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- Description:
- Frances Barnhart talks about her brief career at the REO Motor Car Company, in Lansing, MI, from 1942 to 1953. Barnhart describes growing up in Lansing and going to the REO Clubhouse as a child, working at Kresge's in downtown Lansing, and finally being hired into the REO Navy Department to make make bomb fuses during the war. Barnhart describes the many family connections that brought her to the plant, earning 65 cents an hour, piece rate, safety issues, and being one of the older women to work at REO. She says that she moved to the lawn mower line after the war, met her husband, was soon laid off and declined a callback in 1959 to raise her family. The interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1993-03-09T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Lyle tells of being hired in August 1976 and being assigned to the Trim Shop. He tells of working on weld integrity in Quality Control, of meeting his wife, his love of music and he even plays his harmonica. Lyle also discusses the difference between hourly and salaried people, the BOC talent show, his union activity and his job as plant tour guide.
- Date Issued:
- 2005-12-15T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Herbert Heinz talks about his career as an electrician at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc., in Lansing, MI, from 1951 to 1974. He discusses REO products, plant safety issues, exporting trucks around the world, and the union and various labor actions. Heinz also recounts management abuses and irregularities, alleging that managers used REO workers to build their cottages in Northern Michigan and that as the plant died at the time of the 1975 bankruptcy, managers began stripping parts and equipment from the plant. The interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1993-03-16T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Dr. Jeffrey Rothstein delivers a talk entitled, "When good jobs go bad: globalization, de-Unionization and declining labor standards in the North American auto industry". Rothstein compares three General Motors auto plants around the world while talking about the changing nature of jobs and the impact on work in the auto industry in the face of a globalization of the manufacturing economy. He describes good auto industry jobs which provide access to the middle class, but says that these jobs are getting steadily worse. He calls for an international labor standards structure to protect workers. A question and answer session concludes the session. Rothstein is introduced by Michigan State University Professor John P. Beck. Part of the "Our Daily Work/Our Daily Lives" Brown Bag series sponsored by the MSU School of Human Resources and Labor Relations, the MSU Museum, and the Lansing Stewardship Community/Motorcities - The Automobile National Heritage Area. Held at the MSU Museum.
- Date Issued:
- 2012-03-16T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Mark recalls serving his apprenticeship at Lindell Drop Forge, the Fisher job interview, being hired in August 1984, his first day in the Body Shop and working second shift. He talks about toolmaker duties, friendships, weekly dinners, relations with supervisors, lines of demarcation, injuries, safety, relations with production workers and his union activity.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-07-24T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Randy recalls being hired in June 1973 at age 17 for summer work before he went to General Motors Institute (GMI) now Kettering University in Flint. He talks about his education and coming to Fisher in 1985 following the reorganization to BOC, merging with Oldsmobile, the different cultures and working with two UAW locals and contracts. Randy talks about the salaried cafeteria at Fisher, pranks, firing Rusty Ziegler, the conversion to small cars and the Lansing work ethic. He discusses working his way up through various positions to plant manager in Doraville, GA. before coming back to Lansing and being named the Lansing Delta Township Plant Manager.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-06-29T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Leslie Mitchell remembers REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc., in Lansing, MI, as a great place to work, in this interview conducted by historian Shirley Bradley. Mitchell discusses growing up across from the REO plant where both of his parents worked, starting his work life at the General Motors Oldsombile plant and later moving to REO. Mitchell describes a tragic death at the plant during his tenure which led to UAW Local 650 successfully organizing REO workers. Recorded as part of the commemoration of REO Motor Car Company’s 100th Anniversary.
- Date Issued:
- 2004-05-05T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Lansing autoworker Gary Watson, president of UAW Local 652, discusses his career at the General Motors Oldsmobile Main Plant in Lansing, MI. He talks about being born near Lansing, starting at the GM Fisher Body plant in 1957, moving to Oldsmobile after a series of layoffs and recalls, becoming a journeyman tinsmith and active in the union, efforts to desegregate the skilled trades, and bringing women into the trades. Watson also talks about being a local president, training new committee people, teaching existing members about unionism and the UAW, how his local and the international UAW function, how decisions are made, and why the union conducts political action efforts, and community projects. Watson is interviewed by John Revitte, MSU professor of Labor and Industrial Relations.
- Date Issued:
- 1993-04-30T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- The speakers are all UAW members and workers at the Fisher Body plant in Lansing, MI. Each offers memories, humorous stories, and descriptions of factory life during his or her time in Fisher. The speakers' experiences span from the 1950s to the 1990s. These interviews were conducted at the annual UAW Local 602 Family Picnic at Eagle Park in Eagle, MI.
- Date Issued:
- 2005-08-27T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Jimmy recalls being hired in February 1970 in the Body Shop. He describes being petrified and having to find restrooms and the cafeteria by himself. Jimmy talks about the 1970 strike for 30 and Out. He speaks of his transfer to Environmental Services and participating in bowling and billiard leagues with hourly and salaried coworkers.
- Date Issued:
- 2005-10-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection