ABSTRACT
The gas industry is of particular importance in the development of profit-sharing and co-partnership and deserves close examination for several reasons. Given that the chief motive for establishing the system was to contain trade unionism, the examination of labor relations in the gas industry is necessary before we look into the operation of the system itself. In 1889, the National Union of Gasworkers and General Labourers came into existence. The South Metropolitan scheme was nondiscriminatory and democratic in terms of those participating and also in terms of the bonus rate. The main body of the South Metropolitan scheme was carefully thought out and consisted of three parts: first, the profit-sharing bonus and later the cumulative stock under co-partnership; second, the co-parnership committee; third, worker representation in management through workman directors. The cost of production in the gas industry was determined to a large extent by the price of coal, yet labor expenses were also an important cost element.
