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Search Results
- Description:
- Louis Garcia discusses his career as an assembly worker, press operator, and manager at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc, in Lansing, Mi, between 1946 and 1975. Garcia talks about his Hispanic heritage and his childhood spent as a migrant farm worker. He says that in his early years at REO he was singled out and "tested" by other workers and management because of his ethnicity, but still excelled in the workplace, becoming a journeyman and later a supervisor. Garcia also talks about Francis Cappaert’s ownership of REO, the company bankruptcy, loss of the worker pension fund, the final days of plant operations, and employee depression and suicide. Interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1992-01-28T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Cookie talks about college and teaching in Mississippi, coming to Lansing in 1963 and 1964 to work summers in the factory and returning south to teach in the fall. In 1965, Cookie permanently hired into Fisher. He describes a workplace with few minorities and one black supervisor. Cookie comments on the 1970 UAW strike, discrimination and race. He recalls applying and being tested for supervision but was told he failed the test. In 1971 he felt he was forced onto supervision to help GM comply with new laws. Cookie recalls that some workers would not accept their paychecks from a black. He talks about cooking a roast in the paint ovens, area dinners, the salaried dining room and retirement.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-01-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Denny Cox discusses his career as a production worker and UAW committeeman at the Fisher Body plant in Lansing, MI. Maggie Cox discusses her career as a UAW Local 602 secretary and member of OPIEU Local 42. Denny talks about getting hired in October 1963, his varied jobs, his union activity and positions as elected committeeman and UAW Job Placement Coordinator. He describes placing restricted workers on jobs, racism and sexism, and relations with managers in and out of the factory.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-01-23T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Derrick tells of moving to Lansing in 1957 so his father could get a job at Fisher, growing up near the plant and being hired in August 1978. He tells about his experiences in the Body and Paint Shops, dealing with racial diversity and animosity, hazards in the plant, his union activity, and appointment to the Michigan AFL-CIO Safety Department in Lansing.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-02-13T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Willie describes being raised in Monroe, Louisiana. He attended college and hired into Fisher in August 1969. He describes work in the Body Shop where a majority of workers were black and were spread out on the line "so they couldn't talk." Willie spent a short time as a per diem supervisor but decided to get active in the UAW and was elected committeeman. He discusses racism, graffiti, and daily life in the factory.
- Date Issued:
- 2005-12-14T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Denny Cox discusses his career as a production worker and UAW committeeman at the Fisher Body plant in Lansing, MI. Maggie Cox discusses her career as a UAW Local 602 secretary and member of OPIEU Local 42. Denny talks about getting hired in October 1963, his varied jobs, his union activity and positions as elected committeeman and UAW Job Placement Coordinator. He describes placing restricted workers on jobs, racism and sexism, and relations with managers in and out of the factory.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-01-23T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Derrick tells of moving to Lansing in 1957 so his father could get a job at Fisher, growing up near the plant and being hired in August 1978. He tells about his experiences in the Body and Paint Shops, dealing with racial diversity and animosity, hazards in the plant, his union activity, and appointment to the Michigan AFL-CIO Safety Department in Lansing.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-02-13T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Willie describes being raised in Monroe, Louisiana. He attended college and hired into Fisher in August 1969. He describes work in the Body Shop where a majority of workers were black and were spread out on the line "so they couldn't talk." Willie spent a short time as a per diem supervisor but decided to get active in the UAW and was elected committeeman. He discusses racism, graffiti, and daily life in the factory.
- Date Issued:
- 2005-12-14T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Louis Garcia discusses his career as an assembly worker, press operator, and manager at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc, in Lansing, Mi, between 1946 and 1975. Garcia talks about his Hispanic heritage and his childhood spent as a migrant farm worker. He says that in his early years at REO he was singled out and "tested" by other workers and management because of his ethnicity, but still excelled in the workplace, becoming a journeyman and later a supervisor. Garcia also talks about Francis Cappaert’s ownership of REO, the company bankruptcy, loss of the worker pension fund, the final days of plant operations, and employee depression and suicide. Interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1992-01-28T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Cookie talks about college and teaching in Mississippi, coming to Lansing in 1963 and 1964 to work summers in the factory and returning south to teach in the fall. In 1965, Cookie permanently hired into Fisher. He describes a workplace with few minorities and one black supervisor. Cookie comments on the 1970 UAW strike, discrimination and race. He recalls applying and being tested for supervision but was told he failed the test. In 1971 he felt he was forced onto supervision to help GM comply with new laws. Cookie recalls that some workers would not accept their paychecks from a black. He talks about cooking a roast in the paint ovens, area dinners, the salaried dining room and retirement.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-01-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection