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- Description:
- Noel Johnson recalls his career at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc., in Lansing, MI, from 1958 to 1975. Johnson describes his youth and early jobs and the variety of positions he held at REO and says with pride that Diamond-REO trucks were virtually handmade. He also talks about REO's merger with White Motors, Francis Cappaert’s purchase of the company and the final, painful bankruptcy. He says that he was retained by the company to finish the last military truck orders and was there when the gates were closed for good. The interviewer is Shirley Bradley. Recorded as part of the commemoration of REO Motor Car Company’s 100th Anniversary.
- Date Issued:
- 2004-10-13T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Darrell Tennis, labor activist and political consultant, talks about his career advocating for Michigan organized labor. Tennis reflects on working for a number of labor unions before finally opening his own consulting firm in Lansing. Tennis also talks about lobbying in the state, the influence of the United Auto Workers in the AFL-CIO, tensions between unions as state workers were organized, the administrations of Governor William Milliken and John Engler, and the creation of the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration. He says that he expects continued attempts to privatize public services in the state, that electing more Democrats to office does not insure a pro-labor legislature and that a fundamental problem in Michigan politics is the "gerrymandering" of voting districts. Tennis is interviewed by John Revitte, MSU professor emeritus of Labor and Industrial Relations.
- Date Issued:
- 2008-12-15T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Vernon Cook recalls working at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc, in Lansing, Mi, between 1944 and 1948. Cook says that much of his family worked at REO, including his future wife and that company culture dominated their lives. He describes factory working conditions, the REO Clubhouse, seeing the "Baby REO" car on display, the 1937 sit-down strike, and listening to WREO, the company radio station. He also talks at length about his job as a stock chaser in the plant and describes how trucks were built, tested and then dismantled for export. Interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1992-02-05T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- William Donohue, professor of Communication at Michigan State University and former MSU Faculty Grievance Offical (FGO), in a follow-up interview, talks further about his work as FGO. Donohue and interviewer John Revitte, MSU professor emeritus in the School Human Resources and Labor Relations, discuss why he accepted the FGO position and how it fit with his academic interests as well as why the position went to half-time. Donohue and Revitte compare their respective experiences as FGO and discuss some of the reasons why grievances were filed. Donohue says he tried to counsel administrators on how to resolve matters with a less confrontational approach and advocates for the value of mediating disagreements instead of filing a grievance.
- Date Issued:
- 2019-04-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- R.T. recalls her family and life in Endicott, NY, coming to Lansing with her new husband in 1972, being laid off from her job and standing in the rain with her sister for six hours to apply at Fisher before being hired in March 1981. She comments on the Trim Shop, coworkers, supervision, liking second shift, and her union activism. R.T. talks about her duties as a committee person and bargaining committee member, grievance handling, and the contract.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-01-06T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Karen tells of being hired in May 1978 after waiting overnight to put in an application and being overwhelmed on the first day. She describes a workplace that was like a "meat market," few women but mostly young, on the second shift and suggests that the second shift was a "party shift." Karen talks about workers helping each other and making gate collections for injured and ill coworkers.
- Date Issued:
- 2005-12-13T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Linda Maxon discusses her early years at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc., in Lansing, MI. She says that she started as a temporary stenographer in 1967 and stayed to work as a secretary for several managers until the plant closed in 1975. Maxon shares many experiences about company social events and institutions and describes the loss of the REO Clubhouse and the burning of the factory itself. Maxon says that in the end, she was able to draw money from the REO pension fund before it was drained and describes the terrible depression suffered by other workers who lost all of their retirement money. The interviewer is Shirley Bradley. Recorded as part of the commemoration of REO Motor Car Company’s 100th Anniversary.
- Date Issued:
- 2004-06-25T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Keith Groty, former MSU Assistant Vice President of Personnel and Employee Relations, talks about his involvement with the university's Faculty Grievance Procedure (FGP). Groty says that he supported the FGP because he saw it as a mechanism for heading off faculty unionization, but that he really didn't have a role in the development of the FGP or the position of Faculty Grievance Official (FGO). Groty also says that MSU's FGP has worked through the years because it found an appropriate balance between the administration's power and faculty concerns. He talks about the failed faculty attempts at unionization and says that the main issue at MSU was always the disparity in faculty pay. Groty is interviewed by Robert Banks, former Associate Vice President for Academic Human Resources and professor emeritus of the James Madison College at MSU, and John Revitte, MSU professor emeritus of Labor and Industrial Relations. Via telephone.
- Date Issued:
- 2018-06-11T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection