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- Description:
- Wayne Nunheimer recalls his career at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc., in Lansing, MI, from 1945 to 1975. He talks about his father working for REO, the REO Clubhouse, the 1937 strike, the company in the post-war period, his job as a spot welder, lawnmower production, piecework and the beautiful REO Flying Cloud automobile. Nunheimer also recalls the mergers which led to the end of the company, ongoing legal battles in bankruptcy, and says how fortunate workers were to have union representation and what a positive influence the union was in the plant. The interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1992-06-18T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Labor activist Max Gazen talks about being born in the Netherlands in 1897, coming to the U.S. at age nine, working in Grand Rapids, MI, and joining the merchant marine. He also talks about working for the Hotel and Restaurant Workers union, being a delegate to the Detroit Federation of Labor, his participation in the wave of sit-down strikes, helping to cook for the Flint sit-down strikers, union leaders, strikes and picket-lines, and racial discrimination.
- Date Issued:
- 1980-09-20T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Don Stevens, former Michigan State University trustee and AFL-CIO board member, reminisces about his childhood, family, farming, his early education, and his experiences with labor unions and union organizing. Stevens talks about his early work life, hearing about unions during the auto sit-down strikes in 1936 and 1937, listening to radio preachers condemn unions, and failed attempts to unionize a laundry where he worked and later success in organizing dairy and retail workers in the Grand Rapids area in the 1940s. Stevens also discusses CIO leadership during the war, union political efforts regarding health and safety, unemployment insurance, higher wages, and seniority rights and his own involvement in the growing union movement and labor organizing. Stevens is interviewed by John Revitte, MSU professor of Labor and Industrial Relations. Part one of four.
- Date Issued:
- 1983-02-08T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Michigan State University Professor Emeritus of Economics C. Patrick "Lash" Larrowe, talks about his family and childhood in Portland, OR, how his interest in working class issues and unionism grew and why he chose economics as a way of teaching about labor issues. Larrowe describes his early union experiences while in college, joining the Association of Catholic Trade Unionists, his service in World War Two, getting his first professorship at the University of Utah, and finally coming to work at the Labor and Industrial Relations Center at MSU. Larrowe discusses settling in at MSU and the people he worked with including, Jack Stieber, Charles Killingsworth, and MSU President John Hannah. He also explains the tensions between the Labor School and state conservatives and why the MSU faculty grievance system was created in the face of professors being terminated. Larrowe says he left the Labor School and moved to the Economics Department when his research and published material was threatened with censorship. Larrowe is interviewed by John Revitte, MSU professor of Labor and Industrial Relations.
- Date Issued:
- 1989-06-12T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- 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:
- Floyd Loew, waiter and strike organizer, describes an altercation between the Waiters and Waitresses Union and members of the German American Bund when they tried to hire waitresses without going through the union. Loew also talks about how the union organized the hotels and convention halls in Detroit, strikes, sit-downs, and other labor actions, and integrating the union and organizing Black waiters and cooks as a way to prevent them from being used as scabs.
- Date Issued:
- 1980-09-20T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Mabel McQueen talks about her career at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc, in Lansing, MI, from 1953 to 1975. She describes her youth on the family farm, working at Motor Wheel through the war, her work as a secretary and bookkeeper, her supervisors, and her feelings about the union. McQueen says that many of her family members also worked at REO and that REO itself felt like one big family. She says that the bankruptcy was a terrible time and that it was heartbreaking watching friends and co-workers being fired and losing their pensions. The interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1992-06-16T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- In the second of two oral history interviews, Olga "Jo" Beltrame and her husband Ed Beltrame discuss their careers as union organizers for the United Packinghouse Workers Organizing Committee (later called the Amalgamated Meat Cutters Union). They talk about organizing the meat processing plants in Detroit, efforts to integrate the workforce at local restaurants, people thinking that childcare centers for workers were "socialist", organizing drives at packing plants in the South, the House Un-American Activities Committee, and management's exploitation of female workers. The Beltrames also talk about the efforts to organize Wolverine Worldwide in Michigan and the very difficult time they had. The couple says that they retired from organizing in 1974 and that unionism bettered their lives and the lives of millions of workers around the world. The Beltrames are interviewed by John Revitte, Michigan State University professor of Labor and Industrial Relations. The second of two interviews.
- Date Issued:
- 1982-12-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Musician Don "Doop" Duprie presents, "Making it in Detroit : songs of working class life." Duprie's music runs the gamut from rock to country as he seeks to bring out the sense of loss, confusion, and rage that accompany the struggle to make it in the Motor City. In between songs, Duprie talks about his life in River Rouge, MI, the inspiration for his songs, labor unions, his time as a firefighter, and his views on the gentrification of Detroit. Duprie 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 MSU Libraries. Held in the MSU Main Library.
- Date Issued:
- 2015-09-24T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- African American autoworker Horace Sheffield talks about his union activism in the UAW, his role in preventing a race war in Detroit in 1940s, and his role in organizing Ford. Sheffield also talks about his association with UAW leaders, serving on the union staff, working to integrate the union leadership, and forming the Trade Union Leadership Council (TULC).
- Date Issued:
- 1982-02-18T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- 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:
- 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
- Description:
- Hodges Mason, a local union leader at Bohn Aluminium Brass Corp., talks about his early work experiences for nonunion employers and his jobs at several auto companies. He says that he wasn't a supporter of unions but still led strikes and labor actions for better wages. Mason also talks about his participation in strikes, discrimination in plants and what finally brought him around to join and support unions. Mason is interviewed as source material for the book "Working Detroit : the making of a union town" by Steve Babson.
- Date Issued:
- 1980-11-25T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Olga "Jo" Beltrame, with her husband Ed Beltrame, discusses her career as a union officer and organizer with the United Packinghouse Workers Organizing Committee and UPWOC Local 69. Beltrame talks about her childhood in Montreal, her father's union activity, coming to Detroit to find work at the age of 14, her experiences working at the Swift meat packing plant and what she later did to help organize meat packing plants, especially Swift's Detroit Hammond-Standish plant. The Beltrames both discuss unions and their shared union activities through the years, including their work in organizing meat packing plants across several states, the wage improvements and benefits which were won for workers, and their elected positions in the union. Ends abruptly. The Beltrames are interviewed by John Revitte, Michigan State University professor of Labor and Industrial Relations, and Joan Kelly, editor of the Michigan AFL-CIO newspaper. The first of two interviews.
- Date Issued:
- 1982-06-24T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Walter Campbell, former Regional Director for the Allied Industrial Workers (AIW) Region 7 in west Michigan and former Secretary-Treasurer of the Michigan State AFL-CIO, talks about the beginnings of the United Way, a coalition of charitable organizations pooling their efforts in fundraising and support. Campbell describes how community fund raising began in cities in Michigan and how labor unions became involved in the 1930s and 1940s. Campbell says that in 1947 Walter Reuther and Henry Ford II cooperated to create the United Way of Michigan which served to streamline giving and emphasized the positive role unions can play in their communities. He also talks about his work life and his involvement in organized labor. Campbell is interviewed by John Revitte, Michigan State University professor of Labor and Industrial Relations.
- Date Issued:
- 1983-03-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Dr. Robert F. Banks, associate provost and associate vice president for academic human resources, and professor emeritus of the James Madison College at Michigan State University, continues with his discussion about the MSU Faculty Grievance Policy and his career at MSU. Banks begins by recalling how his interest in Jazz music developed and his role in establishing a solid Jazz program at MSU. Returning to the grievance process, Banks suggests other administrators who might be potential interviewees. He shares his perspective on the several attempts to organize a faculty union on campus, the complications, the arguments for and against, the competition between AFT and AAUP, areas of support and opposition in the university, and union organizing efforts with other staff and graduate students. Banks reflects on union successes at other universities, the number of different unions trying to organize on campus, and issues with the process of negotiations. He concludes by revisiting some points with the grievance procedure recommendations. Banks is interviewed by John Revitte, MSU professor of Labor and Industrial Relations. Sixth of six interviews.
- Date Issued:
- 2008-10-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Walt Campbell, former Regional Director for the Allied Industrial Workers (AIW) Region 7 in west Michigan and former Secretary-Treasurer for the Michigan State AFL-CIO, talks about Michigan labor history, and the Michigan AFL-CIO, the organization's leadership in the 1950s and 1960s. Campbell also talks about the merger of the AFL and CIO in 1955, his rise to a leadership position in the Michgian AFL-CIO, the UAW leaving the AFL-CIO, and politics and variousl pieces of labor legislation. Campbell is interviewed by John Revitte, Michigan State University Professor of Labor and Industrial Relations.
- Date Issued:
- 1985-03-27T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Michigan State University Professor Emeritus E. James Potchen, M.D. amd former chair of the MSU Radiology Department, talks about representing the university administration in the faculty grievance process. Potchen says that ninety-nine percent of the problems presented to the Grievance Office were the result of misunderstandings and that he didn't have to prepare very much for individual cases because there was so much redundancy in the type of grievances filed. Potchen also talks about why MSU created the faculty grievance process, attempts to unionize MSU faculty, the attitude of MSU President Peter McPherson toward MSU faculty having a voice, the move of the medical school to Grand Rapids, the changes MSU President Cecil Mackey made at MSU, his own role in the development of medical programs at MSU and his career as a professor and administrator at the university. Potchen is interviewed by retired MSU Professor of Labor Studies and former Faculty Grievance Officer John Revitte.
- Date Issued:
- 2011-01-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Ashley Johnson, doctoral candidate in the history department at Northwestern University, delivers a talk entitled, "Illegal Detroiters: Undocumented Europeans and Unions in America's Motor City, 1924-1942." Johnson describes the influx of European immigrants, legal and illegal, and the impact they had on the growing auto industry, unionization, and the growth of Detroit and Michigan. She uses two immigrants as examples of common hiring practices and the work life of early auto workers and describes how each came into the country and embraced unionism. She answers questions from the audience and is introduced by Michigan State University Professor John P. Beck. Part of the "Our Daily Work/Our Daily Lives" Brown Bag series co-sponsored by the MSU School of Human Resources and Labor Relations, the MSU Museum, and the Motorcities Automobile National Heritage Area. Held in the MSU Museum Auditorium.
- Date Issued:
- 2014-01-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Robert Brenner, former regional director for the Allied Industrial Workers (AIW) Region 7 in west Michigan, talks about his family and early life in Battle Creek, MI, playing professional baseball, enlisting in the Army Air Corps in August 1942 and serving in the Southwest Pacific. He also talks about his union organizing efforts, working his way up in leadership positions, and serving as a labor representative on several state boards and commissions including, the State Board of Canvassers and the Occupational Health and Safety Commission. Ends abruptly. Brenner is interviewed by Labor and Industrial Relations professor John Revitte.
- Date Issued:
- 1986-09-24T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Thomas A. Klug, associate professor and director of the Institute of Detroit Studies, presents "Anything but united : Detroit employers, workers, and the open shop, 1904-1907." Klug discusses the alleged battle which employers waged in Detroit to keep unions out of the city's factories, and examines the truth of this assertion in light of documents he discovered at the Employer's Association of Detroit. Klug finds that the story of a highly united group of employers fighting to keep unions out of Detroit is an inaccurate depiction of events, and gives a more nuanced and detailed description of the open shop era in Detroit through the accounts found in the documents he discovered. Part of the "Our Daily Work/Our Daily Lives" Brown Bag series sponsored by the Michigan State University School of Human Resources and Labor Relations, and the MSU Museum. Held at the MSU Museum Auditorium.
- Date Issued:
- 2015-11-06T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Clifton Wharton, former president of Michigan State University, talks about his role in the creation of the university's Faculty Grievance Policy (FGP) and Faculty Grievance Official (FGO). Wharton says that he was comfortable with labor unions and that the FGP was not created to thwart faculty unionization efforts. In fact, he says, most MSU faculty preferred the grievance model he proposed to unionization. Wharton also talks about the structure of the land grant institution he inherited in 1969, some of the innovations he implemented during a time of tremendous social change, his relationship with MSU Board of Trustees and the uproar over the public disclosure of MSU faculty and staff salaries. Wharton is interviewed by Robert Banks, former MSU associate provost and associate vice president for Academic Human Resources and John Revitte, MSU professor emeritus of Labor Studies.
- Date Issued:
- 2018-12-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Labor and Industrial Relations Professor Emeritus John Revitte presents a discussion entitled, "Building the other UAW : the Allied Industrial Workers in Michigan and the Midwest". Revitte is joined via Skype by Kenneth Germanson, AIW labor activist and president of the Wisconsin Labor History Society. Germanson describes his career then he and Revitte describe the rise of the AIW and its place in an organized labor environment which included the American Federation of Labor, the Congress of Industrial Organizations, and member unions like the United Auto Workers who attempted to organize general industrial labor. Germanson explains how the AIW was created and credits Lansing AIW member Lester Washburn for keeping the AIW strong in West Michigan. Revitte explains the conflicts within and between the unions, especially the UAW-CIO and the UAW-AFL contingents. Germanson talks about the Lansing Labor Holiday, a general strike in Lansing, MI in 1937 which was a reaction to the arrest of several picketers. They answer questions from the audience. The session is convened by Kurt Dewhurst, Michigan State University Museum Director Emeritus and Curator of Folklife and Cultural Heritage. Part of the "Our Daily Work/Our Daily Lives" Brown Bag series sponsored by the MSU School of Human Resources and Labor Relations, the the Motorcities Automobile National Heritage Area, and the MSU Museum. Held in the MSU Museum auditorium.
- Date Issued:
- 2016-01-25T00:00:00Z
- 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 the second of two interviews, Donna Zischke, former Michigan State University director of Academic Human Resources, reflects on her MSU career which began in the 1970s and her evolving responsibilities regarding the Faculty Grievance Policy (FGP) and Faculty Grievance Official (FGO). Zischke talks about her interactions with the MSU Board of Trustees, former MSU administrators and FGOs she worked with, the impact which successive MSU presidents had on the evolution of the FGP, the differences between FGP grievances and standard employment law and how MSU faculty unionization attempts influenced the development of the FGP and FGO's office. Zischke is interviewed by Robert Banks, former MSU associate provost and associate vice president for Academic Human Resources and John Revitte, MSU professor emeritus in the School of Human Resources and Labor Relations. Gift of John Revitte.
- Date Issued:
- 2018-10-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- In the first of two oral history interviews, Donna Zischke, former Michigan State University Director of Academic Human Resources, talks about her role as a representative of the university administration in the MSU Faculty Grievance Policy (FGP). Zischke reflects on maintaining the records of FGP, how the FGP evolved over time, and how different university provosts felt about the procedure. Zischke and interviewers Robert Banks and John Revitte discuss where records of the FGP may be located and Revitte describes what documents he has been able to uncover so far in his research. The three also talk about past faculty unionization attempts and other topics they would like to discuss in a future interview. Zischke is interviewed by Robert Banks, former MSU associate provost and associate vice president for Academic Human Resources emeritus, and professor emeritus of the MSU James Madison College and John Revitte, MSU professor emeritus of Labor Studies.
- Date Issued:
- 2018-10-15T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Frank tells of being hired in August 1969 and working in the cushion room. He recalls receiving a copy of the union contract on his first day, the 1970 strike for 30 and Out, living on strike pay of $25 a week, and performing picket duty. Frank tells how he became a substance abuse counselor for the GM/UAW Employee Assistance Plan (EAP) and how he has appreciated the union.
- Date Issued:
- 2005-09-13T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Don Stevens, former Michigan State University trustee and AFL-CIO board member, talks about his experiences in the Michigan labor movement. Among other topics, he discusses the Association of Catholic Trade Unionists, the anti-union efforts of Father Coughlin, the pro-union efforts of other priests, the internal struggles of a number of Michigan unions during WWII as different factions jockeyed for control and influence and the creation of the United Way as a method for coordinating charitable fund raising . Stevens also talks about the 1961-62 Michigan constitutional convention, Coleman Young, Gus Scholle, the growth of union influence in the state and the 1948 campaigns of G. Mennen Williams for governor and Gerald R. Ford for the U.S. Congress. Stevens says that Ford courted union support in the 1948 Republican primary and later betrayed the unions by voting to override President Truman's veto of the Taft-Hartley Act. Stevens is interviewed by John Revitte, MSU professor of Labor and Industrial Relations. Part three of four. Gift of John Revitte.
- Date Issued:
- 1983-03-08T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Marvin Grinstern talks about his employment at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc, in Lansing, MI, from 1965 and 1975. Grinstern describes growing up in Lansing, farming, visiting his father at the plant, as a boy, during the 1937 strike and finally joining his father and other relatives at REO. Grinstern also talks about a fatal accident on the shop floor, managers abusing their position, the REO bankruptcy, the plant closing, and the resulting shock, depression and suicides among workers. Grinstern laments the loss of manufacturing companies and jobs in Lansing and remarks on the great changes that came to factories in the wake of unionization and women in the workplace. The interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1992-12-03T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Lynette tells of being hired in February 1985 shortly after nursing school. Lynette describes working conditions, antiquated equipment, supply shortages and treating the UAW Fisher workers for a range of maladies with unorthodox methods. She comments on the effect unionizing the nurses had on working conditions. She also talks about normal hazing of new nurses.
- Date Issued:
- 2005-08-24T00:00:00Z
- 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 Companyโs 100th Anniversary.
- Date Issued:
- 2004-05-05T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Dean Poggiali, president of UAW Local 724 in Lansing, Michigan, talks about his career, his immigrant parents, and taking courses at Michigan State University as he rose in the union ranks. Poggiali also talks about how his union works with multiple employers and multiple bargaining units, the history of manufacturing suppliers in the Lansing area, how union membership fluctuates with market swings, his involvement with the United Way in mid-Michigan, and various union leaders he has worked with. The interview is conducted by MSU Professor John Revitte.
- Date Issued:
- 2015-02-20T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Richard recalls walking along Verlinden St. and having the workers call names from the windows at which point Richard and his friends threw rocks and mud at the windows. He talks about the gardens, running track in the parking lot, and life in the neighborhood. Richard remembers the UAW organizing in 1936-37. He discusses racism in the factories and the union and meeting Walter Reuther.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-03-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Helen Piwkowski and Jeannette Oksa talk about their lives, families, and their work in a cigar factory in Detroit, Michigan. They also discuss being born in Poland and emigrating to the U.S., their education, their union activity, race relations in Detroit neighborhoods and in the workplace, and the Polish community in Detroit.
- Date Issued:
- 1981-02-09T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Harold Janetzke recalls his career as a timekeeper and engineer at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc. in Lansing, MI, from 1936 to 1975. He describes the 1937 strike that brought the UAW into REO, his move to engineering and attending Michigan State College. He says that the Great Depression devastated the Lansing community, but that World War II brought work back to the plant as REO converted from car to truck production. Janetzke's wife Eileen describes her job as a secretary at REO, meeting and marrying Harold, and working until late into her first pregnancy in 1943. They describe the heart break of the plant's closing in 1975, the loss of the pension and Harold going back to work for a few more years at Motor Wheel. The interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1992-02-26T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Author Robert Morris delivers a talk entitled, "'Good and Sufficient Reason to Rebel': Detroit, the Briggs Manufacturing Company, and the People Who Created the UAW." Morris talks about the people of UAW Local 212, including his own father, and their successful efforts to unionize Briggs with the assistance of organizers Emil Mazey and Richard Frankensteen. Morris describes working conditions in the Briggs plant and how the UAW strategized to win contracts. He explains the connections between Briggs and notorious Detroit gangster Santo Perrone, assassination attempts against Walter and Victor Reuther, and a Federal investigation. Morris answers questions from the audience. Morris is introduced by Michigan State University Professor John P. Beck. Part of the "Our Daily Work/Our Daily Lives" Brown Bag series co-sponsored by the MSU School of Human Resources and Labor Relations, the MSU Museum, and the Motorcities Automobile National Heritage Area. Held in the MSU Museum auditorium.
- Date Issued:
- 2014-09-05T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Labor and Industrial Relations Professor Emeritus John Revitte presents a discussion entitled, "Building the other UAW : the Allied Industrial Workers in Michigan and the Midwest". Revitte is joined via Skype by Kenneth Germanson, AIW labor activist and president of the Wisconsin Labor History Society. Germanson describes his career then he and Revitte describe the rise of the AIW and its place in an organized labor environment which included the American Federation of Labor, the Congress of Industrial Organizations, and member unions like the United Auto Workers who attempted to organize general industrial labor. Germanson explains how the AIW was created and credits Lansing AIW member Lester Washburn for keeping the AIW strong in West Michigan. Revitte explains the conflicts within and between the unions, especially the UAW-CIO and the UAW-AFL contingents. Germanson talks about the Lansing Labor Holiday, a general strike in Lansing, MI in 1937 which was a reaction to the arrest of several picketers. They answer questions from the audience. The session is convened by Kurt Dewhurst, Michigan State University Museum Director Emeritus and Curator of Folklife and Cultural Heritage. Part of the "Our Daily Work/Our Daily Lives" Brown Bag series sponsored by the MSU School of Human Resources and Labor Relations, the the Motorcities Automobile National Heritage Area, and the MSU Museum. Held in the MSU Museum auditorium.
- Date Issued:
- 2016-01-25T00:00:00Z
- 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 the second of two interviews, Donna Zischke, former Michigan State University director of Academic Human Resources, reflects on her MSU career which began in the 1970s and her evolving responsibilities regarding the Faculty Grievance Policy (FGP) and Faculty Grievance Official (FGO). Zischke talks about her interactions with the MSU Board of Trustees, former MSU administrators and FGOs she worked with, the impact which successive MSU presidents had on the evolution of the FGP, the differences between FGP grievances and standard employment law and how MSU faculty unionization attempts influenced the development of the FGP and FGO's office. Zischke is interviewed by Robert Banks, former MSU associate provost and associate vice president for Academic Human Resources and John Revitte, MSU professor emeritus in the School of Human Resources and Labor Relations. Gift of John Revitte.
- Date Issued:
- 2018-10-17T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Ashley Johnson, doctoral candidate in the history department at Northwestern University, delivers a talk entitled, "Illegal Detroiters: Undocumented Europeans and Unions in America's Motor City, 1924-1942." Johnson describes the influx of European immigrants, legal and illegal, and the impact they had on the growing auto industry, unionization, and the growth of Detroit and Michigan. She uses two immigrants as examples of common hiring practices and the work life of early auto workers and describes how each came into the country and embraced unionism. She answers questions from the audience and is introduced by Michigan State University Professor John P. Beck. Part of the "Our Daily Work/Our Daily Lives" Brown Bag series co-sponsored by the MSU School of Human Resources and Labor Relations, the MSU Museum, and the Motorcities Automobile National Heritage Area. Held in the MSU Museum Auditorium.
- Date Issued:
- 2014-01-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Robert Brenner, former regional director for the Allied Industrial Workers (AIW) Region 7 in west Michigan, talks about his family and early life in Battle Creek, MI, playing professional baseball, enlisting in the Army Air Corps in August 1942 and serving in the Southwest Pacific. He also talks about his union organizing efforts, working his way up in leadership positions, and serving as a labor representative on several state boards and commissions including, the State Board of Canvassers and the Occupational Health and Safety Commission. Ends abruptly. Brenner is interviewed by Labor and Industrial Relations professor John Revitte.
- Date Issued:
- 1986-09-24T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Walt Campbell, former Regional Director for the Allied Industrial Workers (AIW) Region 7 in west Michigan and former Secretary-Treasurer for the Michigan State AFL-CIO, talks about Michigan labor history, and the Michigan AFL-CIO, the organization's leadership in the 1950s and 1960s. Campbell also talks about the merger of the AFL and CIO in 1955, his rise to a leadership position in the Michgian AFL-CIO, the UAW leaving the AFL-CIO, and politics and variousl pieces of labor legislation. Campbell is interviewed by John Revitte, Michigan State University Professor of Labor and Industrial Relations.
- Date Issued:
- 1985-03-27T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Marvin Grinstern talks about his employment at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc, in Lansing, MI, from 1965 and 1975. Grinstern describes growing up in Lansing, farming, visiting his father at the plant, as a boy, during the 1937 strike and finally joining his father and other relatives at REO. Grinstern also talks about a fatal accident on the shop floor, managers abusing their position, the REO bankruptcy, the plant closing, and the resulting shock, depression and suicides among workers. Grinstern laments the loss of manufacturing companies and jobs in Lansing and remarks on the great changes that came to factories in the wake of unionization and women in the workplace. The interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1992-12-03T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- In the first of two oral history interviews, Donna Zischke, former Michigan State University Director of Academic Human Resources, talks about her role as a representative of the university administration in the MSU Faculty Grievance Policy (FGP). Zischke reflects on maintaining the records of FGP, how the FGP evolved over time, and how different university provosts felt about the procedure. Zischke and interviewers Robert Banks and John Revitte discuss where records of the FGP may be located and Revitte describes what documents he has been able to uncover so far in his research. The three also talk about past faculty unionization attempts and other topics they would like to discuss in a future interview. Zischke is interviewed by Robert Banks, former MSU associate provost and associate vice president for Academic Human Resources emeritus, and professor emeritus of the MSU James Madison College and John Revitte, MSU professor emeritus of Labor Studies.
- Date Issued:
- 2018-10-15T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Frank tells of being hired in August 1969 and working in the cushion room. He recalls receiving a copy of the union contract on his first day, the 1970 strike for 30 and Out, living on strike pay of $25 a week, and performing picket duty. Frank tells how he became a substance abuse counselor for the GM/UAW Employee Assistance Plan (EAP) and how he has appreciated the union.
- Date Issued:
- 2005-09-13T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Don Stevens, former Michigan State University trustee and AFL-CIO board member, talks about his experiences in the Michigan labor movement. Among other topics, he discusses the Association of Catholic Trade Unionists, the anti-union efforts of Father Coughlin, the pro-union efforts of other priests, the internal struggles of a number of Michigan unions during WWII as different factions jockeyed for control and influence and the creation of the United Way as a method for coordinating charitable fund raising . Stevens also talks about the 1961-62 Michigan constitutional convention, Coleman Young, Gus Scholle, the growth of union influence in the state and the 1948 campaigns of G. Mennen Williams for governor and Gerald R. Ford for the U.S. Congress. Stevens says that Ford courted union support in the 1948 Republican primary and later betrayed the unions by voting to override President Truman's veto of the Taft-Hartley Act. Stevens is interviewed by John Revitte, MSU professor of Labor and Industrial Relations. Part three of four. Gift of John Revitte.
- Date Issued:
- 1983-03-08T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Lynette tells of being hired in February 1985 shortly after nursing school. Lynette describes working conditions, antiquated equipment, supply shortages and treating the UAW Fisher workers for a range of maladies with unorthodox methods. She comments on the effect unionizing the nurses had on working conditions. She also talks about normal hazing of new nurses.
- Date Issued:
- 2005-08-24T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Labor activist Max Gazen talks about being born in the Netherlands in 1897, coming to the U.S. at age nine, working in Grand Rapids, MI, and joining the merchant marine. He also talks about working for the Hotel and Restaurant Workers union, being a delegate to the Detroit Federation of Labor, his participation in the wave of sit-down strikes, helping to cook for the Flint sit-down strikers, union leaders, strikes and picket-lines, and racial discrimination.
- Date Issued:
- 1980-09-20T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Wayne Nunheimer recalls his career at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc., in Lansing, MI, from 1945 to 1975. He talks about his father working for REO, the REO Clubhouse, the 1937 strike, the company in the post-war period, his job as a spot welder, lawnmower production, piecework and the beautiful REO Flying Cloud automobile. Nunheimer also recalls the mergers which led to the end of the company, ongoing legal battles in bankruptcy, and says how fortunate workers were to have union representation and what a positive influence the union was in the plant. The interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1992-06-18T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- 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 Companyโs 100th Anniversary.
- Date Issued:
- 2004-05-05T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Don Stevens, former Michigan State University trustee and AFL-CIO board member, reminisces about his childhood, family, farming, his early education, and his experiences with labor unions and union organizing. Stevens talks about his early work life, hearing about unions during the auto sit-down strikes in 1936 and 1937, listening to radio preachers condemn unions, and failed attempts to unionize a laundry where he worked and later success in organizing dairy and retail workers in the Grand Rapids area in the 1940s. Stevens also discusses CIO leadership during the war, union political efforts regarding health and safety, unemployment insurance, higher wages, and seniority rights and his own involvement in the growing union movement and labor organizing. Stevens is interviewed by John Revitte, MSU professor of Labor and Industrial Relations. Part one of four.
- Date Issued:
- 1983-02-08T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Michigan State University Professor Emeritus of Economics C. Patrick "Lash" Larrowe, talks about his family and childhood in Portland, OR, how his interest in working class issues and unionism grew and why he chose economics as a way of teaching about labor issues. Larrowe describes his early union experiences while in college, joining the Association of Catholic Trade Unionists, his service in World War Two, getting his first professorship at the University of Utah, and finally coming to work at the Labor and Industrial Relations Center at MSU. Larrowe discusses settling in at MSU and the people he worked with including, Jack Stieber, Charles Killingsworth, and MSU President John Hannah. He also explains the tensions between the Labor School and state conservatives and why the MSU faculty grievance system was created in the face of professors being terminated. Larrowe says he left the Labor School and moved to the Economics Department when his research and published material was threatened with censorship. Larrowe is interviewed by John Revitte, MSU professor of Labor and Industrial Relations.
- Date Issued:
- 1989-06-12T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Dean Poggiali, president of UAW Local 724 in Lansing, Michigan, talks about his career, his immigrant parents, and taking courses at Michigan State University as he rose in the union ranks. Poggiali also talks about how his union works with multiple employers and multiple bargaining units, the history of manufacturing suppliers in the Lansing area, how union membership fluctuates with market swings, his involvement with the United Way in mid-Michigan, and various union leaders he has worked with. The interview is conducted by MSU Professor John Revitte.
- Date Issued:
- 2015-02-20T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Author Robert Morris delivers a talk entitled, "'Good and Sufficient Reason to Rebel': Detroit, the Briggs Manufacturing Company, and the People Who Created the UAW." Morris talks about the people of UAW Local 212, including his own father, and their successful efforts to unionize Briggs with the assistance of organizers Emil Mazey and Richard Frankensteen. Morris describes working conditions in the Briggs plant and how the UAW strategized to win contracts. He explains the connections between Briggs and notorious Detroit gangster Santo Perrone, assassination attempts against Walter and Victor Reuther, and a Federal investigation. Morris answers questions from the audience. Morris is introduced by Michigan State University Professor John P. Beck. Part of the "Our Daily Work/Our Daily Lives" Brown Bag series co-sponsored by the MSU School of Human Resources and Labor Relations, the MSU Museum, and the Motorcities Automobile National Heritage Area. Held in the MSU Museum auditorium.
- Date Issued:
- 2014-09-05T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Harold Janetzke recalls his career as a timekeeper and engineer at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc. in Lansing, MI, from 1936 to 1975. He describes the 1937 strike that brought the UAW into REO, his move to engineering and attending Michigan State College. He says that the Great Depression devastated the Lansing community, but that World War II brought work back to the plant as REO converted from car to truck production. Janetzke's wife Eileen describes her job as a secretary at REO, meeting and marrying Harold, and working until late into her first pregnancy in 1943. They describe the heart break of the plant's closing in 1975, the loss of the pension and Harold going back to work for a few more years at Motor Wheel. The interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1992-02-26T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Floyd Loew, waiter and strike organizer, describes an altercation between the Waiters and Waitresses Union and members of the German American Bund when they tried to hire waitresses without going through the union. Loew also talks about how the union organized the hotels and convention halls in Detroit, strikes, sit-downs, and other labor actions, and integrating the union and organizing Black waiters and cooks as a way to prevent them from being used as scabs.
- Date Issued:
- 1980-09-20T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Mabel McQueen talks about her career at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc, in Lansing, MI, from 1953 to 1975. She describes her youth on the family farm, working at Motor Wheel through the war, her work as a secretary and bookkeeper, her supervisors, and her feelings about the union. McQueen says that many of her family members also worked at REO and that REO itself felt like one big family. She says that the bankruptcy was a terrible time and that it was heartbreaking watching friends and co-workers being fired and losing their pensions. The interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1992-06-16T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- In the second of two oral history interviews, Olga "Jo" Beltrame and her husband Ed Beltrame discuss their careers as union organizers for the United Packinghouse Workers Organizing Committee (later called the Amalgamated Meat Cutters Union). They talk about organizing the meat processing plants in Detroit, efforts to integrate the workforce at local restaurants, people thinking that childcare centers for workers were "socialist", organizing drives at packing plants in the South, the House Un-American Activities Committee, and management's exploitation of female workers. The Beltrames also talk about the efforts to organize Wolverine Worldwide in Michigan and the very difficult time they had. The couple says that they retired from organizing in 1974 and that unionism bettered their lives and the lives of millions of workers around the world. The Beltrames are interviewed by John Revitte, Michigan State University professor of Labor and Industrial Relations. The second of two interviews.
- Date Issued:
- 1982-12-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Richard recalls walking along Verlinden St. and having the workers call names from the windows at which point Richard and his friends threw rocks and mud at the windows. He talks about the gardens, running track in the parking lot, and life in the neighborhood. Richard remembers the UAW organizing in 1936-37. He discusses racism in the factories and the union and meeting Walter Reuther.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-03-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Musician Don "Doop" Duprie presents, "Making it in Detroit : songs of working class life." Duprie's music runs the gamut from rock to country as he seeks to bring out the sense of loss, confusion, and rage that accompany the struggle to make it in the Motor City. In between songs, Duprie talks about his life in River Rouge, MI, the inspiration for his songs, labor unions, his time as a firefighter, and his views on the gentrification of Detroit. Duprie 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 MSU Libraries. Held in the MSU Main Library.
- Date Issued:
- 2015-09-24T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Helen Piwkowski and Jeannette Oksa talk about their lives, families, and their work in a cigar factory in Detroit, Michigan. They also discuss being born in Poland and emigrating to the U.S., their education, their union activity, race relations in Detroit neighborhoods and in the workplace, and the Polish community in Detroit.
- Date Issued:
- 1981-02-09T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- African American autoworker Horace Sheffield talks about his union activism in the UAW, his role in preventing a race war in Detroit in 1940s, and his role in organizing Ford. Sheffield also talks about his association with UAW leaders, serving on the union staff, working to integrate the union leadership, and forming the Trade Union Leadership Council (TULC).
- Date Issued:
- 1982-02-18T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Thomas A. Klug, associate professor and director of the Institute of Detroit Studies, presents "Anything but united : Detroit employers, workers, and the open shop, 1904-1907." Klug discusses the alleged battle which employers waged in Detroit to keep unions out of the city's factories, and examines the truth of this assertion in light of documents he discovered at the Employer's Association of Detroit. Klug finds that the story of a highly united group of employers fighting to keep unions out of Detroit is an inaccurate depiction of events, and gives a more nuanced and detailed description of the open shop era in Detroit through the accounts found in the documents he discovered. Part of the "Our Daily Work/Our Daily Lives" Brown Bag series sponsored by the Michigan State University School of Human Resources and Labor Relations, and the MSU Museum. Held at the MSU Museum Auditorium.
- Date Issued:
- 2015-11-06T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Clifton Wharton, former president of Michigan State University, talks about his role in the creation of the university's Faculty Grievance Policy (FGP) and Faculty Grievance Official (FGO). Wharton says that he was comfortable with labor unions and that the FGP was not created to thwart faculty unionization efforts. In fact, he says, most MSU faculty preferred the grievance model he proposed to unionization. Wharton also talks about the structure of the land grant institution he inherited in 1969, some of the innovations he implemented during a time of tremendous social change, his relationship with MSU Board of Trustees and the uproar over the public disclosure of MSU faculty and staff salaries. Wharton is interviewed by Robert Banks, former MSU associate provost and associate vice president for Academic Human Resources and John Revitte, MSU professor emeritus of Labor Studies.
- Date Issued:
- 2018-12-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Walter Campbell, former Regional Director for the Allied Industrial Workers (AIW) Region 7 in west Michigan and former Secretary-Treasurer of the Michigan State AFL-CIO, talks about the beginnings of the United Way, a coalition of charitable organizations pooling their efforts in fundraising and support. Campbell describes how community fund raising began in cities in Michigan and how labor unions became involved in the 1930s and 1940s. Campbell says that in 1947 Walter Reuther and Henry Ford II cooperated to create the United Way of Michigan which served to streamline giving and emphasized the positive role unions can play in their communities. He also talks about his work life and his involvement in organized labor. Campbell is interviewed by John Revitte, Michigan State University professor of Labor and Industrial Relations.
- Date Issued:
- 1983-03-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Dr. Robert F. Banks, associate provost and associate vice president for academic human resources, and professor emeritus of the James Madison College at Michigan State University, continues with his discussion about the MSU Faculty Grievance Policy and his career at MSU. Banks begins by recalling how his interest in Jazz music developed and his role in establishing a solid Jazz program at MSU. Returning to the grievance process, Banks suggests other administrators who might be potential interviewees. He shares his perspective on the several attempts to organize a faculty union on campus, the complications, the arguments for and against, the competition between AFT and AAUP, areas of support and opposition in the university, and union organizing efforts with other staff and graduate students. Banks reflects on union successes at other universities, the number of different unions trying to organize on campus, and issues with the process of negotiations. He concludes by revisiting some points with the grievance procedure recommendations. Banks is interviewed by John Revitte, MSU professor of Labor and Industrial Relations. Sixth of six interviews.
- Date Issued:
- 2008-10-07T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- 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
- Description:
- Michigan State University Professor Emeritus E. James Potchen, M.D. amd former chair of the MSU Radiology Department, talks about representing the university administration in the faculty grievance process. Potchen says that ninety-nine percent of the problems presented to the Grievance Office were the result of misunderstandings and that he didn't have to prepare very much for individual cases because there was so much redundancy in the type of grievances filed. Potchen also talks about why MSU created the faculty grievance process, attempts to unionize MSU faculty, the attitude of MSU President Peter McPherson toward MSU faculty having a voice, the move of the medical school to Grand Rapids, the changes MSU President Cecil Mackey made at MSU, his own role in the development of medical programs at MSU and his career as a professor and administrator at the university. Potchen is interviewed by retired MSU Professor of Labor Studies and former Faculty Grievance Officer John Revitte.
- Date Issued:
- 2011-01-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Hodges Mason, a local union leader at Bohn Aluminium Brass Corp., talks about his early work experiences for nonunion employers and his jobs at several auto companies. He says that he wasn't a supporter of unions but still led strikes and labor actions for better wages. Mason also talks about his participation in strikes, discrimination in plants and what finally brought him around to join and support unions. Mason is interviewed as source material for the book "Working Detroit : the making of a union town" by Steve Babson.
- Date Issued:
- 1980-11-25T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Olga "Jo" Beltrame, with her husband Ed Beltrame, discusses her career as a union officer and organizer with the United Packinghouse Workers Organizing Committee and UPWOC Local 69. Beltrame talks about her childhood in Montreal, her father's union activity, coming to Detroit to find work at the age of 14, her experiences working at the Swift meat packing plant and what she later did to help organize meat packing plants, especially Swift's Detroit Hammond-Standish plant. The Beltrames both discuss unions and their shared union activities through the years, including their work in organizing meat packing plants across several states, the wage improvements and benefits which were won for workers, and their elected positions in the union. Ends abruptly. The Beltrames are interviewed by John Revitte, Michigan State University professor of Labor and Industrial Relations, and Joan Kelly, editor of the Michigan AFL-CIO newspaper. The first of two interviews.
- Date Issued:
- 1982-06-24T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection