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- Description:
- Allen Van De Vusse discusses his career as a payroll auditor and paint department production manager at the Fisher Body plant in Lansing, MI. He is joined by Louise Dean who discusses her career as a GM salaried clerk/secretary and her husband John Dean, who discusses his varied career as a production worker, plant security officer, supervisor, Safety Director, and maintenance manager. With careers spanning five decades the speakers describe changes in the plant culture, sexism, disparate treatment, plant security, relations with upper management and the UAW, and comment on manufacturing processes and life in the factory.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-06-14T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Joe talks about coming from Texas at age 14, his father working for Lindel Drop Forge, and being hired by Fisher in October 1964 at age 18. He describes being placed on jobs that would "only go to Mexicans," some racial tension, relations with coworkers and managers, pranks, playing cards, the check pool, and retiring after 38 years.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-01-24T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Former steelworker and labor leader Tom Turner talks about his childhood and education in River Rouge and Ecorse, Mi and his involvement in organized labor and the civil rights movement. Turner also talks about discrimination and segregation in Detroit and in the workplace, his time as president of the Detroit NAACP and president of the Wayne County AFL-CIO, and the many labor leaders who inspired him. Turner says that black trade union leaders constantly and successfully pressured employers and organized labor to widen access for minorities to skilled trades and better paying jobs.
- Date Issued:
- 1982-03-11T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Hattie describes being hired in April 1953 and working in the Paint Shop. She talks about wages, undesirable jobs, and discrimination. Hattie discusses relations with coworkers, sexual harassment, swing shifts, family life, and day-to-day life in the factory.
- Date Issued:
- 2005-11-16T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Willie recounts his youth in Mississippi, his service in the U.S. Army in Korea, and being hired at Fisher in December 1954. He describes the jobs blacks were placed on, discrimination, and being denied an apprenticeship. He comments on millwright work, family, neighborhood, and retirement.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-01-30T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Lyle describes growing up in the neighborhood near Fisher, being hired in November 1956 and his first day on the wet deck. He reflects on segregation in the plant, the swing shift, and changeover. Lyle talks about transferring to Security in 1966, describes the duties, interactions with workers, strikes, and the 1982 deaths in the Paint Department. He also discusses GM's decision to outsource plant security to Pinkerton. Lyle also discusses his other passion - coaching baseball.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-01-26T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Calvin tells of growing up in Arkansas, working at a unionized shoe factory in St. Louis, moving to Michigan and being hired in November 1949 and being placed on one of the worst jobs. He describes his frustration with racism, sexism and unfairness. Calvin provides several examples of conflict and his eventual move to skilled trades as the first black in Jig & Fixture repair. He discusses being a strike captain during the 1970 strike.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-01-13T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Nacho tells of being hired in 1965 after being a migrant worker in Michigan and Minnesota. Chano tells of being hired in 1970 to earn money to buy a car. Both men tell of their first days in the plant, placement on tough jobs, discrimination, language difficulties, the 1970 strike and the UAW.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-01-31T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Fonnie talks about working for Studebaker in South Bend and coming to Fisher in April 1955. He describes a workplace with few blacks placed on the worst jobs, being placed in the lead solder booth and receiving blood tests for lead exposure. Fonnie describes his move to skilled trades, racial issues, relations with coworkers and managers, and his move to supervision. He reflects on the challenges of being a lone black supervisor, his promotions, retirement and recent loss of benefits.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-02-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection