Lever Brothers

Lever House, New York City

Lever Brothers was a British manufacturing company founded in 1885 by brothers William Hesketh Lever (1851–1925) and James Darcy Lever (1854–1916). They invested in and successfully promoted a new soap-making process invented by chemist William Hough Watson. In 1930, Lever Brothers merged with Margarine Unie to form Unilever.

History

Starting with a small grocery business begun by his father, William Lever and his brother James entered the soap business in 1885 by buying a small soap works in Warrington. The brothers teamed up with a Bolton chemist, William Hough Watson, who became an early business partner. Watson invented the process which resulted in a new soap, using glycerin and vegetable oils such as palm oil, rather than tallow. The resulting soap was a good, free-lathering soap, at first named Honey Soap then later named "Sunlight Soap". Production reached 450 tons per week by 1888. Larger premises were built on marshes at Bromborough Pool on the Wirral Peninsula at what became Port Sunlight. Though the company was named Lever Brothers, William Lever's brother and co-director James never took a major part in running the business. He fell ill in 1895, probably as a result of diabetes, and resigned his directorship two years later.

Employee welfare and use of forced labor

Lever Brothers was one of several British companies that took an interest in the welfare of its British employees. The model village of Port Sunlight was developed between 1888 and 1914 adjoining the soap factory to accommodate the company's staff in good quality housing, with high architectural standards and many community facilities.

However, in the Congo, Lever Brothers, through their subsidiary Huileries du Congo Belge, utilized forced labour. Palm cutters failing to meet requirements regarding compulsory cultivation of crops were liable to prison sentences, where the chicotte, a type of whip, was used. Lord Leverhulme's Ghosts: Colonial Exploitation in the Congo by Jules Marchal. Page 217. Translated by Martin Thom. Published by Verso. 2008. First published as Travail force pour l'huile de palme de Lord Leverhulme: L'histoire du Congo 1910-1945, tome 3 by Editions Paula Bellings in 2001. </ref>

The Huileries du Congo Belge (HCB) recruited Africans by forced, their numerous agents accompanied by armed auxiliaries. The agents encountered increasing resistance during their tours, or else found villages emptied before they arrived. The first clashes between HCB's labour recruiters and villagers took place in July 1914. For example, a recruiter named Buelens was ment by a volley of arrows in the village of Kasamba, and was slightly wounded in the chest. A recruiter named Vanherenthals was attacked in the village of Kisimuna, and suffered serious arrow wounds in the arm and chest. A recruiter named Sosson was met by a volley of arrows, and one of the men accompanying him was wounded in the leg. A recruiter named Monard was also greeted by arrows.

A decree issued 16th March 1922 by the Belgian government in the Congo, which remained in force for the remainder of the colonial period, albeit with a few modifications, made provision for prison sentences of two to three months for "dishonesty" (reneging upon their legal obligations to work), and prison sentences of a fortnight for violations of work discipline. Francois Beissel was dissatisfied with a number of the measures laid down in the decree, and left record of this in a letter dated 22nd November 1922, which he wrote to Doctor Albert Duren, Inspector of Industrial Hygiene. Regarding absenteeism, Beissel wrote, "As the man hired could not renege more seriously upon his obligations than by abstaining from work without a plausible excuse, I would venture to hope that the prison sentences recommended would be applied with all due rigor in the case of unjustified, repeated absences. I would be glad to receive some reassurance in this regard. Beissel also forwarded a copy of his letter to the provincial governor, also asking him to combat absenteeism with prison sentences between two and three months. Commissioner general Alphonse Engels, the provincial governor's deputy, responded on his behalf, saying that a sentence of two months could be imposed, but a fortnight seemed more appropriate to him, since the employer would not have to prove that the worker had been dishonest for the shorter sentence to be applied.

Between the 25th and 30th of November 1923, Dr. Emile Lejeune, chief medical officer for the Congo-Kasai province, toured the HCB's Lusanga circle for six days. He drafted a report of his inspection, dated 8th December 1923. The HCB was employing approximately 6,500 workers in the areas he inspected. He found inadequate documentation of mortality rates, but notes another report citing a mortality rate of 9% in three months among certain groups of workers. He said that the most frequent cause of death recorded in 1923 were bronchial infections and pneumonia, though there were also some from septicemia and at least one from tuberculosis. He noted that the HCB was failing to supply blankets (in violation of ordinance 47, according to Jules Marchal), and stated that he regarded blankets as an "absolute necessity", given that the majority of deaths were from respiratory ailments. He also noticed children and young adolescents in Leverville pushing wagons and loading timber and fruit onto boats. In his opinion they were not of age that they should do such work. HCB classified some workers as local (those whose villages were not more than ten hours from the workplace) and some as imported. Those classified as local were not issued rations but were paid slightly more. Those classified as imported were issued rations and were paid slightly less. No rations were issued on Sundays. Black workers were supplied with only one meal a day, though some saved a portion to eat later. In Dr. Lejeune's opinion, the rations supplied to the imported workers provided far too few proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and calories. Due to lack of pans and utensils, the preparation of food for the black workers was often unhygienic or unpleasing. Some imported workers, such as the Yanzi, arranged for caravans of provisions to be brought from their homes to supplement the inadequate provisions provided by the HCB. Dr. Lejeune wrote that, "Anyone familiar with the abundant portions the blacks ordinarily consume, and the hygienic conditions under which food is prepared in the villages, will not be suprised at their dissatisfaction with the diet offered at the company posts." Dr. Lejeune noted that the camp and Leverville lacked latrines, kitchens, and a rubbish pit, and was far too crowded. He noted that the Yanzi were kept in camp consisting of straw houses in which 10 to 20 men sleep in cramped conditions, on pallets that should only accommodate 7 or 8 men at the most. Newcomers were often given no shelter at all and left to fend for themselves. No clothing was provided for blacks. Dr. Lejeune stated that "Rations, accommodation and clothing are inadequate, and on each count the company is to blame," and that, "I am persuaded that these imported workers, when they complete their term of three months, have lost weight, when they ought to have gained some, and I can well understand workers shunning work with the HCB, where they find nothing to attract them, and where nothing is done to render their leisure more pleasant." Dr. Lejeune saw one cemetery with 150 graves, and another cemetary with almost 500 graves. However, many workers, upon falling ill, went back home to die, so this does not tell us how many fatalities there were. Dr. Lejeune found the number of doctors, and available equipment and shelter for the sick to be inadequate.

Sidney Edkins, the managing director of HCB, wrote a letter to Governor Engels, dated 18th December 1923, claiming that the natives working for the HCB were better fed than they would be in their own villages. He claimed that, "The reason for the failure of our recruitment is purely and simply the repugnance felt by blacks for every kind of work and every kind of sustained effort. The villagers even refuse to carry the luggage of civil servants, as our agent Geno and myself have observed. Our agent Cotton has reported that tons of rubber, grass and palm-nuts rotted in the villages, simply because of a reluctance to transport them." Edkins also claimed that the labour shortage "cannot endure for long without compromising the very existence of our interests, which represent so large a part of economic activity in the Colony." Edkins asked the Governor, measures in favor of the HCB that they might obtain more workers.

Engels replied on 26th December, agreeing that the labour shortage was liable to compromise "if not the existence, at any rate, the further development of your interests." However, he disagreed that this situation had nothing to do with how the HCB treated their workers. In particular, he was not persuaded by Edkin's argument that the natives were better fed by the HCB than in their own villages "since the native is not obliged, when in his own village, to do the work that you ask of him." Like Edkins, Engels also believed that "the laziness of the native constitutes a very grave obstacle to recruitment." Engels expressed his appreciation for "all industry has done to transform the working conditions in this country, by making the best of a scanty workforce and by avoiding the waste of raw materials." He noted that the head of the province's medical service wrote in all conscience that "the territorial administrator should refuse to advise the natives to go and work in your concerns." He states that, "This declaration, the seriousness of which will not have escaped our civil servant, will receive, I do not doubt, your closest attention. If it has not led me to alter my directives to the territorial authorities forthwith, this is because I know I can place my trust in you and that, once you are aware of the real situation, you will not hesitate to do everything in your power to render it easier for us--to make it possible for us-- to continue with the assistance which as been accorded to you up until now."

Interim Governor-General Leon Bureau wrote to the Colonial Minister, in a letter dated 4th January 1924, forwarding Dr. Lejeune's report, along with a commentary, in which he mentioned that, "Bosses in Africa persist in blaming their failure to recruit workers on the indolence of the blacks, when the real cause is sought in the fashion in which they treat those in their employ."

Sidney Edkins submitted a defense against the Lejeune report, a memorandum 26 pages long with appendices dozens of pages long. Edkins' defense was forwarded from Engels to Bureau. In the report, Edkins made many excuses, for example, he claimed that providing a pagne and a blanket for men hired for only three months would effectively double their wage. (Lord Leverhulme's Ghosts: Colonial Exploitation in the Congo by Jules Marchal. Pages 40-41.) As Alphonse Rhodain, a chief medical officer, explained in a note dated 24th January 1924, "In asking the Government for more nurses, here too the HCB is avoiding the issue," and "Up until this point the HCB has in no wise shown that Dr. Lejeune's report is not rigorously accurate. On the contrary, the report is highly accurate, and the HCB cannot contest it. In his report, Dr. Lejeune was supposed to state the facts, and this is what he did. The HCB's proposals were really no concern of his, for they had not even begun to be implemented. In the next 13 pages, the HCB once again does not refute any of Dr. Lejeune's statements of fact, as regards the age of workers (statements iterated by me), children on night shift, accommodation, clothing, or food."

In addition to using forced labor under the conditions described by Dr. Emile Lejeune, the HCB also sought monopoly on the right to buy palm fruit.

Brands

By 1900 "Lifebuoy", "Lux" and "Vim" brands had been added and subsidiaries had been set up in the United States, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, Germany and elsewhere. By 1911 the company had its own oil palm plantations in Belgian Congo and the Solomon Islands. Lever Brothers Ltd also acquired other soap companies including A&F Pears, Gossage's of Widnes, Watson's of Leeds, Crosfield's of Warrington, Hazlehurst & Sons of Runcorn and Hudson's of Liverpool. The town Leverville (the present-day Lusanga) was founded in the Bandundu district of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, named after William Lever.

Lever Brothers rode the cresting late-Victorian consumer revolution to build a vast worldwide industrial empire. Four years after William Lever's death in 1925, his enterprises were amalgamated as Unilever. By 1930, it employed 250,000 people and in terms of market value, was the largest company in Britain.

Unilever

The company grew and operated until 1930, when it merged with a Dutch margarine company, Margarine Unie, to form Unilever, the first modern multinational company. As part of the agreement, Lever Brothers changed its name to Unilever plc, and forms the British half of the dual-listed company. Although the two companies have separate shareholders and stock exchange listings, they have a common board of directors and essentially operate as one company.

The Lever Brothers name was kept for a time as an imprint, as well as the name of the US subsidiary, Lever Brothers Company, and a Canadian subsidiary, Lever Brothers Limited. Lever Brothers was sold to a US capital firm Pensler Capital Corporation and renamed Korex in 2008. Korex Don Valley assumed operations of the Lever Brothers Toronto plant. It has since closed and gone bankrupt. The Toronto plant is now being redeveloped into an office and industrial district by First Gulf Corporation.

Presidents of Lever Brothers

Among its presidents was Charles Luckman who in the 1950s championed the construction of the Lever House in New York City. Luckman left the company before the building's completion, moving on to a notable architectural career, including the design of Madison Square Garden, the Theme Building and master plan for Los Angeles International Airport, the Aon Center, and major buildings at the Kennedy Space Center and Johnson Space Center.

See also

• Breeze detergent
• Lever & Kitchen
• Lever Brothers Factory originally located in Balmain, New South Wales, Australia
• Port Sunlight