Search Constraints
Search Results
- Description:
- Don tells of being hired in 1962 at Flint Chevrolet, AC Spark Plug and describes his first years and Army service. He talks about his educational accomplishments and entering skilled trades in 1982. Don explains why he declined to go on management several times and why he has always respected the union. He comments on the Flint strikes, wildcats, the differences between Flint and Lansing, UAW-management relations differences, females in skilled trades, and the 1984 change to small cars in Lansing.
- Date Issued:
- 2005-12-19T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Harry E. Lester, a former district director for the United Steelworkers of America, talks about his labor and political activism in southeast Michigan, his childhood in West Virginia, coming to Michigan in 1953 to work for Ford, later working at Mclouth Steel and joining union Local 2659. He talks about why he became active in the union, receiving labor law training at Michigan State University, establishing a teachers union in Gibraltar, MI, and labor education programs at several state universities. He says that he had a difficult time transitioning from being a "gladiator type" of fighter for the workers to becoming a bridge builder. Lester is interviewed by John Revitte, MSU professor emeritus of Labor and Industrial Relations.
- Date Issued:
- 2013-07-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- In an oral history interview, Don Stevens, former Michigan State University trustee and AFL-CIO board member, talks about conflicts within the leadership of the state AFL-CIO, how he came to head the state CIO Education Department, and visiting Europe in order to help unions in postwar Europe reestablish themselves. Stevens describes efforts to influence elections, endorsing John Swainson for Governor, and tax issues involving Detroit which cost Swainson reelection. He also talks about the creation of the labor center at MSU, the start of Oakland University as a separate institution during his time as an MSU trustee, and John Hannah's presidency of MSU. He closes by considering what that the labor movement in Michigan has accomplished, what it has meant to him, and the threats it is under. Stevens is interviewed by John Revitte, MSU professor of Labor and Industrial Relations. Part four of four.
- Date Issued:
- 1983-03-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- In an oral history interview, Don Stevens, former Michigan State University trustee and AFL-CIO board member, talks about conflicts within the leadership of the state AFL-CIO, how he came to head the state CIO Education Department, and visiting Europe in order to help unions in postwar Europe reestablish themselves. Stevens describes efforts to influence elections, endorsing John Swainson for Governor, and tax issues involving Detroit which cost Swainson reelection. He also talks about the creation of the labor center at MSU, the start of Oakland University as a separate institution during his time as an MSU trustee, and John Hannah's presidency of MSU. He closes by considering what that the labor movement in Michigan has accomplished, what it has meant to him, and the threats it is under. Stevens is interviewed by John Revitte, MSU professor of Labor and Industrial Relations. Part four of four.
- Date Issued:
- 1983-03-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Don tells of being hired in 1962 at Flint Chevrolet, AC Spark Plug and describes his first years and Army service. He talks about his educational accomplishments and entering skilled trades in 1982. Don explains why he declined to go on management several times and why he has always respected the union. He comments on the Flint strikes, wildcats, the differences between Flint and Lansing, UAW-management relations differences, females in skilled trades, and the 1984 change to small cars in Lansing.
- Date Issued:
- 2005-12-19T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Harry E. Lester, a former district director for the United Steelworkers of America, talks about his labor and political activism in southeast Michigan, his childhood in West Virginia, coming to Michigan in 1953 to work for Ford, later working at Mclouth Steel and joining union Local 2659. He talks about why he became active in the union, receiving labor law training at Michigan State University, establishing a teachers union in Gibraltar, MI, and labor education programs at several state universities. He says that he had a difficult time transitioning from being a "gladiator type" of fighter for the workers to becoming a bridge builder. Lester is interviewed by John Revitte, MSU professor emeritus of Labor and Industrial Relations.
- Date Issued:
- 2013-07-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection