Page 193 - Adobe Photoshop PDF

Chapter 22: SoCal – San Francisco

0\ QHZ SRVLWLRQ DV 6HQLRU %HQH¿WV $QDO\VW LQ 6R&DO LQ 6DQ
Francisco had both an inferior salary and in many ways an inferior
working environment than was the case at Aramco. The salary was
$12,000 per year with a job placement in Group 2. This was a drop from
$25,000 a year that I had been earning overseas and a drop in job level
RI VDODU\ JURXSV 7KH HPSOR\HH EHQH¿WV DUHD ZDV WKH KXPDQ UHVRXUFHV
area that I knew the least about and was least interested in. I decided to
DFFHSW WKH R൵HU WR VHH LI LW ZRXOG OHDG PH WR RWKHU KLJKHU MREV LQ WKH
KXPDQ UHVRXUFHV DUHD IRU ZKLFK , KDG PRUH LQWHUHVW DQG TXDOL¿FDWLRQV
,Q WKH %HQH¿WV 'LYLVLRQ , ZDONHG LQWR D SROLWLFDO PHVV 7KH PDQ ZKR
had been Assistant Manager for several years was told the day before
my arrival that he would not be promoted to be the manager, as he had
expected. The man whose job I took, George Britton, was promoted to
EH WKH PDQDJHU $V D UHVXOW WKH R൶FH VWD൵ ZDV VSOLW LQ LWV OR\DOWLHV DQG
the tension was obvious.

A month or so after my arrival, a pension plan proposed by Ar-
amco for its Saudi employees was forwarded for review by the four
owner companies. The vice president in Chevron who was in charge
with relations with Aramco referred the proposed pension plan to the
EHQH¿WV GLYLVLRQ IRU UHYLHZ ,QFUHGLEO\ WKRXJK , KDG VSHQW WHQ \HDUV
LQ $UDPFR WKH SODQ ZDV UHIHUUHG WR DQRWKHU PDQ LQ WKH R൶FH $IWHU D

few days, he came to me and said, “This doesn’t make sense for me to
review this. You have the background in Aramco and I have none.” I
reviewed the plan and felt it should be supported. I took my comments
to George Britton. He told me, “Our management has already indicated
that it will not support the proposal.” I told him that we could argue
about details but approval of the plan itself was necessary. A few days
ODWHU DQ LQYLWDWLRQ FDPH IRU WKH EHQH¿WV PDQDJHU RI HDFK RI WKH IRXU

companies to come to Arabia to discuss the plan. George Britton went.
Cy Hardy, Aramco’s president, met with the owner company represen-
tatives. He put it to them in very simple terms, “Either we adopt this

189