was designed to facilitate the orderly, fair and equitable distribution of the trust estate to all beneficiaries. Kane v Johns-Manville corp., supra, 843 f.2d at 640 The trust assumed Johns-Manville’s liability for persons injured as a result of exposure to johns-Manville asbestos. For the purposes of litigation, the trust is known as the Manville copr asbestos disease compensation fund (the “fund”.)

(25) Asbestos Plant In Waukegan Nears The End, Chicago Tribune, Oct 10, 2000

Asbestos Plant In Waukegan Nears The End

Manville Site To Be Cleaned, Razed

October 10, 2000| By John Flink. Special to the Tribune.

Crews are hard at work demolishing the sprawling Johns Manville complex on Waukegan's lakefront the environmentally friendly way--from the inside out.

Machinery and other equipment deemed useful for other Johns Manville plants is long gone. So are the easy-to-reach forms of asbestos such as the insulation that once wrapped miles of pipes within the complex.

The current, final phase of the demolition involves carefully removing built-in asbestos from the interior of the buildings, then from the exterior.

When virtually all of the asbestos is gone, the empty building shells will be knocked down under a shroud of water to keep dust from being blown off the site.

"The buildings will be reduced to flat concrete pads, which will then be pressure-washed and crushed," said Denny Clinton, manager of engineering and technology for the company's roofing group and manager of the Waukegan demolition. "It will be a very thorough process."

Much of that process is mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which sets rules for cleanup projects. Some of the steps the company is taking aren't in the EPA rulebook, such as the seven sensors placed around the site to detect errant asbestos dust, Clinton said.

The Denver-based building-products company, Clinton said, has experience in tearing down asbestos-tainted properties and restoring the land left behind. The company has closed and demolished similar plants in Manville, N.J.; Carson, Calif.; and Toronto in recent years.

Work on the Waukegan plant began last fall. The final phase began recently.

The 1.8 million-square-foot Waukegan plant was built from 1919 to 1922 and designed to accommodate the long and narrow machinery necessary to manufacture asbestos products such as roofing, insulation and gaskets.

Johns Manville filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1982 after the discovery that asbestos was harmful resulted in more than 12,000 lawsuits filed against the company.

The Waukegan plant continued to manufacture asbestos products until 1985, when it switched to products such as floor tile that didn't contain the substance.

The area around the plant was declared a federal Superfund cleanup site in 1983. Cleanup was completed in 1991. The EPA last year declared that the capped landfill is sound.

The company emerged from Chapter 11 in 1988 after assigning 80 percent of its stock to a trust dedicated to settling claims.

Today the company has 8,500 employees at 55 plants around the world, concentrated primarily in the United States and Germany, said Bruce Ray, Manville's corporate legal counsel for environmental issues.

The Waukegan plant was closed for good in 1996. The company decided to raze the buildings shortly thereafter because federal law would hold Manville liable for any future contamination problems, even if future owners didn't maintain the buildings properly.

This summer, the company signed a letter of intent with the Waukegan Park District to sell the district about 100 acres of the site to be redeveloped into a sports complex to provide sorely needed soccer fields and other amenities.

A price for the land will be determined after environmental consultants working for the Park District have determined that the area is safe.

"We've decided that the best use of the land is for recreational purposes, as a legacy of the plant's contribution to the community," Ray said. "Demolition is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2001, but the Park District should be able to start on its project within that time frame."

(27) Spectacular blaze guts tannery building, Waukegan News-Sun November 15, 1973.

Spectacular blaze guts tannery building,

A spectacular fire which sent huge waves of heavy black smoke drifting over the northern half of Waukegan engulfed at least three floors of the former Griess-Pfleger Tanning co. building late this morning.

Firemen failed to contain the blaze in the third and fourth floors where it apparently started.

Firemen at the scene said the blaze spread rapidly as the result of lacquer dust and old timbers in the five-story building which had been recently purchased by Commonwealth Edison co.

Police said there were no indications that there was anyone in the building when the fire broke out, but ambulances were standing by. Waukegan firemen called for mutual aid from all neighboring departments.

A reporter at the scene said firemen were trying desperately to keep the flames from penetrating downward into the first and second floors where machinery with fuel tanks still intact was being stored pending disposal by the new owners of the building.

The tannery, a lakefront landmark since 1918 and one of the oldest industries in Waukegan once employed nearly 1,000 workers, but was closed in July when shortages of raw materials, foreign competition and anti-pollution regulations were cited by Donald Stephens, company president, for the decision to shut down.

Firemen at the scene said the building’s sprinkler system had been shut down and Commonwealth Edison was taking bids on demolition of the structure, which was scheduled to begin next week.

Spectators said they could hear several small explosions inside the building as the flames soured hundreds of feet into the air. Firemen said the explosions were from fuel tanks and cans of lacquer.

Waukegan Director of Public Safety Edward Pavelick, asked by reporters if he had decided to let the building burn, said “we don’t have much choice. It’s already consumed most of the eastern half of the building.”

At 11:45 am, firemen were ordered to move the snorkel truck back from the building, as officials apparently feared its imminent collapse.

(28) Workman’s torch sparked tannery fire, Waukegan News-Sun

Workman’s torch sparked tannery fire

Fire which destroyed nearly three floors of the old Griess-Pfleger Tanning Co building on Waukegan’s lakefront Friday morning was touched off by a workman’s torch, an investigation has shown.

Barnet Davis, district manager for Commonwealth Edison, which owns the building said Friday the worker, one of six in the building when the fire broke out, put an acetylene torch to a vent stack on the south end of the third floor in the old lacquer paint spraying area and the fume ignited.

The blaze, which sent huge waves of heavy black smoke drifting ovwer the norther half of the city, virtually gutted the entire third, fourth and fifth floors, except for about a quarter of each floor on the building’s north side, which was saved by an old fire wall.

According to Davis, Edison purchased the building recently, but had leased it to its original owners, the Beggs and Cobb Corp. of Boston.

That firm had a company removing machines and other equipment from the edifice.

No one was injured or hurt in the spectacular fire as workmen scampered from the inferno. No damage estimates were available, though Davis said the only cash loss would be for the equipment, not owned by the power company which was still ion place and lost.

The fire might be a net credit to Edison,” Davis told the News-Sun, although we don’t know if demolition crews charge more or less for burned buildings.”

The buildings were to be razed beginning Dec 1, he said.

Waukegan firemen called for mutual aid from all neighboring departments to quell the blaze. No other buildings in the area were touched by flames.

Small explosions from fuel tanks and cans of lacquer were heard by spectators at the scene, as flames soured hundreds of feet into the air.

Firemen said the blaze spread rapidly as a result of lacquer dust and old timbers in the five-story building. They worked desperately to save the first and second floors where machinery with fuel tanks intact were being stored, pending disposal of the building.

The tannery, a lakefront landmark since 1918 and one of the oldest industries in the city, once employing nearly 1,000 workers, closed in July, when shortages of raw materials, foreign completion and anti-pollution regulations forced out of business.

(29) Waukegan's Economy and Development, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Aug 24, 2009

By Emily Engel, Senior Associate Economist and Britton Lombardi, Associate Economist

Waukegan, IL, has responded to the challenges of a diminished manufacturing base by looking to its assets and opportunities. Over the past decade, the U.S. has experienced steep declines in manufacturing jobs, especially in Midwest towns—the heart of the industrial belt. Many of these same towns have come to recognize that manufacturing may never be what it once was for them. Therefore, while continuing to tend their remaining industries, they have also been making plans to integrate themselves into the growing knowledge-based economy. In developing workplace and residential amenities, these towns are now targeting a new “creative class” of workers who can possibly revitalize these once manufacturing-dependent areas.

Waukegan, IL, with a population of 92,066 [1], lies 40 miles north of Chicago, on the coast of Lake Michigan in Lake County. Over the past 40 years, Waukegan has seen a sharp decline in its manufacturing sector. In 1972, Waukegan had 10,100 manufacturing jobs; approximately 15.5% of its total work force. By 2002, manufacturing employment numbers had dropped down to 4,780, making up only about 5% of Waukegan’s work force [2]. During the 1970s and 1980s, Waukegan experienced a number of plant closures, for example U.S. Steel’s mill, which took away a few thousand jobs. Another plant closure was that of Johns-Manville—at the time an asbestos manufacturer. Another local manufacturer, Outboard Marine Corporation (OMC), began downsizing its operations over the past few decades until it filed for bankruptcy in 2000, laying off 7,000 employees from all of its plants. While OMC’s assets were acquired from the bankruptcy court by Bombardier Corporation which moved manufacturing operations north to Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, the research & development operations are still located on Waukegan’s lakefront.

Such economic changes have meant, not only diminished employment opportunities, but stresses on the local tax base to finance school and municipal services. At the same time, public service requirements have grown along with the city's swelling population. Waukegan's population expanded by 27% in the 1990s decade alone. As seen below, the most significant change has been the rapid growth of its foreign-born population, which increased 148% between 1990 and 2000. Most of these immigrants are recent arrivals to the U.S. (within the last ten years).

In appraising its opportunities for redevelopment and growth, it appears possible for Waukegan to link its economy to the surrounding prosperity. Towns in Lake County and in nearby Kenosha County have generally enjoyed rising prosperity. As seen below, Lake County has registered consistently higher annual per capita personal income relative to that of the Chicago metropolitan area. The trend seems to show a continued growth in the income gap, as it widened to just over $12,000 in 2007. The second chart below shows that the pace of total employment in the Lake County/Kenosha area has been positive on a year over year basis since 2002, whereas the pace of total employment in the Chicago Metro area only turned positive between 2003 and 2004. The Lake County/Kenosha area’s growth rate reached a plateau in 2005 at 2.0%; although this fell to 0.8% in 2006, it has been steadily rising since then. Even with its own decline in manufacturing jobs, Lake County, between 2001 and 2007, has seen a consistent growth in the number of total jobs; its manufacturing job losses have been offset by new jobs in other sectors.

Accordingly, some Lake County towns are actively transforming themselves by expanding their residential amenities for the workers who occupy emerging jobs throughout the broader region. Nearby towns with a similar manufacturing heritage to that of Waukegan (e.g., Kenosha, WI) have already started implementing development plans emphasizing such amenities—e.g., by building condominiums on the lakefront (namely, HarborPark) and creating city parks along the lake. Besides the growing job base in Lake County itself, Waukegan and other towns throughout the county may be able to attract workers from Chicago and Milwaukee. Waukegan is situated between these two large and prosperous job markets. With appropriate development, greater numbers of new and existing Waukegan residents could one day find themselves commuting to these larger job centers.

So what types of projects is Waukegan undertaking to attract knowledge-based workers? For starters, Waukegan is currently in the process of a large multi-million dollar downtown and lakefront revitalization project. Waukegan seemingly has a myriad of opportunities to build up the community by enhancing currently underutilized resources. The town has 1,400 acres of property and 3.5 miles of Lake Michigan coastline to work with—one of the last remaining underdeveloped lakefront areas in the Chicagoland area. The city already has established assets, too. It boasts two harbors—one built as recently as the mid-1980s and substantially upgraded within the last year. Together, these harbors can hold nearly 1,000 boats of a variety of sizes, and both are relatively quiet and peaceful. Other marina-based businesses nearby offer further amenities for recreational boaters. In addition, the Genesee Theatre, which was the start of the city’s plan to transform the downtown area, finished its renovation in 2003, after being vacant for more than a decade. The total cost of the renovation was $23 million, but now the Genesee Theatre has become a destination spot, drawing attendees from both Illinois and Wisconsin.

In the process of its revitalization, Waukegan has created a master plan to guide its development, which focuses on two main things: being a great city and having great places. The master plan’s guiding principles include an emphasis on transit-oriented development; connections between the downtown and the lakefront; protecting, restoring and enhancing the ravine and park system; ecological restoration to create recreational amenities; improving the transportation framework to provide clear access and establish civic places. As part of its redevelopment effort, the city plans to build up to 3,700 new residential units along the lakefront to take advantage of this vital asset which has been long underutilized. They are looking to restore the facades of the historical buildings in the downtown to bring back the ambiance they once provided; for the most part, Waukegan will maintain their distinctive appearance, but also retrofit their facilities to modern use. The town plans to use tax incremental financing (TIF) dollars to help subsidize these changes, and several projects have already been completed. Along with the buildings, Waukegan has begun improvements to the downtown area by adding 16 blocks of streetscape, and Waukegan Park District has developed a new veteran’s memorial park as a public open space in the downtown. In addition, Waukegan plans to enhance its lakefront area that gives it a distinctive advantage over other cities, especially since it boasts a commuter rail, Metra stop, within walking distance of the lakefront and downtown. Rather than build up all the area around Lake Michigan, the city wants to design a large open space for community use and entertainment similar to Chicago’s Millennium Park, but on a smaller scale,as well as maintaining a public open space along much of the lake shore.

In conjunction with the city’s revitalization, steps need to be taken to clean the Waukegan Harbor further. The harbor was classified as an area of concern (AoC) in 1975 when toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were found in the sediments of the water related to the past industrial uses along the lakefront. During 1993, OMC completed environmental remediation by cleaning up the sediments in and around its property, removing about 1 million pounds of contaminated sediment. According to the environmental protection agency (EPA) website, OMC is not alone as other major remedial actions have been undertaken at Waukegan Manufactured Gas and Coke, Johns-Manville Company, Waukegan Paint and Lacquer, North Shore Gas North Plant, and the Waukegan Tar Pit.” If such actions continue, the goal would be to get the harbor off the AoC list, which would help advance Waukegan’s plans to revitalize the lakefront.

In sum, Waukegan’s city planners want to revitalize and transform Waukegan as a place for people who desire the amenities that a lakefront offers, but perhaps at a more affordable price. Their efforts might make Waukegan also appealing to those who prefer the quieter suburban lifestyle or those who can commute easily to jobs in Lake County, Milwaukee, or Chicago. Waukegan is hoping to rebuild its community and bring residential interest, commercial activity, and people back into a once booming industrial town.

(30) Fansteel Closing In Waukegan , By Matt O`Connor Chicago Tribune, January 28, 1987

Fansteel Closing In Waukegan

Fansteel Inc. said Tuesday it will close its machine tool plant in north suburban Waukegan, knocking about 130 people out of work.

The president of the plant`s union said the decision follows the rejection twice of stiff wage concessions by hourly workers this month, votes he criticized strongly.

``It was a totally senseless, needless thing,`` David Johnson, president of Lodge 1114 of the Machinists Union, said of the concessions` defeat and the plant`s imminent closing.

North Chicago-based Fansteel said the closing is part of its

restructuring effort ``to improve both manufacturing efficiency and economy.`` Equipment from the Waukegan plant, which makes tungsten carbide cutting tools for Fansteel`s VR-Wesson Division, will be moved to other division operations ``over the next several months,`` the company said.

``Every effort was made to find a viable alternative, but a solution to the facility`s high cost base could not be found,`` Keith R. Garrity, Fansteel`s chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

Johnson, the Machinists local president for seven years and a veteran of 28 years at Fansteel, said the company wanted to reopen its contract midway through its three-year term and sought a cut in wages of $3 an hour.

Under the proposal, 25 cents of the cut would have been restored after one year. But workers rejected the changes by a 62-26 vote, Johnson said.

Johnson, upset that a raucous meeting had kept members uninformed, got another vote after Fansteel agreed to restore an additional 9 cents an hour in cuts after the first year. Garrity also guaranteed in writing that the plant would remain open for at least another year if workers approved the concessions, Johnson said. But the contract failed by nearly the same margin, 56-32, in a vote Sunday.

Johnson said the average hourly worker at Fansteel makes $12.38 an hour in wages and an additional $5.23 an hour in benefits.

``I think if there`s another vote, it would be voted down again,``

Johnson said. ``We`ve been in a time warp. We`ve been sheltered from the troubles of the outside world.

``They (the workers) think they`re still 20 and it`s in the mid-`60s,``

Johnson added. ``(But) there`s a whole different economic environment today.``

Fansteel Closing In Waukegan