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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:
- 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:
- 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:
- 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:
- 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:
- 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:
- 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