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Container
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Title
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Audio 684A
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Series: Lou Adkins
: 805 Sherman Ave., Janesville
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1976 August 17
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Tape/Side
15/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:20
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Introduction
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Tape/Side
15/1-A
Time
0:21 to 4:10
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Family background--L. A. and father came to Janesville together to work at Samson Tractor--work at Rock Island Arsenal
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Tape/Side
15/1-A
Time
4:11 to 5:36
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Family political background--L. A. shifted from Republican to Democrat--little concern for religion
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Tape/Side
15/1-A
Time
5:37 to 7:57
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Recollections of youth in Indianapolis--no early knowledge of unions
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Tape/Side
15/1-A
Time
7:58 to 12:08
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Work at GM plant in St. Louis, became familiar with UAW there--speed-up--influence of Jack Livingston, president of St. Louis local--others from Janesville who worked in St. Louis
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Tape/Side
15/1-A
Time
12:09 to 18:39
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Origins of UAW in Janesville--small meeting at Lien's service station--Francis Dillon as organizer--speed-up and seniority as L. A.'s concerns--problems with hiring procedures, Jack Smack's drinking buddies
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Tape/Side
15/1-A
Time
18:40 to 21:40
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Little class awareness--uncle as president of musician's union in Indianapolis, possible influence on L. A
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Tape/Side
15/1-A
Time
21:41 to 22:55
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Experience at Rock Island arsenal
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Tape/Side
15/1-A
Time
22:56 to 26:36
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Working at Samson Tractor--Samson recruited L. A. and other workers--lathe operator
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Tape/Side
15/1-A
Time
26:37 to 29:37
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Work at Chevrolet as a tack spitter--no problem adjusting to assembly line
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Tape/Side
15/1-B
Time
0:00 to 1:52
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Lifelong work in cushion department at Fisher, “just a job”
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Tape/Side
15/1-B
Time
1:53 to 5:49
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Survival as key, no limit to demands for work--line speed related to paint drying--no concern for quality
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Tape/Side
15/1-B
Time
5:50 to 7:40
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Foreman hollering at workers
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Tape/Side
15/1-B
Time
7:41 to 10:26
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Fellow workers in cushion department, origins
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Tape/Side
15/1-B
Time
10:27 to 15:27
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L. A. laid off at Chevrolet, hired back at Fisher--militancy in the cushion department--firings to discourage union membership
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Tape/Side
15/1-B
Time
15:28 to 19:38
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Diverse work force in cushion department--L. A. as first chairman of shop committee--security of union activists due to legal protection
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Tape/Side
15/1-B
Time
19:39 to 22:05
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Piece work system, eventually negotiated out--variety of pay systems
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Tape/Side
15/1-B
Time
22:06 to 26:56
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Role of the foreman--survival for the individual--need to restrain GM--foremen as prostitutes--constant efforts to get more work out of the workers
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Tape/Side
15/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:10
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Introduction
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Tape/Side
15/2-A
Time
0:11 to 3:40
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GM's use of the time study department, an unethical outfit to L. A.--the strike out system
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Tape/Side
15/2-A
Time
3:41 to 5:16
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No relief or breaks--“taking care of yourself”
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Tape/Side
15/2-A
Time
5:17 to 8:53
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Recollections of plant managers--Hurley as crooked and ruthless--Harry Randall curing the Depression
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Tape/Side
15/2-A
Time
8:54 to 11:04
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Early recollections of unionism
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Tape/Side
15/2-A
Time
11:04 to 14:24
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Comments concerning capitalism--politics--voted against Al Smith out of prejudice--little reaction to Bill Green
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Tape/Side
15/2-A
Time
14:25 to 17:00
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Little social interaction with other workers prior to the organization of the union--no lodge affiliations
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Tape/Side
15/2-A
Time
17:01 to 19:40
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Family responsibilities--early experience with hospital--good experience concerning an overdue coal bill
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Tape/Side
15/2-A
Time
19:41 to 21:36
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Early development of the UAW in Janesville--pressure on those reluctant to join
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Tape/Side
15/2-A
Time
21:37 to 28:42
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First general meeting--more on the meeting at Lien's service station--Waldo Luchsinger's role--from St. Louis to the first general meeting--Dillon's role
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Tape/Side
15/2-B
Time
0:00 to 4:30
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Industrial union problem--union members with protection against arbitrary firing--legal basis for organizing
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Tape/Side
15/2-B
Time
4:31 to 14:11
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Further comments on first general meeting--cooperation of Oliver Riches and the Central Labor Union--no election or minutes from first meeting--those at the first meeting--management as unethical, GM personnel man, Jack Cronin, later agreed with L. A. on that--constant fear of retaliation
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Tape/Side
15/2-B
Time
14:12 to 16:37
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Approaching workers about union membership--union members from the cushion department
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Tape/Side
15/2-B
Time
16:38 to 19:42
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Motives of early organizers--assertion that the company formed the union through its unfairness--Cronin's remarks on GM's unethical practices--company people always fighting for bonuses
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Tape/Side
15/2-B
Time
19:43 to 22:07
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Early union members as mature, experienced workers, nothing else in common
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Tape/Side
15/2-B
Time
22:08 to 25:43
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Wife's reaction to L. A.'s union activities--people who thought company could do no wrong--workers got nothing from GM voluntarily, except for Charlie Wilson offering a cost of living escalator
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1976 August 31
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Tape/Side
18/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:15
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Introduction
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Tape/Side
18/1-A
Time
0:16 to 3:56
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Location of the Lien Garage, site of first meeting--Al Lien as a progressive--pressuring reluctant members
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Tape/Side
18/1-A
Time
3:57 to 9:19
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GM use of Pinkertons in oiler jobs--finding Herb Lilla's Pinkerton records--L. A. never threatened with firing, GM possibly fearful of discrimination suit
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Tape/Side
18/1-A
Time
9:20 to 14:40
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GM's grievance procedure, sabotaged by L. A. and Carl Nelson as members of the company's grievance committee--other members as “softies”
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Tape/Side
18/1-A
Time
14:41 to 19:19
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Clayton Orcutt as employment manager--Dennis Hurley as manager on Fisher, “lamp post”--meetings with Hurley and department supervisors
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Tape/Side
18/1-A
Time
19:20 to 26:20
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Community reaction against UAW--Gazette as anti-union, fear of GM move--Henry Traxler compared to Nathan Feinsinger
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Tape/Side
18/1-A
Time
26:21 to 29:35
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Recollections of Chief of Police Ford and Sheriff Croake--no support from religious leaders--help from other Janesville labor unions
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Tape/Side
18/1-B
Time
0:00 to 2:10
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Building trades weak in Janesville--UAW problem with members moonlighting in competition with building trades people
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Tape/Side
18/1-B
Time
2:11 to 8:19
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Sources of information on union--conferences--trial and error--the plant “grape vine”--no printing in early years
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Tape/Side
18/1-B
Time
8:20 to 10:10
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Assistance from unions in other Wisconsin cities
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Tape/Side
18/1-B
Time
10:11 to 12:30
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More on living with uncle in Indianapolis--uncle ran proofs for the printer of union journals
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Tape/Side
18/1-B
Time
12:31 to 14:50
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L. A.'s reaction to free enterprise capitalism
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Tape/Side
18/1-B
Time
14:51 to 17:10
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Communists in Janesville, very few, opposed by local union members--Emil Costello as a communist
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Tape/Side
18/1-B
Time
17:11 to 20:45
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Necessity to organize on a local level--AFL did adequate organizing work, no financial assistance from AFL
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Tape/Side
18/1-B
Time
20:46 to 24:05
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Transition from AFL to CIO at Fisher--factions in Local 95, supporters of each faction--people on whom L. A. relied--confrontation with Wes Van Horn and the Martin faction in Local 95
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Tape/Side
18/1-B
Time
24:06 to 27:48
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Effort to expel L. A.--alleged outside influence on Wes Van Horn, Local 95 president, to attempt expulsion of L. A., Local 95 treasurer
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Tape/Side
18/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:10
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Introduction
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Tape/Side
18/2-A
Time
0:11 to 6:50
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Meeting to attempt ouster of L. A. from Local 95--L. A. accused of fostering CIO--influence of Jack Livingston from St. Louis--reaction of other Local 95 leaders
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Tape/Side
18/2-A
Time
6:51 to 11:02
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L. A.'s knowledge of national UAW leaders--R. J. Thomas, George Addes, Homer Martin--further comments on factionalism, leadership squabble--organizing efforts picked up after L. A.'s trial
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Tape/Side
18/2-A
Time
11:03 to 16:41
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Body shop and cushion departments most receptive to union, trim and paint departments less so--experienced workers as backbone of union--younger workers less interested--L. A.'s role in the militant cushion department
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Tape/Side
18/2-A
Time
16:42 to 22:22
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Farmer-workers as too busy for the union--religious and ethnic factors not important--no limit to management demands on workers--reluctant unionists, fear
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Tape/Side
18/2-A
Time
22:23 to 26:38
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Members usually joined individually, especially in early years--Chevrolet harder to organize than Fisher--Gazette worked on Elmer Yenney as a “foreigner”
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Tape/Side
18/2-A
Time
26:39 to 28:49
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L. A. originally declined nominations for office, didn't seek office in union
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Tape/Side
18/2-B
Time
0:00 to 2:10
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Early dissatisfaction with officers, 1934--Straus Ellis effort to dissolve union, L. A. protested--Ellis became foreman next day
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Tape/Side
18/2-B
Time
2:11 to 4:16
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L. A.'s role in the early union years--seniority as primary goal
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Tape/Side
18/2-B
Time
4:17 to 8:42
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Recruiting new members, talked to anyone, careful who was watching--more on conflict with Straus Ellis
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Tape/Side
18/2-B
Time
8:43 to 14:31
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The sitdown strike of 1937--planning--only Yenney and Van Horn knew specifics--decision to strike made locally--aware of sitdown in Atlanta--decision made generally by membership vote--GM's attitude as key
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Tape/Side
18/2-B
Time
14:32 to 20:12
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Events of Jan. 5, 1937, sitdown day in Janesville--L. A. and foreman fought over switch--whistle blowing as signal--broke down door when cafeteria was closed and locked--Fisher men went through holes in wall to help on Chevrolet side
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Tape/Side
18/2-B
Time
20:13 to 25:23
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Company reaction, manager Hurley--meeting in City Manager Traxler's office--Traxler announced settlement near midnight--assurances that plant closing would be enforced from Chief Ford and Sheriff Croake
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Tape/Side
18/2-B
Time
25:24 to 26:39
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International focused on Flint, little concern for Janesville--riding train club car with Governor Frank Murphy of Michigan who negotiated Flint settlement
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1976 September 14
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Tape/Side
21/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:15
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Introduction
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Tape/Side
21/1-A
Time
0:16 to 2:00
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Further comments on the talk with Governor Frank Murphy between Detroit and Washington
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Tape/Side
21/1-A
Time
2:01 to 5:11
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Transition from AFL to CIO--relations with Jack Livingston--Homer Martin too religious for L. A.--attitude toward John L. Lewis
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Tape/Side
21/1-A
Time
5:12 to 8:57
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Further comments on transition--Locals 121 and 95 joined CIO together--John L. Lewis as an idol for L. A.
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Tape/Side
21/1-A
Time
8:58 to 14:03
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The GM Alliance--fear of company leaving Janesville--Alliance people as “weak”--buttons
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Tape/Side
21/1-A
Time
14:04 to 18:22
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Trips to Detroit to deal with grievances--dealt with GM directly--Gabe Jewell as UAW's GM representative
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Tape/Side
21/1-A
Time
18:23 to 20:03
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Jack Cronin as GM personnel manager--121 had to deal with Norm Ellis, Chevrolet more anti-union
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Tape/Side
21/1-A
Time
20:04 to 27:12
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Ringling Circus incident--picket against Ringling--elephant stampede--caravans from Racine and Kenosha to assist 95 and 121
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Tape/Side
21/1-A
Time
27:12 to 28:30
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L. A. in Detroit at time of Rouge River
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Tape/Side
21/1-B
Time
0:00 to 5:55
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L. A. as chairman of shop committee--seniority as basic goal--Fisher personnel managers rotated often--Tom Jeffries--Clayton Orcutt
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Tape/Side
21/1-B
Time
5:56 to 7:16
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Further comments on seniority
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Tape/Side
21/1-B
Time
7:17 to 12:37
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Negotiating local issues--committeemen determined objectives--occasional written suggestions from bulletin board
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Tape/Side
21/1-B
Time
12:38 to 15:58
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Confidence in the union in the early days--speed-up as continuing problem--time standards as strikeable issues
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Tape/Side
21/1-B
Time
15:59 to 18:15
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Wildcat strikes in 1937, “the building of the union”--two non-union women thrown out of cushion department
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Tape/Side
21/1-B
Time
18:16 to 22:21
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95 and 121 as a joint local during World War II, L. A. as president--problems during the War--Oldsmobile more receptive to unions
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Tape/Side
21/1-B
Time
22:22 to 23:02
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Difference between Fisher and Chevrolet, Norm Ellis as key
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Tape/Side
21/1-B
Time
23:03 to 26:13
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No discussion of continuing joint local--problem with rotating shift, L. A. supported seniority--problems in foundry
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Tape/Side
21/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:10
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Introduction
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Tape/Side
21/2-A
Time
0:11 to 2:45
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Manager Downey as a pusher during the War, use of patriotic themes--L. A.'s reaction
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Tape/Side
21/2-A
Time
2:46 to 5:26
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Recollection of 1945-46 strike--L. A. on Top Negotiating Committee--Walter Reuther as committee chairman
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Tape/Side
21/2-A
Time
5:27'to 8:32
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Decision to take on GM--appraisal of strike--smoking in the plant as an issue, permitted during War--unity in strike
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Tape/Side
21/2-A
Time
8:33 to 11:18
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Recollection of Blue Jenkins, L. A. serviced plant where Jenkins worked--Jenkins never discussed employment of black workers in Janesville with L. A.
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Tape/Side
21/2-A
Time
11:19 to 13:34
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War Labor Board--smoking and three week vacation as issues
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Series: Don Dooley
: 2134 Mole Avenue, Janesville
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1976 July 13
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Tape/Side
8/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:25
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Introduction
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Tape/Side
8/1-A
Time
0:26 to 3:10
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Family background--grandparents of Irish descent--father worked with the Chicago and Northwestern R. R.--family with Janesville background
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Tape/Side
8/1-A
Time
3:11 to 5:53
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Father was a member of locomotive engineers union, Chicago lodge--dedicated union man
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Tape/Side
8/1-A
Time
5:54 to 8:10
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Parents as Democrats--Al Smith as a favorite political leader
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Tape/Side
8/1-A
Time
8:11 to 10:25
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Religious backgrounds--mother more committed than father
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Tape/Side
8/1-A
Time
10:27 to 18:44
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Parents' residences in Janesville--D. D.'s school experience--“secure childhood”--Grant elementary school--neighborhood friends, including Nick Luchsinger
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Tape/Side
8/1-A
Time
18:45 to 20:27
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Work experience before Fisher Body--lingerie factory--C & NW
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Tape/Side
8/1-A
Time
20:28 to 25:18
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Getting a job at Fisher--becoming used to the assembly line--“mankilling jobs”--meaning of “factory broke”
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Tape/Side
8/1-A
Time
25:19 to 28:55
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Drudgerous work, D. D. often wanted to quit--changing jobs helped--D. D. joined union to improve his life's work
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Tape/Side
8/1-B
Time
0:00 to 4:29
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Working conditions in paint department--relations with foremen--lack of breaks--“shystering a job”
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Tape/Side
8/1-B
Time
4:30 to 7:12
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Background of Fisher work force--many from northern Wisconsin--absence of black workers--some workers from Arkansas later
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Tape/Side
8/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:12
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Introduction
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Tape/Side
8/2-A
Time
0:13 to 4:08
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Relationship with foremen prior to 1937--superintendent rough--plant manager
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Tape/Side
8/2-A
Time
4:09 to 12:00
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Attitudes toward capitalism, bitterness--experience with relief--blamed Hoover and Republicans--questioned system--desperate--class consciousness in 1932, union as a means of striking back
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Tape/Side
8/2-A
Time
12:01 to 15:23
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Reaction toward national figures--supported La Follettes--John L. Lewis as a hero--critical of AF of L
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Tape/Side
8/2-A
Time
15:24 to 17:14
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Dooley social life included Les Fay and Abe Shumacher, later fellow union leaders--church not a center of social activity
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Tape/Side
8/2-A
Time
17:15 to 21:37
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Decision to join union--not a member of earliest cadre--earliest recollections, hard to break through union secrecy
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Tape/Side
8/2-A
Time
21:38 to 24:08
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Very careful about union talk in plant--D. D. worked across from Les Fay--working conditions in paint spray booth, work before and after shift began
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Tape/Side
8/2-A
Time
24:09 to 27:00
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Seniority as most crucial need--need to break influence of foremen in rehiring
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Tape/Side
8/2-A
Time
27:01 to 28:41
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D. D.'s union membership--lapsed for a period prior to 1937 when he perceived that GM had beaten the union
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Tape/Side
8/2-B
Time
0:00 to 3:30
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D. D. first joined Federal Local 19324--it was ineffective--awareness of craft v. industrial unionism
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Tape/Side
8/2-B
Time
3:31 to 7:03
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Brief period of inactivity--reaction to Homer Martin of UAW-AFL--craft and industrial unionism at Fisher
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Tape/Side
8/2-B
Time
7:04 to 10:20
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Union leaders in paint spraying department--Les Fay--anti-union workers--age no factor
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Tape/Side
8/2-B
Time
10:21 to 12:35
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Experience as the key to unionism, more experienced as more militant--workers from rural areas harder to organize--ethnic or religious background made no difference
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Tape/Side
8/2-B
Time
12:36 to 14:08
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Three factions regarding unionism, their relative strength
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Tape/Side
8/2-B
Time
14:09 to 17:37
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Janesville citizens largely hostile to the union--criticism from the business community--use of terms “communistic” and “radical” and “crazy”
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Tape/Side
8/2-B
Time
17:38 to 21:06
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D. D. knew of no communists in Janesville then--recollection of local political leaders--Henry Traxler as anti-union
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Tape/Side
8/2-B
Time
21:07 to 24:07
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Churches and the union, little interaction--D. D. knew about Rerum Novarum, the papal encyclical supporting labor unions, but he did not learn about it through church, even though he is Catholic
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Tape/Side
8/2-B
Time
24:08 to 27:10
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Individual and group decisions to join the union--discharges for union activities
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Tape/Side
8/2-B
Time
27:11 to 31:18
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Aborted strike of paperhangers in 1935--friend fired--other, similar wildcat strikes
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1976 July 20
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Tape/Side
10/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:20
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Introduction
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Tape/Side
10/1-A
Time
0:21 to 2:58
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Recollection of the Civic and Industrial Council, management-oriented group
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Tape/Side
10/1-A
Time
2:59 to 6:37
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The union and the Janesville Gazette--no coverage of union--information to members by word of mouth--fear of arrest for handing out leaflets
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Tape/Side
10/1-A
Time
6:38 to 8:13
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The union and the police--no union publications
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Tape/Side
10/1-A
Time
8:14 to 9:48
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Company spy system
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Tape/Side
10/1-A
Time
9:49 to 12:59
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“Rumble” for a long time--the trim and cushion departments
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Tape/Side
10/1-A
Time
13:00 to 19:42
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Work pressure--union meetings, recitation of problems--working conditions in 1936, no fans, heat a problem--union membership and finances--membership grew in 1936
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Tape/Side
10/1-A
Time
19:43 to 28:03
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Leadership of UAW Local 95--Wes Van Horn--headliner group as militant--Straus Ellis, took care of himself--Waldo Luchsinger--Les Fay, leader in paint department--department as important factor in union membership, also rural-urban factor
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Tape/Side
10/1-A
Time
28:04 to 29:24
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GM as the real organizer
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Tape/Side
10/1-B
Time
0:00 to 2:20
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D. D.'s recruiting efforts, risky--D. D. determined to force improvements
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Tape/Side
10/1-B
Time
2:21 to 3:35
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UAW international communication with local leaders--need for secrecy
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Tape/Side
10/1-B
Time
3:36 to 7:46
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Development of factionalism in Local 95--Luchsinger and Ellis as “go slow” faction--tension between Van Horn and Lou Adkins--D. D. closer to Van Horn
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Tape/Side
10/1-B
Time
7:47 to 12:12
|
Meetings as source of encouragement--taverns as meeting places, especially Beyer's Tavern under union meeting hall
|
|
|
Tape/Side
10/1-B
Time
12:13 to 16:25
|
Unaware of lodge connections--planning for the sitdown strike, handful involved--Adkins, Van Horn, Fay, Jack Johnston--decision to sit down as local--small membership then--some departments strong, some weak
|
|
|
Tape/Side
10/1-B
Time
16:26 to 17:26
|
Company union--formation of GM Alliance
|
|
|
Tape/Side
10/1-B
Time
17:27 to 21:35
|
D. D. and the sitdown--made decision to sitdown earlier, told wife--walking up and down lines during the sitdown--marching around, no sitting during early stages
|
|
|
Tape/Side
10/1-B
Time
21:36 to 26:31
|
Further recollections of sitdown, Jan. 5, 1937--lines shut down rapidly--fear for jobs--many waited to see
|
|
|
Tape/Side
10/1-B
Time
26:32 to 28:32
|
Participation in march around plant as test of support for sitdown--reaction of foremen
|
|
|
Tape/Side
10/1-B
Time
28:33 to 29:33
|
Emotions of strikers--D. D.'s commitment
|
|
|
Tape/Side
10/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:12
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
10/2-A
Time
0:13 to 3:05
|
Moods of workers during the sitdown--belligerency--slurs toward non-strikers--determination
|
|
|
Tape/Side
10/2-A
Time
3:06 to 5:12
|
No physical violence--reaction of city officials--agreement to evacuate plant--meeting at union hall
|
|
|
Tape/Side
10/2-A
Time
5:13 to 6:33
|
No concern about legality of sitdown
|
|
|
Tape/Side
10/2-A
Time
6:34 to 11:48
|
Community reaction to strike--little sympathy, frequent remarks against strike--little concern for public opinion
|
|
|
Tape/Side
10/2-A
Time
11:49 to 14:19
|
Recollection of the GM Alliance--attempts to break up Alliance meetings
|
|
|
Tape/Side
10/2-A
Time
14:20 to 15:45
|
After the sitdown, celebration--rumors around town
|
|
|
Tape/Side
10/2-A
Time
15:46 to 19:56
|
Wife's attitude toward sitdown and union--her attitudes softened eventually
|
|
|
Tape/Side
10/2-A
Time
19:57 to 21:12
|
Activities in Janesville during strike
|
|
|
Tape/Side
10/2-A
Time
21:13 to 22:28
|
Newspaper handling of the 1937 strike--no other sources of news
|
|
|
Tape/Side
10/2-A
Time
22:29 to 27:29
|
Incidents during the strike--skirmishes--“forceful persuasion”--Alliance buttons--Clyde Arihood--leaders did not discourage skirmishes
|
|
|
Tape/Side
10/2-A
Time
27:30 to 29:10
|
After the strike in the plant, steward system
|
|
|
Tape/Side
10/2-B
Time
0:00 to 4:05
|
Membership increases--wildcat strike, almost every day, centered in trim and cushion departments
|
|
|
Tape/Side
10/2-B
Time
4:06 to 6:36
|
Situation in the body shop, tough superintendent--D. D. lost contact in 1938, daughter ill
|
|
|
Tape/Side
10/2-B
Time
6:37 to 9:55
|
D. D.'s experience as shop steward--no grievance procedure then
|
|
|
Tape/Side
10/2-B
Time
9:56 to 15:06
|
Stable leadership after sitdown--leadership in Local 95 after the strike
|
|
|
Tape/Side
10/2-B
Time
15:07 to 18:00
|
D. D.'s experience as committeeman
|
|
|
Tape/Side
10/2-B
Time
18:01 to 24:45
|
Union involvement in local politics--D. D. ran for city council--Abe Shumacher ran for school board--many union members not living in Janesville--role of the local press--Waldo Luchsinger on city council--importance of union involvement in politics
|
|
|
1976 July 27
|
|
|
Tape/Side
11/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:20
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
11/1-A
Time
0:21 to 4:05
|
D. D.'s work during World War II--Buick motor assembly in Melrose Park, Illinois--problem with unequal pay
|
|
|
Tape/Side
11/1-A
Time
4:06 to 6:16
|
Return to Janesville to make shells, workers hired back from seniority lists
|
|
|
Tape/Side
11/1-A
Time
6:17 to 10:42
|
D. D.'s return to union activities, vice president during war years
|
|
|
Tape/Side
11/1-A
Time
10:43 to 14:37
|
The UAW strike against GM in 1945-46, called during period of conversion from making shells to autos--small work force then
|
|
|
Tape/Side
11/1-A
Time
14:37 to 15:27
|
D. D.'s reaction to Walter Reuther
|
|
|
Tape/Side
11/1-A
Time
15:28 to 17:20
|
Labor-management relations no better after the war--smoking privilige from government during the war
|
|
|
Tape/Side
11/1-A
Time
17:21 to 23136
|
Reasons for striking GM in 1945-46--D. D.'s attitude toward 1946 contract--no regrets about 1945-46 strike
|
|
|
Tape/Side
11/1-A
Time
23:37 to 30:42
|
Good coordination between Locals 95 and 121--D. D.'s support for amalgamation--maintaining soup kitchen, help from local merchants--skirmishes in 1946--problem with building contractor crossing picket lines
|
|
|
Tape/Side
11/1-B
Time
0:00 to 3:20
|
Support from members during 1945-46 strike, even those out of work--survival during long strike
|
|
|
Tape/Side
11/1-B
Time
3:21 to 8:10
|
D. D. as Local 95 president--election to establish union shop at Fisher, hands-off company reaction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
11/1-B
Time
8:10 to 13:35
|
Persistent problems during D. D.'s term--no opposition--satisfaction from service
|
|
|
Tape/Side
11/1-B
Time
13:36 to 20:26
|
Problems at beginning of the second shift--no communications between shifts--efforts to amalgamate 95 and 121
|
|
|
Tape/Side
11/1-B
Time
20:27 to 23:37
|
Only factionalism related to second shift problems--1952 as crucial year--D. D.'s efforts to diminish factionalism
|
|
|
Tape/Side
11/1-B
Time
23:38 to 26:38
|
D. D.'s efforts to maintain consensus, togetherness--relied on Les Fay for advice--Abe Shumacher as financial secretary
|
|
|
Tape/Side
11/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:10
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
11/2-A
Time
0:11 to 3:40
|
Others on whom D. D. relied, Bruce Warren, Jack Johnston, Lou Adkins--need for united leadership--relationship with Lou Adkins
|
|
|
Tape/Side
11/2-A
Time
3:41 to 6:55
|
Stepping down as president--need for young leadership
|
|
|
Tape/Side
11/2-A
Time
6:56 to 9:10
|
Business operation of Local 95, office help--role of the financial secretary
|
|
|
Tape/Side
11/2-A
Time
9:10 to 16:35
|
Survey of Local 95 leadership--information on John Goetzinger, Dick Halford, Les Fay, Jack Johnston, Stan Gregory
|
|
|
Tape/Side
11/2-A
Time
16:36 to 24:56
|
Information on Lou Adkins, Charles Rosenthal, Wes Van Horn, Abe Shumacher, Cleo Keele
|
|
|
Tape/Side
11/2-A
Time
24:57 to 29:32
|
Information on Walt Trachsel, Bruce Warren, Don Fraser
|
|
|
Series: Ralph Hilkin
: 407 Caroline Street, Janesville
|
|
|
1976 June 17
|
|
|
Tape/Side
3/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:25
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
3/1-A
Time
0:26 to 12:40
|
Family background, near Dubuque, Iowa--Mosalem township--brothers and sisters--home at St. Catherine's, Iowa--high school education--farm in the hills--Catholic family--Democrats
|
|
|
Tape/Side
3/1-A
Time
12:41 to 15:50
|
Newspapers as source of information--Dubuque newspapers--family reaction to Al Smith as presidential candidate
|
|
|
Tape/Side
3/1-A
Time
15:51 to 19:05
|
FDR as first political hero--Mosalem reacted against Prohibition, home brews
|
|
|
Tape/Side
3/1-A
Time
19:06 to 23:30
|
Characteristics of Mosalem township--R. H.'s uncle as shrewd politician--cheating at polls--size of family
|
|
|
Tape/Side
3/1-A
Time
23:31 to 29:20
|
Farming as hard work--mother as dominant influence, particularly on education--occupations of brothers and sisters
|
|
|
Tape/Side
3/1-B
Time
0:00 to 5:38
|
Recollection of elementary school, parochial school--teaching of German dropped--Franciscan nuns--Dubuque as “little Rome”--getting out of school to plow
|
|
|
Tape/Side
3/1-B
Time
5:39 to 9:58
|
Mother's insistence on high school education--father's attitude less favorable to education, workers needed on farm
|
|
|
Tape/Side
3/1-B
Time
9:59 to 14:49
|
Uncle as political influence on R. H.--interest in history--office work as alternative to farming
|
|
|
Tape/Side
3/1-B
Time
14:50 to 16:12
|
Labor movement not mentioned in schools--uncle in railroad strike
|
|
|
Tape/Side
3/1-B
Time
16:13 to 24:58
|
Little recollection of class awareness--older than most high school students--social studies teacher who later defected to Germany--little support for Germany during WW I--friends and associates in high school
|
|
|
Tape/Side
3/1-B
Time
24:59 to 26:34
|
Good teachers, bookkeeping teacher--comments on women teachers
|
|
|
Tape/Side
3/1-B
Time
26:35 to 27:55
|
Work experience prior to Janesville
|
|
|
Tape/Side
3/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:10
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
3/2-A
Time
0:11 to 4:05
|
Influence of brother Joe who came to Janesville before Ralph--first day at Fisher
|
|
|
Tape/Side
3/2-A
Time
4:06 to 8:06
|
R. H. joined UAW at Fisher--lay off in 1934--further comments on getting the job at Fisher--Bill Lee in the employment office--relatively easy for R. H.
|
|
|
Tape/Side
3/2-A
Time
8:07 to 10:35
|
First job for R. H. on the assembly line--then to the seat framing department
|
|
|
Tape/Side
3/2-A
Time
10:36 to 12:44
|
Brother Joe coming to Janesville--first drove for Bennison and Lane Bakery
|
|
|
Tape/Side
3/2-A
Time
12:45 to 17:25
|
Adjusting to the assembly line, need for money--prior attitudes about labor unions--cooperative back home--joining the union
|
|
|
Tape/Side
3/2-A
Time
17:26 to 28:41
|
The speed-up at Fisher Body, the primary grievance--line speed uneven--the piece work system, another major grievance
|
|
|
Tape/Side
3/2-B
Time
0:00 to 4:50
|
Development of R. H.'s interest in the union, related to speed-up--Myron Rothman as a radical influence on R. H.
|
|
|
Tape/Side
3/2-B
Time
4:51 to 15:16
|
The seat framing department, twelve men--located on cushion sub-assembly line--Lou Adkins there--bosses and foremen--tough cushion department supervisor--hard work--response to request for help, time study man from Detroit
|
|
|
Tape/Side
3/2-B
Time
15:17 to 18:07
|
Lou Adkins as a spokesman for the group--leadership
|
|
|
Tape/Side
3/2-B
Time
18:08 to 26:23
|
Anti-union workers in cushion department--Nick Luchsinger as outspoken unionist--Waldo Luchsinger--cushion department as center of union activity, due to workers located there--diverse group
|
|
|
Tape/Side
3/2-B
Time
26:24 to 30:06
|
Body shop as another center of unionism--hard work in the body shop--Straus Ellis unwelcome in body shop--nature of body shop work, one third of workers there
|
|
|
Tape/Side
3/2-B
Time
30:07 to 33:52
|
Company union--anti-union workers held no distinctive traits, except for their anti-unionism
|
|
|
1976 June 24
|
|
|
Tape/Side
5/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:18
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
5/1-A
Time
0:19 to 4:59
|
Company reaction to union activities--company union and publication--harassment related to production
|
|
|
Tape/Side
5/1-A
Time
5:00 to 11:40
|
Company union called the GM Alliance--harassment of Alliance workers, few in cushion department--cushion department leaders--closely-knit department, most employees there as experienced
|
|
|
Tape/Side
5/1-A
Time
11:41 to 21:16
|
More experienced workers as union leaders--new workers hard to educate, not yet disenchanted with hard work--education of new workers
|
|
|
Tape/Side
5/1-A
Time
21:17 to 28:07
|
School for Workers in Janesville--ride alongs, good followers
|
|
|
Tape/Side
5/1-B
Time
0:00 to 2:30
|
More on School for Workers--R. H.'s aspiration to be a union leader
|
|
|
Tape/Side
5/1-B
Time
2:31 to 10:55
|
Union meetings sparsely attended--Hilkins social life--bars on weekends--a few close friends
|
|
|
Tape/Side
5/1-B
Time
10:56 to 14:10
|
Hilkin social group all Democrats--a couple of Republicans at work--sitdowners in seat framing group
|
|
|
Tape/Side
5/1-B
Time
14:11 to 15:'30
|
No recollection of company spy system
|
|
|
Tape/Side
5/1-B
Time
15:31 to, 20:19
|
Italian-American workers as unionists, most were first generation immigrants, Chicago
|
|
|
Tape/Side
5/1-B
Time
20:20 to 23:38
|
Community reaction to labor unions negative--rush for door during sitdown--guard who got a handful of tacks in the face
|
|
|
Tape/Side
5/1-B
Time
23:39 to 31:47
|
Janesville political leaders and unions--Henry Traxler and the sitdown agreement--no difficulty reconciling religion and union--hostility from merchants, fear of losing money
|
|
|
Tape/Side
5/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:10
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
5/2-A
Time
0:11 to 6:20
|
AFL-CIO split caused bitter feelings--Wes Van Horn favored AFL, Lou Adkins favored CIO--cushion department center of CIO support--R. H. attitude toward John L. Lewis
|
|
|
Tape/Side
5/2-A
Time
6:21 to 10:55
|
Industrial unionism--support for CIO--respect for Homer Martin
|
|
|
Tape/Side
5/2-A
Time
10:56 to 12:50
|
Muncie strike in 1935 caused layoff
|
|
|
Tape/Side
5/2-A
Time
12:51 to 15:40
|
Planning for sitdown strike, rank and file not involved--awareness of impending strike
|
|
|
Tape/Side
5/2-A
Time
15:41 to 20:35
|
R. H. did not know until the actual day--had decided beforehand to strike--brother Joe also sat down, although wife opposed
|
|
|
Tape/Side
5/2-A
Time
20:36 to 24:50
|
Most sitdowners were family men--many workers went on welfare
|
|
|
Tape/Side
5/2-A
Time
24:51 to 28:18
|
Further comments on sitdown--role of foremen
|
|
|
Tape/Side
5/2-B
Time
0:00 to 5:45
|
Meeting with city officials in clock room--the press--rally at union hall--importance of pep talks--relatively few sitdowners
|
|
|
Tape/Side
5/2-B
Time
5:46 to 14:08
|
Sitdown as short--workers in quiet, enthusiastic mood--little violence--no special steps by union to avoid violence
|
|
|
Tape/Side
5/2-B
Time
14:10 to 20:28
|
Mediating role of Henry Traxler--sitdown designed to bring pressure to bear--“probably a few divorces resulted”
|
|
|
Tape/Side
5/2-B
Time
20:29 to 28:55
|
R. H. returned to family home in Iowa during the strike--no support for strikers in Janesville--support from R. H.'s family--many strikers left Janesville for their hometowns during those weeks--Markham in personnel--farmer-workers less likely to be involved with union--better workers as union workers
|
|
|
1976 July 8
|
|
|
Tape/Side
7/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:20
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
7/1-A
Time
0:21 to 2:55
|
Joining the Janesville Fire Department--desire for job security
|
|
|
Tape/Side
7/1-A
Time
2:56 to 6:26
|
Beginning job as a hoseman--work schedule--seasonal nature of firefighter's work
|
|
|
Tape/Side
7/1-A
Time
6:27 to 12:42
|
The working day off, Kelly day--from the 84 hour week to the 56 hour week--wages not comparable to GM
|
|
|
Tape/Side
7/1-A
Time
12:43 to 19:51
|
Early grievances on fire department--extra chores for the city, such as flooding the ice skating ponds--charter members of the Firefighters Union--Chief Andreske
|
|
|
Tape/Side
7/1-A
Time
19:52 to 22:18
|
The captains and the union--labor-management line not rigidly drawn in fire department
|
|
|
Tape/Side
7/1-A
Time
22:19 to 24:24
|
R. H. had no problem getting into department
|
|
|
Tape/Side
7/1-A
Time
24:25 to 32:15
|
Early formation of Local 580 of the Firefighters Union--role of Casey Brothers, suspended for striking in the 1920s--need for good followers--Dennis Casey as militant--Chief Murphy and the union
|
|
|
Tape/Side
7/1-B
Time
0:00 to 2:05
|
Dennis Casey as a source of information for R. H.--importance of extra tasks
|
|
|
Tape/Side
7/1-B
Time
2:06 to 7:15
|
Twenty-five cent pay increase in 1950--nepotism and the Murphy family in the department--Con Murphy
|
|
|
Tape/Side
7/1-B
Time
7:16 to 10:06
|
Kearney brothers, charter members--drill sessions and “school”--knowing streets and fireboxes
|
|
|
Tape/Side
7/1-B
Time
10:07 to 15:52
|
Fred Youngblood--negotiated leisure time on Saturday afternoon--holidays--reaction against nepotism
|
|
|
Tape/Side
7/1-B
Time
15:53 to 23:00
|
Harassment related to retirement--pension system--no social security--firemen and the Wisconsin Retirement Fund
|
|
|
Tape/Side
7/1-B
Time
23:01 to 30:19
|
Firemen had no right to organize until the 1960s--city bargained out of courtesy--mediation--fact finding--Local 580 as “illegal” labor organization--story about the secretary of the Wisconsin League of Municipalities
|
|
|
Tape/Side
7/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:15
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
7/2-A
Time
0:16 to 2:20
|
Fire department in 1946--members more daring, but shrewder
|
|
|
Tape/Side
7/2-A
Time
2:21 to 539
|
Changes in nature of fires during R. H.'s career--changes in masks--“going in”
|
|
|
Tape/Side
7/2-A
Time
5:40 to 8:05
|
Hazards of fire fighting--“getting lost”--fear of getting lost
|
|
|
Tape/Side
7/2-A
Time
8:06 to 12:00
|
Tight-knit group--cliques--older men as a clique--union presidency passed around
|
|
|
Tape/Side
7/2-A
Time
12:01 to 18:26
|
State conventions, first one for R. H. in 1949--leg work on pension fund--need for same delegates to attend annually--problem getting convention money--Ed Wellnitz
|
|
|
Tape/Side
7/2-A
Time
18:27 to 19:45
|
Wisconsin Paid Firefighters formed in 1920s for lobbying--unions developed from the W. P. F.
|
|
|
Tape/Side
7/2-A
Time
19:46 to 30:44
|
Janesville sent representatives to W. P. F. conventions--no time off for conventions--union matters talked at conventions--pay and fringe benefits--improvement in Janesville--Chief Alex Andreske's role
|
|
|
Tape/Side
7/2-B
Time
0:00 to 1:55
|
Fire department vacation plan
|
|
|
Tape/Side
7/2-B
Time
1:56 to 5:31
|
School for Workers--preparation for bargaining, role playing
|
|
|
Tape/Side
7/2-B
Time
5:32 to 12:05
|
Further comments on the School for Workers--Mayor Lustig as a bargainer
|
|
|
Tape/Side
7/2-B
Time
12:06 to 19:36
|
Influence of the School for Workers--contact with other firefighters--conventions, need to “make all the groups”--Royal Taylor and the Beloit firefighters--Taylor and Reuben LaFave--influencing legislators--Gaylord Nelson
|
|
|
Tape/Side
7/2-B
Time
19:37 to 21:27
|
Local legislators helpful to firefighters--Lewis Mitness
|
|
|
Tape/Side
7/2-B
Time
21:28 to 25:58
|
Enthusiasm generated by School for Workers--relationship with Gaylord Nelson--Janesville area legislators, Peter Carr and Senator Swan
|
|
|
Tape/Side
7/2-B
Time
25:59 to 33:20
|
Learning from predecessors in the fire department--running a meeting--getting clothing allowances
|
|
|
1976 July 15
|
|
|
Tape/Side
9/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:15
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
9/1-A
Time
0:16 to 5:52
|
Clothing allowances--turnout clothing--shirts--required to wear tie--finally, shoes--80%-20% agreement
|
|
|
Tape/Side
9/1-A
Time
5:53 to 11:21
|
R. H. as president of Local 580--union background--need for initiative--previous president, Merrit Brown, lacked initiative and expertise
|
|
|
Tape/Side
9/1-A
Time
11:22 to 14:42
|
George Forrester as city manager, good for firefighters--R. H.'s first meeting with him--Forrester did not stay long
|
|
|
Tape/Side
9/1-A
Time
14:43 to 17:55
|
Major issues in 1954--low salaries, salaries lagged during 1950s--shorter hours
|
|
|
Tape/Side
9/1-A
Time
17:56 to 20:00
|
Joe Lustig as city manager, “old school”
|
|
|
Tape/Side
9/1-A
Time
20:01 to 24:16
|
R. H. resigned as president in 1968--other ambitious members, Wellnitz and Rasmussen--63 hour work week
|
|
|
Tape/Side
9/1-A
Time
24:17 to 29:42
|
Strikes contrary to international constitution, changed at Toronto convention, R. H. supported change--right to strike--rationale for right to strike for firefighters
|
|
|
Tape/Side
9/1-B
Time
0:00 to 1:15
|
R. H. assumed that threat of strike would be sufficient
|
|
|
Tape/Side
9/1-B
Time
1:16 to 4:45
|
R. H.'s role in 1970 threatened strike--police-firefighter pay disparity as key issue--“nice guy” image of firefighters--firefighting as more hazardous
|
|
|
Tape/Side
9/1-B
Time
4:46 to 9:36
|
Referendum petition to city council on parity--petition thrown out--experiences gathering petitions
|
|
|
Tape/Side
9/1-B
Time
9:37 to 17:09
|
The threat to strike in 1970--three voted not to strike, all signed statement--efforts of supportive council members--meeting at Snyder's funeral home--strike notification
|
|
|
Tape/Side
9/1-B
Time
17:10 to 24:20
|
Meeting to set strike date--role of Mary Wickham--efforts to avoid strike--mediation session--acceptance of mediator's findings--satisfaction with settlement
|
|
|
Tape/Side
9/1-B
Time
24:21 to 30:46
|
Fear of dismissal for signing document--only chief didn't sign, other officers cooperated--bitterness--Chief Andreske held uncooperative attitude toward union
|
|
|
Tape/Side
9/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:12
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
9/2-A
Time
0:13 to 1:58
|
Further comments on Chief Andreske
|
|
|
Tape/Side
9/2-A
Time
1:59 to 11:54
|
Problem of manning trucks during the strike--call to Beloit fire department--Janesville police anxious to drive trucks--fire department participation in protest against Gazette when it had labor problems, Chief opposed action--bad police-fire department relations
|
|
|
Tape/Side
9/2-A
Time
11:55 to 14:05
|
UAW support for fire department strike--support solicited from other departments
|
|
|
Tape/Side
9/2-A
Time
14:06 to 23:54
|
Public bitterness toward fire department--level of emergency protection planned--rationale for taking risk of fire during the strike--lives would be saved, not property
|
|
|
Tape/Side
9/2-A
Time
23:55 to 27:00
|
City hall resentment toward fire department, fire department supporters defeated in next election
|
|
|
Tape/Side
9/2-A
Time
27:01 to 30:57
|
Police orders to take over fire station--Wellnitz remark on “headcracking”
|
|
|
Tape/Side
9/2-B
Time
0:00 to 4:00
|
Relations between firefighters and city council--problem involving money
|
|
|
Tape/Side
9/2-B
Time
4:01 to 15:16
|
Local 580's political involvement, campaigning--the bumper sticker controversy--R. H. pushed for partisan campaigning--Bill Watson and Bill Cronin--R. H. was on state association board when it decided to go into politics--more on bumper sticker controversy
|
|
|
Tape/Side
9/2-B
Time
15:17 to 20:25
|
Senator Jim Swan's appearance before fire departments--problem with “little Hatch Act”--generally supported Democrats, dissatisfied with Governor Lucey
|
|
|
Tape/Side
9/2-B
Time
20:26 to 23:38
|
Pension bill veto--Lucey as “best Republican governor”
|
|
|
Tape/Side
9/2-B
Time
23:39 to 24:34
|
Political involvement as sound decision
|
|
|
Tape/Side
9/2-B
Time
24:35 to 30:50
|
Need for leadership in Local 580--R. H. took advantage of conditions--identified leaders--getting Gordy Rasmussen involved--need for support from members--importance of a good secretary, Ed Wellnitz--attending the international convention
|
|
|
Tape/Side
9/2-B
Time
30:50 to 32:10
|
Success in helping sheriff's department to organize
|
|
|
Series: Harry Johnson
: 1410 Josephine Street, Janesville
|
|
|
1976 July 29
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:20
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/1-A
Time
0:21 to 6:25
|
Family background near Sparta, Wisconsin--father from Norway--farming and logging--H. J. as workers on Chicago and Northwestern R. R.--mother's background
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/1-A
Time
6:26 to 7:48
|
Family religious background--mother as 7th Day Adventist--father Norwegian Lutheran
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/1-A
Time
7:49 to 10:14
|
Father comes to America--family political background
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/1-A
Time
10:15 to 15:07
|
Elementary education--two years of high school--no knowledge of unions, fellow workers scabbing--loggers unorganized
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/1-A
Time
15:08 to 17:58
|
Family “never had very much”--move from Sparta to Janesville to work at Chevrolet
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/1-A
Time
17:51 to 29:10
|
Early attempt at farming--H. J. worked with the C. & N. W. R. R., line work--member then of the AFL Maintenance Away Union, recalls attending meeting, but not a very active member
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/1-B
Time
0:00 to 4:00
|
Patrolling the track--H. J. saw no future in railroad work--little class awareness
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/1-B
Time
4:01 to 6:06
|
Chevrolet in 1923--H. J.'s first work, body drop--plant closed during 1933
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/1-B
Time
6:07 to 7:22
|
Reaction against inside plant work
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/1-B
Time
7:23 to 10:13
|
Nature of work force in 1920s--many from west central Wisconsin, most off the farm--came to Janesville for jobs at Chevrolet
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/1-B
Time
10:14 to 13:32
|
Pay at Chevrolet--piece work pay system, hard to figure wages
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/1-B
Time
13:33 to 18:13
|
Working conditions at Chevrolet, smoke and heat--problem with open windows--conditions good in drop area--health hazards in many areas--paint department
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/1-B
Time
18:14 to 21:39
|
More on body drop area--union members from body drop area, no talk of unions until 1933--many workers in this area off the farm
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/1-B
Time
21:40 to 23:40
|
Positive relations with foremen and supervisors
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/1-B
Time
23:41 to 26:20
|
Reaction to national political and labor leaders--FDR, the La Follettes, Herbert Hoover, Bill Green of the AFL
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/2-A
Time
0:000 to 0:10
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/2-A
Time
0:11 to 2:41
|
Reaction to capitalism, slight--old Sparta friends as Janesville friends
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/2-A
Time
2:42 to 7:32
|
H. J. as a conscientious worker--problems of other workers on the Chevy line--no relief--H. J.'s attitude toward GM
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/2-A
Time
7:33 to 11:43
|
The speed up--control of the rheostat--speed up caused union--model changeover--short days--difficult times
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/2-A
Time
11:44 to 13:36
|
The frame gang periodically refused to work before the union was organized--lack of relief--clothing
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/2-A
Time
13:37 to 18:57
|
Influence of H. J.'s brother, Howard, on the Fisher side--Fisher organized first--H. J. as first union man on the Chevy side--part of national effort
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/2-A
Time
18:58 to 20:48
|
AFL federal union as first GM union in Janesville
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/2-A
Time
20:49 to 25:34
|
H. J. worked with GM exhibit at 1933 World's Fair in Chicago--positive experience
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/2-A
Time
25:35 to 29:45
|
H. J. joins the union--recruiting other members--working conditions most important, especially the speed-up
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/2-B
Time
0:00 to 3:45
|
Maintenance department as hardest to organize, no speed-up there--anti-union workers--influence of wives
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/2-B
Time
3:46 to 5:08
|
Joining the AFL union
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/2-B
Time
5:09 to 9:09
|
Organizer named Dillon--need for education--fear among workers
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/2-B
Time
9:10 to 22:00
|
H. J. fired for organizing activities--successful appeal to the Wolman Board, nature of the Board--surviving with no job--others fired at the same time, all reinstated--H. J. continued union efforts, more determined--firings as a setback to organizing efforts until H. J. was reinstated, then an influx of new members
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/2-B
Time
22:01 to 22:50
|
Establishing separate locals for Fisher and Chevrolet
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/2-B
Time
22:51 to 25:51
|
No bitterness toward GM--key organizers on Chevrolet side, Mark Egbert, Elmer Yenney, John Donagan
|
|
|
Tape/Side
12/2-B
Time
25:51 to 27:31
|
Learning about the union--speakers--the role of the organizers
|
|
|
1976 November 11
|
|
|
Tape/Side
31/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:25
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
31/1-A
Time
0:26 to 4:21
|
Community reaction to the UAW, mostly negative--some school teachers supported the union--business reaction to UAW
|
|
|
Tape/Side
31/1-A
Time
4:22 to 5:52
|
Union members as diverse group
|
|
|
Tape/Side
31/1-A
Time
5:52 to 8:57
|
Sources of information regarding the UAW and unionism--reliance on Elmer Yenney, president of Local 121--independent labor newsletter in Janesville
|
|
|
Tape/Side
31/1-A
Time
8:58 to 13:38
|
Planning the sitdown strike of 1937--key people--unanimity on executive boards
|
|
|
Tape/Side
31/1-A
Time
13:39 to 18:29
|
Congregating at body drop area on sitdown day--H. J. assembled commercial truck bodies then--support for the sitdown
|
|
|
Tape/Side
31/1-A
Time
18:30 to 21:15
|
Shutting down maintenance in the Old Foundry, last group to stop work in the Chevrolet plant
|
|
|
Tape/Side
31/1-A
Time
21:16 to 24:28
|
Membership at time of the sitdown in 1937 (H. J. was financial secretary)--small percentage of work force as members, membership fluctuated
|
|
|
Tape/Side
31/1-A
Time
24:28 to 29:18
|
Boom in Local 121 membership immediately after strike--attitudes of new members--Local 121's recruiters
|
|
|
Tape/Side
31/1-B
Time
0:00 to 8:50
|
New members as reluctant, justifiable fears--attitudes of early members toward new members--no particular groups' represented by new members
|
|
|
Tape/Side
31/1-B
Time
8:51 to 9:15
|
Wildcat strikes, not a major concern
|
|
|
Tape/Side
31/1-B
Time
9:16 to 15:50
|
Financial status of Local 121 in 1937--sufficient money for travel and other needs--Janesville locals very frugal--open with financial and membership records--Jimmy Hall as an informer
|
|
|
Tape/Side
31/1-B
Time
15:51 to 17:20
|
The Harold Lewis case--Lewis furnished information to management
|
|
|
Tape/Side
31/1-B
Time
17:21 to 20:30
|
Jeanne Rimley as secretary to Local 121--H. J. observed her hiring--very efficient secretary
|
|
|
Tape/Side
31/1-B
Time
20:31 to 21:40
|
Compensation for H. J.'s work, instigated by Jimmy Hill, H. J. suspicious of his motives
|
|
|
Tape/Side
31/1-B
Time
21:41 to 22:36
|
Little recollection of “button day”
|
|
|
Tape/Side
31/1-B
Time
22:37 to 25:22
|
Transition from the AFL to CIO--support for AFL's Homer Martin--Elmer Yenney eventually recommended the change
|
|
|
Tape/Side
31/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:10
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
31/2-A
Time
0:11 to 4:11
|
Relations with the international office--H. J. at 1937 UAW convention in Milwaukee--not persuaded by Reuthers at that time
|
|
|
Tape/Side
31/2-A
Time
4:12 to 5:17
|
H. J.'s work during World War II
|
|
|
Tape/Side
31/2-A
Time
5:18 to 7:43
|
Reaction to absence of black workers at Chevrolet--hiring as management prerogative, no involvement by union
|
|
|
Tape/Side
31/2-A
Time
7:44 to 10:39
|
H. J.'s service on Janesville City Council, urged to run by Mark Egbert--accepted by business slating group--H. J. tried to serve entire city--most council decisions by consensus
|
|
|
Tape/Side
31/2-A
Time
10:40 to 14:25
|
Problem of dogs running loose--problem of beer license for bowling alley which served UAW bowlers
|
|
|
Tape/Side
31/2-A
Time
14:26 to 16:41
|
Term as city council president
|
|
|
Tape/Side
31/2-A
Time
16:42 to 17:22
|
Closing statement
|
|
|
Series: James V. (Jack) Johnston
: 1702 Tamarack Lane, Janesville
|
|
|
1976 August 24
|
|
|
Tape/Side
17/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:25
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
17/1-A
Time
0:26 to 7:46
|
Family background--father as a teamster--parents emigrated from British Isles to Chicago--move to Fontana, Wis., father worked as butcher--mother's health
|
|
|
Tape/Side
17/1-A
Time
7:47 to 12:32
|
Family politics, Republican, J. J. as only Democrat--weeding onions during the Depression--J. J. voted for Al Smith
|
|
|
Tape/Side
17/1-A
Time
12:33 to 19:52
|
Family religious background--parents had no desire to visit ancestral lands--J. J. opposed to Prohibition
|
|
|
Tape/Side
17/1-A
Time
19:53 to 22:47
|
Class awareness not strong--family got by, never on relief--carpentry in spare time
|
|
|
Tape/Side
17/1-A
Time
22:48 to 26:58
|
Growing up in Fontana--recreation--cutting ice on Lake Geneva
|
|
|
Tape/Side
17/1-A
Time
26:59 to 29:39
|
Schools in Walworth--vocational school
|
|
|
Tape/Side
17/1-B
Time
0:00 to 3:00
|
J. J. looked for something different in life--variety of jobs at Fisher--welding, jig shop
|
|
|
Tape/Side
17/1-B
Time
3:01 to 8:37
|
Leaving high school--work for power company--didn't finish high school--nothing about labor movement in schools--J. J. proposed river front parking lot in Janesville
|
|
|
Tape/Side
17/1-B
Time
8:38 to 12:46
|
Father's attitude toward organized labor--influence of Clayton Orcutt in getting J. J. job at Fisher
|
|
|
Tape/Side
17/1-B
Time
12:47 to 15:32
|
More on power company work, enjoyed working out-of-doors
|
|
|
Tape/Side
17/1-B
Time
15:33 to 19:03
|
Going to work at Fisher--previous interest in cars--reaction against inside work--work on Big Foot Country Club course--selling bakery ovens
|
|
|
Tape/Side
17/1-B
Time
19:04 to 22:29
|
More on reaction to inside work--frequent job changes at Fisher--J. J. one of youngest Fisher workers
|
|
|
Tape/Side
17/1-B
Time
22:30 to 29:40
|
Door hanging as first Fisher job, skilled job at that time, not so today--changes in door hanging work, end of wood work
|
|
|
Tape/Side
17/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:10
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
17/2-A
Time
0:11 to 5:16
|
Problems for doorhangers, correcting defective parts--no allowance for individual differences on the line, speedup--piece work system
|
|
|
Tape/Side
17/2-A
Time
5:17 to 7:42
|
Need to set a line speed that workers could sustain for a long time
|
|
|
Tape/Side
17/2-A
Time
7:43 to 13:09
|
More on piece work system--J. J. left Fisher after 8 months, felt tied down--returned to Fisher because it was a steady job--moving from job to job in the plant, useful later in organizing
|
|
|
Tape/Side
17/2-A
Time
13:10 to 26:40
|
J. J. as a foreman, quit that job because he didn't want to drive the workers--his department first to drop piece work--J. J. saw need to work out problems between workers and management--information from people in the front office--more on supervisory work
|
|
|
Tape/Side
17/2-A
Time
26:41 to 30:51
|
Fisher work force in the 1920s--most from Wisconsin, large percentage off farms--good laborers
|
|
|
Tape/Side
17/2-B
Time
0:00 to 3:15
|
Very few Fisher workers from Chicago or Milwaukee--possible influence of plant manager Markham
|
|
|
Tape/Side
17/2-B
Time
3:16 to 9:21
|
Further comments on the work force--no distinctive ethnic character, also for the door hanging area--workers with speech and hearing impediments from the Delavan School
|
|
|
Tape/Side
17/2-B
Time
9:22 to 11:22
|
Workers scattered residentially throughout several Janesville neighborhoods
|
|
|
Tape/Side
17/2-B
Time
11:23 to 14:43
|
Worker reaction to unions prior to 1933--comment on industrial unions--impossible to organize Fisher plant along craft lines
|
|
|
Tape/Side
17/2-B
Time
14:44 to 19:54
|
Friends of J. J. in early years who later became active in the union. Still in contact with some of them--the radicals--desire of union members to avoid trouble
|
|
|
Tape/Side
17/2-B
Time
19:55 to 24:25
|
Weeding out the Pinkerton men hired as company spies--J. J. confronted company on spies--dealt with Eddie Butler on these cases--one of Pinkertons used the name of Herb Lilla
|
|
|
1976 September 2
|
|
|
Tape/Side
19/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:15
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
19/1-A
Time
0:16 to 6:00
|
J. J.'s political attitudes--moved away from family Republicanism--positive reaction to the La Follettes--first Wisconsin unemployment check
|
|
|
Tape/Side
19/1-A
Time
6:01 to 8:26
|
Extent of J. J.'s political activity--attitude toward free enterprise capitalism
|
|
|
Tape/Side
19/1-A
Time
8:27 to 11:47
|
Work problems at Fisher--problem with ordering a car at smaller dealer, Dickhoff in Milton
|
|
|
Tape/Side
19/1-A
Time
11:48 to 23:58
|
Elimination of company savings plan in 1934--worker reaction to that event--J. J. suspected that action was anti-union in purpose
|
|
|
Tape/Side
19/1-A
Time
23:59 to 2755
|
Plant managers as distant figures in the early years--being away from family
|
|
|
Tape/Side
19/1-A
Time
27:56 to 29:10
|
More on being away from family as result of union activity
|
|
|
Tape/Side
19/1-B
Time
0:00 to 9:50
|
Difficulty sending union representatives to conventions--fellow workers with whom J. J. socialized--get-togethers with the officers--early “victory” party
|
|
|
Tape/Side
19/1-B
Time
9:51 to 18:31
|
Membership in Oddfellows, quit after union involvement--importance of lodge and church affiliations--Janesville as “lily-white” town--J. J.'s reaction to the absence of black people in Janesville
|
|
|
Tape/Side
19/1-B
Time
18:32 to 21:17
|
Location of J. J.'s Janesville residences--uncertainty during World War II--commuting from Rock River home to GM
|
|
|
Tape/Side
19/1-B
Time
21:18 to 24:48
|
Nature of Janesville neighborhood--other GM workers and UAW members in that neighborhood--paying back relief money
|
|
|
Tape/Side
19/1-B
Time
24:49 to 27:29
|
More on Oddfellows--fellow union members who were also Oddfellows--getting a boost through lodges
|
|
|
Tape/Side
19/1-B
Time
27:30 to 29:55
|
Brief period working in Kansas City--also worked in Oakland during the Depression at Ford and GM
|
|
|
Tape/Side
19/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:10
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
19/2-A
Time
0:11 to 2:55
|
J. J. returned to Janesville in the fall of 1933, saw union coming then, “people won't be held down”--plumbers card incident in Pittsburgh in 1924--J. J. waited for opportunity to join a labor union
|
|
|
Tape/Side
19/2-A
Time
2:56 to 9:18
|
J. J. observed early organizing efforts in Oakland, influenced by that experience--anxious to get involved
|
|
|
Tape/Side
19/2-A
Time
9:19 to 14:14
|
Recollection of first Janesville UAW meeting at the Lien Garage--current location of that building--union card numbers not in order--relationship to Waldo Luchsinger and Lou Adkins--union drew people together
|
|
|
Tape/Side
19/2-A
Time
14:15 to 17:07
|
Nature of work after return to Janesville in 1933--metal finishing and welding--the work of the metal finisher
|
|
|
Tape/Side
19/2-A
Time
17:08 to 22:58
|
J. J.'s early involvement with the UAW in Janesville--first mass meeting at the Beverly Theater--comments on pensions
|
|
|
Tape/Side
19/2-A
Time
22:59 to 27:19
|
Further comments on J. J.'s early union activity--more on first meeting at Lien Garage, small group--many fearful for jobs early--organizing accomplished by local people, different from Oakland
|
|
|
Tape/Side
19/2-A
Time
27:20 to 30:22
|
Early members from the body shop--recruiting on the sly
|
|
|
Tape/Side
19/2-B
Time
0:00 to 2:50
|
Recruiting in the plant, against company rules--most members signed up in plant
|
|
|
Tape/Side
19/2-B
Time
2:51 to 14:00
|
Fear as an impediment to organizing--the GM Alliance, weak effort--limits on organizing activities in the plant--body shop hard to organize--need to control violence--UAW as most democratic union
|
|
|
Tape/Side
19/2-B
Time
14:01 to 21:21
|
Auto workers needed the CIO, workers bound together only by need to organize, no ethnic or religious bonds--early union members tended to be the more experienced GM workers--older workers as more reluctant to join-local UAW leaders from Janesville
|
|
|
Tape/Side
19/2-B
Time
21:22 to 23:58
|
Small town and farm people as harder to organize--most workers as unsophisticated and untravelled--J. J. had wider range of experience than most
|
|
|
Tape/Side
19/2-B
Time
23:59 to 26:24
|
Politics of early members, not overwhelmingly Democratic at that time, became so before long
|
|
|
1976 September 16
|
|
|
Tape/Side
22/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:12
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
22/1-A
Time
0:13 to 11:58
|
Grievances concerning work load--setting a pace--impact of piece work system--wages as secondary grievance--hiring and firing system as key grievance--health hazards, particles in the air
|
|
|
Tape/Side
22/1-A
Time
11:59 to-16:39
|
Dealing with health hazards--union had called in state health inspectors very early--fumes in the paint department
|
|
|
Tape/Side
22/1-A
Time
16:40 to 22:08
|
Company reaction to early organizing efforts--recollection of firings for organizing activities--city hurt by strikes
|
|
|
Tape/Side
22/1-A
Time
22:09 to 28:56
|
J. J. as a GM Alliance committeeman--recalls Alliance committee meetings with management--Alliance folded in six months
|
|
|
Tape/Side
22/1-B
Time
0:00 to 2:25
|
Violence held to a minimum--no personal knowledge of violence or sabotage
|
|
|
Tape/Side
22/1-B
Time
2:25 to 6:33
|
Pressuring workers in UAW membership, very infrequent--cold shoulder treatment--working with reluctant members
|
|
|
Tape/Side
22/1-B
Time
6:34 to 8:39
|
J. J. leaned toward the CIO--dissension resulting from AFL-CIO split
|
|
|
Tape/Side
22/1-B
Time
8:40 to 17:35
|
AFL v. CIO--Wes Van Horn's support for AFL--persistent support for AFL in Janesville--J. J. leaned toward CIO, but not militant--no desire for union job
|
|
|
Tape/Side
22/1-B
Time
17:36 to 23:31
|
Bylaws and constitution for Local 95--need to bring young members into leadership--working on the bylaws
|
|
|
Tape/Side
22/1-B
Time
23:32 to 29:17
|
Little reading and studying about unions in early years--reaction to John L. Lewis, Homer Martin--Janesville isolated from mainstream of union activity--Dave Sigman and the organization of Parker Pen
|
|
|
Tape/Side
22/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:12
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
22/2-A
Time
0:13 to 4:41
|
Local 95 and organization of Parker Pen--other Local 95 efforts to assist other unions--organizing effort in Fort Atkinson
|
|
|
Tape/Side
22/2-A
Time
4:42 to 14:27
|
Janesville community reaction to UAW--attitude toward Vietnam War--different attitudes of retirees and young workers--no feeling of isolation in Janesville
|
|
|
Tape/Side
22/2-A
Time
14:28 to 27:10
|
J. J. as a union officer--offices not generally sought after--relationship between J. J. and Wes Van Horn-union officers not usually well-acquainted previously--more socializing now than in early years
|
|
|
Tape/Side
22/2-A
Time
27:11 to 28:13
|
Development of social relations
|
|
|
Tape/Side
22/2-B
Time
0:00 to 6:30
|
The significance of wearing union buttons--buttons disallowed in first contract--plant manager wore a Landon button in 1936
|
|
|
Tape/Side
22/2-B
Time
6:31 to 15:00
|
The sitdown strike of 1937--planning--J. J. and Wes Van Horn pulled the switches--meeting with management--supervisors allowed to pass through picket lines--providing food for the strikers
|
|
|
Tape/Side
22/2-B
Time
15:01 to 20:26
|
Further comments on planning the sitdown--imponderables--strike vote--role of the international in calling the strike
|
|
|
Tape/Side
22/2-B
Time
20:27 to 32:12
|
Happenings at the time of the sitdown, many left plant, fifty percent sitdown--strike vote meeting well-attended, little opposition to strike from members--Homer Martin scheduled to speak, called back to Detroit--J. J.'s comments on the legality of the strike
|
|
|
1976 September 21
|
|
|
Tape/Side
23/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:15
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
23/1-A
Time
0:16 to 2:52
|
More on the sitdown strike of 1937--trim shop as militant--strike carried off smoothly
|
|
|
Tape/Side
23/1-A
Time
2:53 to 4:00
|
Education efforts
|
|
|
Tape/Side
23/1-A
Time
4:01 to 6:47
|
Setting the strike--positions during the sitdown, desire to prevent trouble
|
|
|
Tape/Side
23/1-A
Time
6:48 to 15:58
|
Meeting in City Manager's office--Traxler's role--brief meeting--sheriff's office
|
|
|
Tape/Side
23/1-A
Time
15:59 to 24:15
|
After the agreement was announced--strike activities after the sitdown ended--daily meetings--difference between radical and militant
|
|
|
Tape/Side
23/1-A
Time
24:16 to 25:46
|
Going back to work--seniority as key gain
|
|
|
Tape/Side
23/1-A
Time
25:47 to 29:27
|
Wildcat strikes during 1937--front window vent group on strike--manpower problem
|
|
|
Tape/Side
23/1-B
Time
0:00 to 3:05
|
Relief time problem
|
|
|
Tape/Side
23/1-B
Time
3:06 to 6:51
|
Relationship between locals 121 and 95--J. J.'s knowledge of people on Chevy side
|
|
|
Tape/Side
23/1-B
Time
6:52 to 13:47
|
Membership growth after the sitdown--pride in accomplishments of Local 95--Christmas baskets--seasonal layoffs
|
|
|
Tape/Side
23/1-B
Time
13:48 to 15:23
|
Credit from merchants during the strike
|
|
|
Tape/Side
23/1-B
Time
15:24 to 22:09
|
AFL and CIO affiliations--J. J. support for industrial union concept--failure to buy old post office, AFL insisted on control by one union, one vote principle
|
|
|
Tape/Side
23/1-B
Time
22:10 to 24:48
|
Chevrolet purchased old UAW building on Jackson Street--95 bought Lutheran school on Academy Street
|
|
|
Tape/Side
23/1-B
Time
24:49 to 30:00
|
UAW and the Janesville Labor Council--J. J. unaware of AFL resentment of moonlighting by UAW workers
|
|
|
Tape/Side
23/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:10
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
23/2-A
Time
0:11 to 7:53
|
Transition from AFL to CIO--fear of losing dues money delayed decision--few CIO organizers in Janesville--desire for unity in Local 95--factionalism
|
|
|
Tape/Side
23/2-A
Time
7:54 to 18:32
|
J. J. as early CIO supporter--many members quiet regarding AFL and CIO, although the issue was of general concern to members
|
|
|
Tape/Side
23/2-A
Time
18:33 to 19:18
|
Homer Martin scheduled to come to Janesville
|
|
|
Tape/Side
23/2-A
Time
19:19 to 24:49
|
J. J.'s knowledge of the positions of several Local 95 members on the AFL-CIO split--John Goetzinger, Dick Halford, John Goethe, Lars and John Johannson, Jake Vorath
|
|
|
Tape/Side
23/2-A
Time
24:50 to 28:08
|
Dropping of GM savings plan--GM control
|
|
|
Tape/Side
23/2-B
Time
0:00 to 3:28
|
UAW in local politics, UAW members on the City Council, Mark Egbert and Harry Johnson
|
|
|
Tape/Side
23/2-B
Time
3:29 to 7:05.
|
J. J.'s recollection of effort to oust Lou Adkins from Local 95, led by Wes Van Horn
|
|
|
Tape/Side
23/2-B
Time
7:06 to 10:11
|
J. J. during World War II--not an officer then, need for younger officers, concern about factionalism within Local 95--work in inspection department, then tool and die
|
|
|
Tape/Side
23/2-B
Time
10:12 to 16:52
|
J. J. called in to talk with FBI agent--asked about Communists in the union, J. J. knew of none--FBI agent only concerned about those specifically members of Communist Party--different type of people in Janesville
|
|
|
Tape/Side
23/2-B
Time
16:53 to 19:27
|
Ringling Circus incident--auto raffle--J. J. missed the elephant charge
|
|
|
Tape/Side
23/2-B
Time
19:28 to 22:23
|
Concluding remarks--development of the UAW as inevitable
|
|
|
Series: Gerald H. Litney
: 56 Parkview Terrace, Milton
|
|
|
1976 December 9
|
|
|
Tape/Side
32/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:25
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
32/1-A
Time
0:26 to 7:46
|
Family background, the Litneys and the Lees--grandfather Lee as a railroad man--origins of grandparents
|
|
|
Tape/Side
32/1-A
Time
7:47 to 14:22
|
Parental background--father as a railroad worker, dispatcher--G. L.'s observations of his father's work
|
|
|
Tape/Side
32/1-A
Time
14:23 to 24:33
|
Father as a railroad union member--recalls strike circa 1914--American Railway Union of Eugene Debs--many supporters of Debs in the Janesville area--father visited Debs in prison--father not a socialist--father injured at time of strike
|
|
|
Tape/Side
32/1-A
Time
24:34 to 29:29
|
G. L.'s brief work with the railroad--the setup at the South Janesville Yard--a youth views the union--low pay for railroad work at that time--recollection of back pay, downpayment on a home
|
|
|
Tape/Side
32/1-B
Time
0:00 to 1:40
|
Backgrounds of railroad workers-
|
|
|
Tape/Side
32/1-B
Time
1:41 to 6:06
|
Father's injury, badly broken leg
|
|
|
Tape/Side
32/1-B
Time
6:07 to 12:47
|
Family political background--father as a Democratic activist--G. L. recalls his first vote--supported Bob La Follette--reactions to other candidates
|
|
|
Tape/Side
32/1-B
Time
12:48 to 14:58
|
Local politics--Mayor Goodman of Janesville as a cousin--recollection of J. J. Dulin, but not as a political leader
|
|
|
Tape/Side
32/1-B
Time
14:59 to 18:19
|
Family religious background--grandfather Litney broke with the Catholic Church--father as good member of St. Patrick's
