Lever Brothers

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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.[1] 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.[2] 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.[3]

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.[4] 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 labor. 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. Originally published in French in 2001.)

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. (Lord Leverhulme's Ghosts: Colonial Exploitation in the Congo by Jules Marchal. Pages 6-7.)

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. 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. (Lord Leverhulme's Ghosts: Colonial Exploitation in the Congo by Jules Marchal. Pages 19-20.)

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. (Lord Leverhulme's Ghosts: Colonial Exploitation in the Congo by Jules Marchal. Pages 27-35.)

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.[4]

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.[4] 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.[5]

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.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ Jeannifer Filly Sumayku, Unilever: Providing Enjoyable and Meaningful Life to Customers, The President Post, 22 March 2010
  2. ^ "Unilever: A company history". BBC. 22 February 2000. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  3. ^ Macqueen, Adam (2005). The King of Sunlight: How William Lever Cleaned Up the World. Unilever first started out in new zealand wellington petone but then later on got moved to australia. Random House. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-552-15087-3.
  4. ^ a b c Brian Lewis (2008). "So Clean": Lord Leverhulme, Soap and Civilization. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
  5. ^ "Old soap factory getting a facelift". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. 1 February 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  6. ^ Muschamp, Herbert (1999-01-28). "Charles Luckman, Architect Who Designed Penn Station's Replacement, Dies at 89". New York Times. Retrieved 2013-02-10.
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