Employers Group
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[edit] Employers Group
[edit] Formerly known as the Merchants & Manufacturers Association and the Federated Employers
Founded in 1896 in Los Angeles, CA as the ‘’’Merchants & Manufacturers Association, the ‘‘’Employers Group is one of the nation's largest and oldest organizations devoted exclusively to helping California businesses manage their people by providing a range of advice, information and consultative services to keep them compliant and proactive in all areas of human resources.
In 2006, Employers Group celebrated 110 years of continuous service to California’s employer community. This non-profit membership association remains headquartered in Los Angeles, and serves thousands of California businesses from locations throughout the state. ‘’(NOTE: Employers Group is a widely recognized resource for the media on employer-related issues, laws and trends.)
‘’’Type:’’’ Non-profit employer membership association ‘’’Founded:’’’ 1896 in Los Angeles as the Merchants & Manufacturers Association ‘’’Headquarters:’’’Los Angeles, California ‘’’President and CEO:’’’ William R. Dahlman ‘’’Services:’’’ Human Resources management, compliance and consulting services for California businesses. ‘’’Website:’’’ www.employersgroup.com ‘’’Telephone Contact:’’’ (800) 748-8484
As evidenced by its history, Employers Group has played a huge role in shaping California’s business community for more than a century. Over the course of more than a century, this association has evolved just as the nature of business has advanced since it first began in the industrial age.
[edit] History
[edit] Early 20th Century
Originally formed in 1896 in Los Angeles, California as the Merchants & Manufacturers Association (M&M), the name itself echoed the nature of business at that time. The city was teaming with industrial and manufacturing companies, many originating to build the city itself and the nearby harbor. Rail companies were booming and the area was gearing up as a major shipping port. Department stores, breweries and “mom and pop” markets were also flourishing businesses. Many of these companies were M&M’s charter members—including the ‘’Los Angeles Times’’—and some are, more than a century later, still Employers Group members.
M &M jumped into civic projects early on, taking a leading role in creating the annual Fiesta de las Flores in 1897—which was the forerunner of today’s Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, CA
[edit] The “open shop” battle and 1910 bombing of the “Los Angeles Times”
M&M’s focus over the first three decades was primarily on industrial relations. M&M kept its eye on union issues on behalf of its members, promoting an open shop philosophy as being the most beneficial for employers and employees alike.
Following a unionist’s bombing of the “Los Angeles Times” in 1910 killing some 21 pressmen,, M&M joined with the this charter member in the struggle for a union free environment by setting aside $50,000 to help “hunt down” the perpetrators and supply seed money for a $1 million “defense fund.” This led to a thwarted attempt to dynamite the home of M&M’s Secretary, Felix Zeehandelaar on the same day a bomb was detonated (causing no injuries) at the home of Harrison Gray Otis, the Times publisher.
Despite defense efforts by none other than Clarence Darrow, the three unionist men behind the rash of bombings eventually pled guilty and were sentenced to San Quentin Prison for life. The trial itself remains an event of unlimited significance in the annals of the American labor movement.
M&M remained in the forefront of the “open shop” campaign. In 1913 President Woodrow Wilson appointed a Federal Industrial Relations Commission, which came to Los Angeles in 1914 when M&M’s leaders upheld the right to belong or not belong to a labor union without sacrificing the right to make a living.
[edit] 1920s – M&M defends workers’ rights
In 1921, the ‘’’Industrial Relations Committee of San Francisco,’’’ M& M’s counterpart in the Bay Area was just as successful as M&M in organizing the business community to maintain an open shop city. This group would change names over ensuing decades and eventually, as the ‘’’Federated Group,’’’ merged with M&M in 1993 to become the Employers Group.
“The Los Angeles M&M is just as solicitous for the welfare of the worker as it is for that of the manufacturer…” wrote Edgar Lloyd Hamilton in the “ Industrial Digest” in New York. He reported in 1928 that “one of the most amazing spectacles of the last quarter center has been the growth of Los Angeles County from a ‘world playground’ in 1900 to 5,800 factories with a $350,000,000 annual payroll and $1,272,000,000 in manufactured products in 1927. This is something of an achievement.”
[edit] 1930s – The depression years
According to a 1936 editorial in the “Los Angeles Times,” during the early years of this devastating period in history, “Los Angeles industry has paid the highest average wages in the country, supplied the most nearly continuous employment and suffered least of any metropolitan city from labor troubles…”
The National Labor Relations Act is passed in 1935, giving union organization new vigor. Although the Act is declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, The Wagner Act is passed. This act recreated the major labor provisions of the NLRA and created the federally appointed National Labor Relations Board, affirming labor’s right to organize and bargain collectively through representatives of their own choice, or to refrain from such activities.
M&M had long recognized the principle of employee bargaining either individually or collectively and supported individuals in making their own choices. But because it still opposed the “closed shop,” M&M became the target of labor union propaganda that declared otherwise.
In 1937, M&M was joined in the labor relations field by a new organization, Southern Californians, Inc. In 1938, this organization sponsored a successful Los Angeles initiative providing for keeping picketing peaceful, which put a halt to picketing by force and violence that had been the norm until then. The result, a 50% reduction in strikes compared to the year before.
[edit] 1940s – Moving away from industrial relations after the war
In the 1940s, The Southern Californians, Inc. and M&M united under the M&M name to become the largest employment relations group in the nation.
The day after Pearl Harbor, M&M offered its services to the Civilian Defense during World War II and represented the interests of Los Angeles businesses with the War Labor Board. M&M’s post-war years included working with employers to firmly establish sound employer-employee relations in assimilating GIs back into the workforce.
M&Ms first post-war years were marked by an unmatched record of industrial conversion from war to peace, and Los Angeles was transformed into a market leader in the production of peacetime goods and services.
[edit] 1950s - 1970s– Expansion in services and locations
The 1950s represented a time when M&M started to diversify and expand the scope of its services. Management education, research and publication of practical literature replaced much of the anti-union activity of the past. This is also when M&M’s existing legislative advocacy became even more important in helping to slow down the intrusion of bureaucratic action upon the business community.
In 1957, M&M established an Orange County Regional Office. Although the county was a rural community with little industry, the association recognized the potential for industrial growth.
M&M played several key roles in the growth of Orange County by offering management and human resources training and authoring the “Shop Talk” column for employers in the Orange County Register.
Since the 1970s, Employers Group has provided members with a telephone consulting “helpline” to provide on-the-spot answers about HR issues. Employers Group also introduced compensation, HR practices, and budget and trends surveys around the same time.
[edit] 1980 through 1993 – Employers Group expands throughout California
In the 1980s, M&M added three more locations, in San Diego, Inland Empire and San Francisco. Then, in 1993, M&M merged with the Federated Employers in San Francisco to become the Employers Group, which is when it drew the distinction of becoming the nation’s largest and oldest nonprofit employer association dedicated to HR management.
[edit] Heading into the 21st Century
The largest shift in the human resources profession started taking place in the early 1980s, and thereafter has evolved to become a much more demanding role within every organization in the 21st Century.
In 1995, Employers Group introduced one of the first web sites dedicated to HR called hronline.org. Today, as [ www.employersgroup.com], the site is a one-of-a-kind resource for California employers.
[edit] Services & Products
Employers Group, a non-profit employer association, helps California businesses manage their people and stay in compliance by providing these benefits of membership:
- A Consulting Helpline with seasoned human resources professionals who provide on-the-spot practical advice and answers about human resources issues tailored to fit specific member company’s needs.
- Compensation and Benefit surveys
- Monthly HR newsletters
- Employment Law Answers online
- Hot topic webinars for HR managers
- Online HR reference manual
- Discounts on public training classes and Human Resources certificate programs
- Legislative advocacy
- Plus, a range of optional, professional consulting services at additional cost.
- Workplace compliance posters, attorney written wage and hour books and manuals at discounted costs.
[edit] Locations
- Los Angeles, CA
- Costa Mesa, CA
- San Francisco, CA
- Employers Group also maintains satellite locations in the Inland Empire and San Diego regions of California.
[edit] External Links
[edit] References
The history and information contained in this article about Employers Group was compiled and written by Employers Group’s Editor, Wendy Taylor, using information researched from Employers Group’s archives and the following Employers Group publications:
- The Merchants and Manufacturers Association – Celebrating 90 Years of Service (1986),” researched and written by the association’s internal staff (no author noted); and
- The Employers Group, Formerly the Merchants and Manufacturers Association and Federated Employers -100th Anniversary (1996),” compiled and written by the association’s internal staff (no author noted).
