Gaston Deurinck
 Gaston Deurinck    (engineer) | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1922 Belgium |
| Died | 2000 (Age 78) |
| Nationality | Belgian |
| Alma mater | University of Louvain |
Gaston Deurinck founded the Belgian Productivity Centre.
Activities
Gaston Deurinck (1922-2000), a young civil engineer freshly graduated from the University of Louvain/Leuven in 1947, was advised by one of the most influential industrialists, René Boël, to pursue his studies in the USA in order to compare the levels of productivity between the two countries. His M.A. in Economics focused on the problem of measuring productivity statistically, and benefited from the assistance of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Back in Belgium, Deurinck could not convince the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the usefulness of his work, although its General Secretary, Jean-Charles Snoy, had also studied at Harvard with BAEF in 1930. However, Deurinck was finally hired by the Federation of Belgian Industrialists (FIB), where he started to collect information from various factories. At the same time, American delegates were fostering the creation of national productivity centres throughout Europe under the Benton-Moody Amendment; eleven countries (of the sixteen which received Marshall Aid) were about to have their own in the autumn of 1950. That was the case in Belgium, as Deurinck managed to organise the Belgian Productivity Centre (CBP) within the framework of the FIB. Despite strong American recommendations, it did not integrate unions in its structure, and although it aimed to fulfill all the objectives assigned to a traditional productivity centre, the CBP did not benefit from ECA funds. Under the threat of bankruptcy and after a year of prevarication, the employers finally agreed to operate on a joint basis with union representatives. A new name was chosen, the Belgian Office for the Increase of Productivity (OBAP), while US consultant teams were brought in to assess whether Deurinck was capable of maneuvering the whole enterprise.[1]
Event Participated in
| Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilderberg/1970 | 17 April 1970 | 19 April 1970 | Switzerland Hotel Quellenhof Bad Ragaz | the 19th Bilderberg meeting, in Switzerland. |
