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- Description:
- Allen Van De Vusse discusses his career as a payroll auditor and paint department production manager at the Fisher Body plant in Lansing, MI. He is joined by Louise Dean who discusses her career as a GM salaried clerk/secretary and her husband John Dean, who discusses his varied career as a production worker, plant security officer, supervisor, Safety Director, and maintenance manager. With careers spanning five decades the speakers describe changes in the plant culture, sexism, disparate treatment, plant security, relations with upper management and the UAW, and comment on manufacturing processes and life in the factory.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-06-14T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Gus Caliacatsos, owner of Gus's Bar on Michigan Avenue, discusses his life and career as a Greek immigrant, his life in Greece, the Greek army, coming to America in 1962, and hiring into Fisher Body in 1963. Gus describes his first day on job, learning English, receiving a suggestion award, and union threats. He left Fisher and went to work at Harry's Bar owned by another Greek immigrant. Gus quit after 8.5 years and pursued other business interests. He returned to Lansing and opened Gus's Bar in 1982. Gus describes relations with patrons who were primarily the UAW Fisher workers from across Michigan Ave.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-02-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Amer talks about coming to Lansing from Tennessee, being hired in May 1953 and being placed on the "cab line" to build convertibles. Amer describes a factory with few women and minorities and lots of hard work. He describes changing into work clothes right on the factory floor, the old time clock system and brags about only taking four sick days during his career.
- Date Issued:
- 2005-10-24T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Vernon Cook recalls working at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc, in Lansing, Mi, between 1944 and 1948. Cook says that much of his family worked at REO, including his future wife and that company culture dominated their lives. He describes factory working conditions, the REO Clubhouse, seeing the "Baby REO" car on display, the 1937 sit-down strike, and listening to WREO, the company radio station. He also talks at length about his job as a stock chaser in the plant and describes how trucks were built, tested and then dismantled for export. Interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1992-02-05T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Karen tells of being hired in May 1978 after waiting overnight to put in an application and being overwhelmed on the first day. She describes a workplace that was like a "meat market," few women but mostly young, on the second shift and suggests that the second shift was a "party shift." Karen talks about workers helping each other and making gate collections for injured and ill coworkers.
- Date Issued:
- 2005-12-13T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Antique automobile restoration expert Dan Shafarman talks about his interest in REO motor cars and his difficult search for parts to fix a REO Royale. Shafarman also talks about his life before coming to the Lansing, MI area in 1969, mass production techniques in the auto industry, bad working conditions in the early car factories, Henry Ford’s hiring and pay practices, corporate paternalism, and the "novel" idea of paying workers enough to afford to buy the products they built. Recorded as part of the commemoration of REO Motor Car Company’s 100th Anniversary.
- Date Issued:
- 2004-05-13T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Eileen Nortman talks about her brief tenure at the REO Motor Car Company in Lansing, MI. Nortman describes growing up in Williamston, Mi, starting at REO in 1943, at the age of 17 and leaving in 1945 to join the Navy. She talks about shop conditions, her jobs at REO, car-pooling, gas rationing, and women working in the plant, and how she and other women got along with male employees. The interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1993-01-28T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Garry shares his experiences and perceptions about work in the factory, labor and management, General Motors, the community, and his motivation for becoming active in the UAW. Garry shares stories about managers, conflicts, and speaks frankly about unionism, the economy, and politics.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-03-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Russell Alberts talks about working at REO Motor Car Company, in Lansing, MI, from 1928 to 1939. Alberts describes conditions in the plant, his jobs, pay, benefits, and hours, before unionization and the great strides made by workers after the big labor strike of 1937 and the Lansing Labor Holiday. He also talks about the REO Clubhouse, the radio station, REO products and making experimental vehicles for the American military. Alberts' wife, Eva Alberts, describes her work in the REO Navy Department during the war and both discuss an accidental death in the plant and the safety issues which plagued the manufacturer for decades. The interviewer is Shirley Bradley. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1992-04-16T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Mike recalls being hired in July 1997 into the Body Shop, finding the plant scary and loud and talks about the 90 day probation period, restroom breaks, and the nature of the work. He also talks about the union and paying dues. Mike discusses his union and political activism, visits to Black Lake, White Shirt Day, and community activities.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-05-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection