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- 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
- Description:
- Dorothy tells about being hired in December 1952. She describes the brutal work, working conditions, the swing shift, lack of relief and the disparate treatment of women including lower pay and no restrooms. Dorothy also tells about being the first woman to exercise her contractual rights to transfer to a better paying job. She tells of participating in wildcat strikes over the lack of basic necessities like gloves, fountains and fans. Dorothy talks about being elected to the committee and being the lone woman in the male dominated environment. She comments on building the union hall, the need for unions, and her political activity in retirement.
- Date Issued:
- 2005-01-06T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Doug Sleep talks about his career in the export department at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc., in Lansing, MI, from 1961 to 1975. Sleep talks about preparing trucks to be shipped for sale overseas, about becoming a UAW steward and the deterioration of worker/management relations when the company changed ownership. Sleep describes the difficulty in running a shop with the chronic shortage of parts in the company's last days and final owner Francis Cappaert's attempts to break the union. He also laments the loss of the worker pension fund and the creation of federal pension guarantee program. The interviewer is Shirley Bradley. The first minute of the interview was not recorded. Recorded as part of the commemoration of the REO Motor Car Company’s 100th Anniversary.
- Date Issued:
- 2004-06-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- John Bowles talks about his career at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc, in Lansing, MI, from 1938 to 1971. Bowles says that he came to Lansing from Indiana in 1931 searching for work and was happy to finally land a good paying job at REO in 1938. He describes the various jobs he held in the plant, struggling to fill military truck orders, the inspection process, the early novelty of women working in the plant, war production, and trying to diversify in the post-war era by manufacturing lawnmowers. He says that working at REO was truly a family affair and that, in fact, most employees had relatives working along side of them in the plant. The interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine.Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1992-06-09T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Walt describes being overwhelmed when he was hired in September 1968, joining management in 1978 and finding it difficult to supervise people he worked with on the line. Walt describes a typical day for supervisors, the dress code for supervisors, meeting his wife in the plant and their struggles with an interracial marriage.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-05-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Lyle describes growing up in the neighborhood near Fisher, being hired in November 1956 and his first day on the wet deck. He reflects on segregation in the plant, the swing shift, and changeover. Lyle talks about transferring to Security in 1966, describes the duties, interactions with workers, strikes, and the 1982 deaths in the Paint Department. He also discusses GM's decision to outsource plant security to Pinkerton. Lyle also discusses his other passion - coaching baseball.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-01-26T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Retired Lansing Police Capt. Richard Fox discusses his time as a detective in the Lansing Police Department in an interview with retired Lansing Police Officers James Gleason and John Assiff. He tells stories about various cases, including a jewelry store robbery which was his first arrest and capturing notorious outlaw Ronald Sturdivant. Fox also goes into detail about various facets of police work that have changed, including the Miranda v. Arizona decision, and the way the way the Lansing Police Department was reorganized.
- Date Issued:
- 2008-04-25T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Cookie talks about college and teaching in Mississippi, coming to Lansing in 1963 and 1964 to work summers in the factory and returning south to teach in the fall. In 1965, Cookie permanently hired into Fisher. He describes a workplace with few minorities and one black supervisor. Cookie comments on the 1970 UAW strike, discrimination and race. He recalls applying and being tested for supervision but was told he failed the test. In 1971 he felt he was forced onto supervision to help GM comply with new laws. Cookie recalls that some workers would not accept their paychecks from a black. He talks about cooking a roast in the paint ovens, area dinners, the salaried dining room and retirement.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-01-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection