The Poppi Chronicles

Wesley’s Grandfather, Les, was a young business executive-in-training with the Higbee Company in Cleveland, Ohio. This was in the 1960’s. He was inquisitive, very smart, and was liked by the Executive Vice President for whom he worked, so he was permitted to be involved in many business transactions that a young executive-in-training might not usually have the opportunity to experience. As the first large IBM installation was made for the company, Les managed to have the opportunity to be involved in each of the steps for the installation of the hardware and the input of the existing data.  This experience made him a one-of-a kind expert in the use of these very large computers – specifically for the operations of a large department store.

Over the next couple of years, as other large department stores in the same buying group considered purchasing and installing their own large computer installation, company presidents contacted the President of the Higbee Company to ask about his installation and if he had any information to share with them that would assist them in planning their process – based on the Higbee experience. The President always told them: you need to talk to my Vice President and his Assistant. They made it happen. The result was always the same: Les Kane was assigned to talk to the President and whomever else was involved.

In two cases, Les was sent to the location to advise the Project Manager for the other department store’s installation process. The first of these installations took place in Atlanta, GA. When Les arrived at that department store, he chose not to go to the President’s office first, but rather to wander through the warehouse, to get an idea of how large the operation was, how well organized it was, and how similar/different it was from Higbee’s. He was dressed in a three piece suit – so he looked out-of-place in the warehouse and immediately attracted attention. As he looked over the warehouse, the employees looked him over. However, before anyone stopped him, he had a chance to make a few special observations:

• There were two sets of rest rooms: one for whites and one for blacks.
  • The one for whites looked well kept.
  • The one for blacks looked old and dirty.
• There were two Lunch areas with the same difference in appearance:
  • The white area looked nice (clean, newer furniture, brightly lit).
  • The area for blacks looked dark and run-down (dirty, old – broken furniture).

Les spent several weeks doing the job he had been sent there to do: preparing the department store staff for the installation.  Part of that preparation involved talking with warehouse personnel, since they would have computer terminals into which they would have to insert data about merchandise entering/leaving their area. Before he could get into his presentation, the workers began asking him questions about his walk through of the warehouse when he had first arrived. They saw him visit both the “White” and “Negro” only facilities. They wanted to know if they were going to get something worse than they had already; was he going to take something away from them. He was surprised, but always being able to think quickly, he did not allow things to get out-of-control. He asked them if they liked things the way they were. They became quiet. One man spoke up and indicated they liked to work. The jobs were good. They could not control some problems in the work place environment. He added that it was probably a topic that they should not discuss any further.  The discussion continued about the computer terminals and what the workers would be doing in the near future.

The following day, Les mentioned the differences in the rest room and lunch room facilities in the warehouse to the man with whom he was working.

The executive said, “The blacks do not know how to take care of nice facilities, so there is no reason to fix up anything for them.”

Les asked, “How do you know that?”

The executive replied, “Everyone knows that blacks do not know how to take care of good places.”

Les hesitated a little, then commented, “Most of the really expensive hotels in this city are kept clean by black people, so I believe they know how to keep a place clean – if it is in good condition. The rest rooms and lunch room in the warehouse are in terrible condition. Many things are broken. Paint is peeling. The situation does not reflect black workers not taking care of those areas. It shows the company leadership not taking care of them. “

This statement brought out a tirade from the executive: “You northerners don’t understand the delicate relationship between blacks and whites in the South.  We each know our place. They are content with their place.”

Les sighed, “They are not happy. Unhappy workers do not perform to their highest potential. These are human beings.”

With those last statements, the executive told Les: “We are about done with our installation. I think we can finish it without you. You can go home now. Thank you for your help.”

When Les returned to Cleveland, he explained to his supervisor, the Executive Vice President, what had occurred. His supervisor thanked him for assisting the other Department Store, but shook his head about the treatment of the black workers.  Black and white employees worked next to each other in the Cleveland store and had aways used the same rest room and lunch room facilities.

Six months later, the President of the southern department store where Les had assisted the computer installation called the President of the Higbee Company, again. He requested that Les be sent to his company to assist in labor negotiations with the black warehouse workers who were threatening to strike. The workers had specifically requested that Les represent them. When Les’s supervisor asked him if he wanted to do this job, Les did not hesitate for a moment. He said “Yes.”

Back in the southern company warehouse, when he arrived, all the workers immediately gathered. They had a list of grievances already written. Les looked at the list. He could have written it himself, from his observations. He smiled and nodded his head up and down in a clear “Yes” motion. These were good demands. All reasonable and doable. He asked about their benefits, vacation time, etc., to make sure he had a good idea of the full picture. Then he asked why they had asked for him. They told him that he was the first white man that had even noticed that their facilities were different than the whites. That made them feel like he cared about them.

In short order, Les was back upstairs, ready to talk with top management. He presented the demands. They laughed at him.  He told them, that they left him no choice but to recommend a job action. They did not understand at first. He clarified. “Well, we will start with a slowdown. If you still have not decided to negotiate, some of them will walk off the job, them all of them will.”

He left them a piece of paper with his hotel room telephone number on it and left the room.  He went to the warehouse and explained what a slowdown was and had everyone start it. They smiled and figured out how to slow down.

After two days, top management called Les and suggested talking. They asked exactly what they needed to do. He explained:

• Bring the black toilets and lunchroom up to the standards of the white one.
• While the construction process was going on, the blacks were to be allowed to use the white rest room and white lunch room.
• If the white employees did not want to share at the same time, they should be allowed to go to another area of the company to use white facilities.
• The slow down would cease as soon as construction began, but would start again if there was a stop in construction.

The company management did not agree, so some of the warehouse personnel began to walk off the job, or just not show up. Two days later, Les received another call to come and talk. This time, management agreed to the terms Les had presented initially. Les remained on location until the work had begun – long enough to see that the black employees were permitted access to the white rest rooms and lunch room.

After Les returned to Cleveland, his Supervisor showed him a letter from the southern company President. It was a thank you to the Higbee Company. They indicated that, although they never like admitting they were wrong, Les had found a reasonable way that did not cause them too much money loss and no loss of employees to rectify a potentially very volatile situation.

Two years later, the same southern department store president called Higbee’s asking for Les to come south to settle a labor dispute. Les was sent again. It took two weeks, but he mediated a settlement, again – this time getting equal pay for black employees in the same jobs as whites.