Interview with Robert Burton
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Date of Interview
7-9-2002
Duration of Audio File
Audio File 1 -- 01:12:06; Audio File 2 -- 0:26:07
Interviewee
Robert Burton
Age
Born 1928, 74 at time of interview, died 2014 at the age of 86
Gender
Male
Description
Burton worked for a few years as hourly worker, then spent most of his career as a foreman and supervisor at S.D. Warren from height of S.D. Warren days until era when Scott began layoffs and disrupted local management customs. A good interview to learn about how supervisors/managers did their work and issues they confronted. Burton gives a detailed description of how workers were "indulged" by top management, i.e., seldom fired or challenged in work effort and practices, and also how lower level managers were hurt and weakened by unionization.
Birth Place
Gorham, New Hampshire
Residence
Westbrook, Maine from 1940s unto 2014.
Occupation/Work History
S. D. Warren foreman / supervisor from 1944-1988. Moved up from shop floor foreman to director of scheduling for the entire mill.
Role
Management
Mill or Principal Employer
S.D. Warren Company
Mill Location
Westbrook, Maine
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Hillard, Michael G. PhD, "Interview with Robert Burton" (2002). S.D. Warren Company. 44.
https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/sd-warren/44
Comments
Detailed discussion of sexual harassment, poorly handled by industrial relations department. Problems in 1980s of new outside managers not knowing the business, reassignment of foreman to areas where the foreman had no expertise and were unqualified. Describes life as a foreman and supervisor at S.D. Warren, and frustrations of his rank with union and higher management cutting out their decision making power.