User:KCBhouston/John Henry Warne, Jr. (U.S. Industrial Advocate)

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John Henry Warne, Jr. (born December 12, 1958) is a management consultant and advocate for the revitalization of American Industry. Warne has been a strong proponent of work place redesigns that improve production, safety and work place satisfaction. John specializes with Union/Management collaboration to jointly design and execute these redesigns.

The roots of John’s philosophy Born to Elsie Mary Costa and John Henry Warne in 1958, Warne grew up in the copper mining town of Bisbee, Arizona[1]. The Warne family descended from the Cornish miners[2] who migrated to the U.S. in the 1800s due to the decline of mining in Cornwall, England. While Bisbee mines offered an abundance of copper ore, the immigrant miners faced inhospitable conditions including Apache raids and a high work-related death rate[3]. John’s great-grandfather died at the age of 38 in a mining accident in Bisbee, which forced John’s grandfather (who was 11 years old at the time) to go to work in the mines to support the family.

John was raised in a culture where laborers had little control over their destinies. The town of Bisbee was primarily owned and operated by a mining company. Bisbee was a traditional company town where mine workers lived in low rent company housing and shopped at company-owned mercantile stores. John grew up hearing first-hand accounts from family members about the infamous Bisbee deportation[5], a tragic historical event which was a major influence on the labor movement throughout the United States. Mining companies still maintained a reputation as ruthless in labor negotiations by the time John was old enough to go to work, and as a result, he was keenly aware of the harsh consequences of dissent between labor and management.

John’s collaborative work philosophy is that “a unionized labor force can be a quality labor force, as there are defined rules, responsibilities and accountabilities, good wages and benefits offered and the stand to be treated with dignity and respect. In turn, it is in the best interest for all to be profitable, work smart and be safe.”

Developing Collaborative Techniques John’s mining career began with Magma Copper[6] (a subsidiary of Newmont mining) as a laborer, and he worked to become a furnace operator and lead man. During his tenure, John served as grievance man and Executive Board member of USWA (United Steel Workers of America[7]) Local 937. In the early 1980s, Newmont spun off Magma along with a substantial debt. It was inevitable in 1989 that there would be a stalemate in labor negotiations at Magma, one that would be reminiscent of a recent union defeat another mining company that left many union workers penniless and the company stronger than ever. Confrontations between Magma and the union escalated into violence[8]. In the midst of this strife, Warne was part of a group of union leaders who took a stand that it was time to find a better way for the unions and management to work together. Both parties agreed to collaborate and make Magma a successful company. Thus began John’s work in leading union/management problem-solving teams and instituting a gain sharing program[9] to replace Copper Price bonuses and offset hard money concessions that were realized in the 80s. This work expanded into large-scale redesigns within operations that resulted in production increases by 100% and costs decreases by 50%. In addition, an unprecedented 15-year Collective Bargaining Agreement was ratified that included a no-strike/no-lock-out clause with a 5-year wage opener that would be resolved by an arbitrator in the case both parties could not agree.

In 1991, the USWA International appointed John as an internal consultant, where he was the first hourly and unionized employee assigned in a Magma Human Resources function. His primary responsibility in this new position was designing and managing union/management partnering initiatives. John was part of the creation of the Voice of Magma [10]. After years of success and increased performance, BHP Billiton Corporation purchased Magma at a premium stock offer. After the purchase, John was often deployed to work at various locations within the BHP Billiton Corporation, including international sites. John was also offered as a consultant for other companies when his expertise was requested within Industrial Transformation, Ltd.

John’s work marked a dramatic improvement in the way union workers were included in the company’s business decisions. John studied and applied numerous approaches and principles to engage employees, with a primary interest in socio-tech redesigns. It was through this work that Magma came to the attention of economist Barry Bluestone[11] and U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich[12]. This ultimately led to Magma and John’s participation in a panel with President Bill Clinton[13] at the Workplace of America, where the Magma labor story was showcased. More recently, John was a speaker at 2004 Texas Labor-Management Conference[14] and the 2011 National Safety Conference[15].

Since 1999, John has worked as a management consultant for King Chapman & Broussard, Inc.[16] in Houston, Texas. His consulting work specializes in engaging multi-levels of the workforce in large-scale change initiatives and forging collaborative partnerships between hourly and salary employees where a co-design[17] approach is critical. John’s work with employees, teams and union/management collaboration has been documented in two books: Joint Design Team Guide[18] and Multi-Site Joint Design Team Guide[19]. “It is imperative to the future of the American worker, to American business and to America as a nation to be an industrial leader. We must work with consistency to revitalize our industrial strength, and the key to this revitalization lies within the knowledge and responsibility of each and every employee.” Warne has been married to Kelly Standridge since 2007, and they currently reside in Houston, Texas.