|
|
|
Tape/Side
32/1-B
Time
18:20 to 23:20
|
Church's attitude toward labor unions--G. L. received approval from Fr. Reilly for G. L.'s role as a labor organizer--aware of Pope Leo's Rerum Novarum, papal encyclical supporting labor, G. L. learned of it from the School for Workers, not the Church, very important
|
|
|
Tape/Side
32/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:15
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
32/2-A
Time
0:16 to 3:26
|
G. L.'s youth in Janesville-family residences--the family
|
|
|
Tape/Side
32/2-A
Time
3:27 to 11:47
|
St. Patrick's elementary school--great aunt was a nun there--later attended public school--comparison of parochial and public schools--Fr. Mahoney of St. Patrick's
|
|
|
Tape/Side
32/2-A
Time
11:48 to 15:48
|
Ethnic backgrounds--4th Ward as heavily Irish
|
|
|
Tape/Side
32/2-A
Time
15:49 to 23:15
|
G. L. left school after 7th grade--went to work for Janesville Shirt and Overall--carried bundles to seamstresses--location of plants--G. L. as youngest worker--friend Johnny Cullen
|
|
|
Tape/Side
32/2-A
Time
23:16 to 28:06
|
Recreation as a youth--4th Ward baseball team, walked to Milton to play--Don Dawson the pitcher--work for Townsend Co. as a machinist for G. L.--brief term at Samson Tractor--work at Rock River Woolen Mill
|
|
|
Tape/Side
32/2-B
Time
0:00 to 4:30
|
G. L. as a weaver--learning the trade--work at Rock River Woolen Mills
|
|
|
Tape/Side
32/2-B
Time
4:31 to 7:51
|
The river and G. L.'s youth--Goose Island--the Hilt family at Jackson and Western Streets--Townsens Tractor plant on River Street
|
|
|
Tape/Side
32/2-B
Time
7:52 to 12:07
|
Class awareness--aspirations as a youth, cut short by Depression--G. L. moved to Milwaukee briefly, work as bakery truck driver
|
|
|
Tape/Side
32/2-B
Time
12:08 to 13:58
|
Drove for Cunningham's Bakery in Janesville after return from Milwaukee--return to Rock River Woolen Mills
|
|
|
Tape/Side
32/2-B
Time
13:58 to 15:58
|
Ed Dulin as first president of Textile Workers local at Rock River Woolen--then G. L. assumed leadership--later became union staff member
|
|
|
Tape/Side
32/2-B
Time
15:59 to 24:29
|
Further comments on weaving experience--brief training for weaver--description of weaving process--the race, source of the wool
|
|
|
1976 January 11
|
|
|
Tape/Side
33/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:15
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
33/1-A
Time
0:16 to 5:31
|
Rock River Woolen in early 1920s--Johnny Mitchell as tough weave boss--piece work system, pay less than a quarter per hour
|
|
|
Tape/Side
33/1-A
Time
5:32 to 10:07
|
Work in the design room under Mr. Gladhill--work for Cunningham Bakery--work for other mills, Daniel Boone in Chicago, many others--always hired back at Rock River
|
|
|
Tape/Side
33/1-A
Time
10:08 to 11:38
|
Demand for weavers--most weavers were men then--shortage of experienced weavers
|
|
|
Tape/Side
33/1-A
Time
11:39 to 14:29
|
More on design work, not routine
|
|
|
Tape/Side
33/1-A
Time
14:30 to 20:50
|
No break time or rest periods--leaving the loom--lighting in the plant--watching for “ends out”, key part of job--fines for “wrong draws”, flaws in material
|
|
|
Tape/Side
33/1-A
Time
20:51 to 23:15
|
The Daniel Boone Mill--cutting room work
|
|
|
Tape/Side
33/1-A
Time
23:16 to 27:00
|
Air quality at Rock River Woolen--fibers in air from pounding operation--card room had poorest air quality
|
|
|
Tape/Side
33/1-A
Time
27:01 to 29:55
|
Problems working with asbestos, later when G. L. was a union representative
|
|
|
Tape/Side
33/1-B
Time
0:00 to 2:05
|
Asbestos plant had moved from Chicago to Bloomington, Ill.--asbestos weaving process
|
|
|
Tape/Side
33/1-B
Time
2:06 to 6:01
|
Decline of Rock River Woolen--recollection of Mr. Tate, mill owner--Tate as good salesman and plant manager
|
|
|
Tape/Side
33/1-B
Time
6:02 to 7:52
|
Early union activities--Ed Dulin as first president--union voted out first time
|
|
|
Tape/Side
33/1-B
Time
7:53 to 9:53
|
G. L. with overview of plant operation--size of plant--value of union president experience
|
|
|
Tape/Side
33/1-B
Time
9:54 to 13:54
|
Comparison of Rock River Woolen with other woolen mills--Tate as best manager--working conditions better--different types of cloth in other mills--best wursted fiber at Rock River
|
|
|
Tape/Side
33/1-B
Time
13:55 to 19:05
|
Backgrounds of fellow weavers at Rock River Woolen--many from eastern U. S., moved to Janesville for opportunities at Rock River Woolen--names of several local weavers
|
|
|
Tape/Side
33/1-B
Time
19:06 to 22:21
|
Families of weavers in Janesville--G. L. not in Janesville after 1940
|
|
|
Tape/Side
33/1-B
Time
22:22 to 24:27
|
Ethnic backgrounds of mill workers--Italians from Rock Hill neighborhood--Irish and German
|
|
|
Tape/Side
33/1-B
Time
24:28 to 27:33
|
Women weavers at Rock River--few in early 1920s, 70% by 1940--GM drew male weavers away from mill because of better pay--only men in card room and dye house
|
|
|
Tape/Side
33/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:10
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
33/2-A
Time
0:11 to 3:51
|
Acceptance of women weavers, not competing with men--the mill as a place to work--the dye house, odor, hard work
|
|
|
Tape/Side
33/2-A
Time
3:52 to 8:32
|
The mill and the Depression--G. L. to Milwaukee early in Depression--back to Janesville, Cunningham's Bakery
|
|
|
Tape/Side
33/2-A
Time
8:33 to 17:43
|
G. L. on first union organizing committee at Rock River Woolen--grievances, hot-tempered foreman, wages--lost vote on first effort--opposition to the union--role of the Textile Workers Organizing Committee--organizer from Milwaukee
|
|
|
Tape/Side
33/2-A
Time
17:43 to 29:43
|
Fellow committee members--Tate's reaction to the union--weavers as largest group in the plant--noise of the looms, hearing problems--shuttle hazard--piece work as key grievance--loom hazards, speed--innovations in looms
|
|
|
Tape/Side
33/2-B
Time
0:00 to 1:00
|
More on loom innovations
|
|
|
Tape/Side
33/2-B
Time
1:01 to 7:11
|
Work load as a problem, two looms per weaver, then four--wildcat strike in weave room in 1924, resulted in change in shuttle size, G. L. not too upset by that--two looms per weaver as a greater problem
|
|
|
Tape/Side
33/2-B
Time
7:12 to 10:32
|
Work as a machinist--work for Carpenter Bakery in Milwaukee
|
|
|
Tape/Side
33/2-B
Time
10:33 to 17:23
|
First trip to Milwaukee concerning the formation of the union--recollection of John Bonahovich, key organizer, trained G. L. as an organizer--the Chicago Joint Board of the Textile Workers Union--more on John Bonahovich, patient toward opposition workers, successful approach
|
|
|
Tape/Side
33/2-B
Time
17:24 to 20:34
|
Converting non-union workers--Bonahovich and management--arbitration cases, one on the four loom proposition
|
|
|
1976 January 19, 1977
|
|
|
Tape/Side
34/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:15
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
34/1-A
Time
0:16 to 4:21
|
G. L.'s role in union development at Rock River Woolen--committeeman--modernization and job overloads--company as dictatorial--wages and working conditions as key factors
|
|
|
Tape/Side
34/1-A
Time
4:22 to 6:22
|
Influence of the UAW example at GT&I--militant workers in the mill
|
|
|
Tape/Side
34/1-A
Time
6:23 to 15:03
|
G. L. becomes local president--union first voted out in late 1937--union won a second vote one year later--hard work during that year to build up a following--others who were involved, Terwiligers
|
|
|
Tape/Side
34/1-A
Time
15:04 to 17:04
|
Role of women in the union, some were stewards, no women officers
|
|
|
Tape/Side
34/1-A
Time
17:05 to 20:30
|
G. L.'s fellow officers--Oliver Nunes as treasurer--Morris Hendrickson as recording secretary, currently living on South Pearl Street
|
|
|
Tape/Side
34/1-A
Time
20:31 to 25:46
|
Union shop established with little opposition from management--motives of anti-union workers often personal, little bedrock opposition--departments within the plant, union strength balanced
|
|
|
Tape/Side
34/1-A
Time
25:47 to 30:02
|
Management reaction to union--congratulations from Tate after second election--G. L. threatened by foreman
|
|
|
Tape/Side
34/1-B
Time
0:00 to 1:45
|
Clean election, fair play from management
|
|
|
Tape/Side
34/1-B
Time
1:46 to 3:00
|
Infrequent wildcat strikes at Rock River
|
|
|
Tape/Side
34/1-B
Time
3:01 to 8:46
|
First contract signed shortly after second election--included union shop--wage increase and vacation clause--negotiators--sessions in lawyer Woods' office--long sessions
|
|
|
Tape/Side
34/1-B
Time
8:47 to 19:22
|
Arbitration cases after contract signed--Mr. Peacock spoke for company during contract negotiations--management attitudes during negotiations--G. L.'s feelings during negotiations--overwhelming vote to accept contract--Earl McGrew, union representative, played key role in contract negotiation--McGrew eventually hired G. L. as an international representative
|
|
|
Tape/Side
34/1-B
Time
19:23 to 25:28
|
International representative job as a great opportunity for G. L.--nature of the work--establishing contracts--work through local organizing committees--organizing tactics--contact work
|
|
|
Tape/Side
34/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:10
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
34/2-A
Time
0:11 to 9:31
|
More on developing contracts--contact with black man in Chicago on Branwine Mattress Co., gave G. L. other black contacts in Chicago area plants--black workers in Chicago textiles--G. L. as NAACP member--organizing regardless of color
|
|
|
Tape/Side
34/2-A
Time
9:32 to 12:37
|
G. L.'s work with the staff of the Chicago Joint Board--promoted to head of organizing activities, paid by Textile Workers Organizing Committee, attended educational conferences sponsored by TWOC
|
|
|
Tape/Side
34/2-A
Time
12:38 to 18:13
|
The educational conferences--usually conducted by union leaders--the professor who tried to get G. L.'s library--influence of Larry Rogan
|
|
|
Tape/Side
34/2-A
Time
18:14 to 20:34
|
Recollection of Sidney Hillman, spoke at Apollo Theater in Janesville
|
|
|
Tape/Side
34/2-A
Time
20:35 to 22:20
|
Impact of the educational conferences on G. L.
|
|
|
Tape/Side
34/2-A
Time
22:21 to 27:16
|
Recollections of other textile labor organizers and leaders--reaction against the AFL United Textile Workers--UTW not very active in the Midwest
|
|
|
Tape/Side
34/2-B
Time
0:00 to 4:55
|
G. L.'s sources of information on unionism--newspapers, a failed Democratic paper from Rockford--Chicago Daily News
|
|
|
Tape/Side
34/2-B
Time
4:56 to 8:36
|
Union publications very important--influential books--Eugene Debs' autobiography
|
|
|
Tape/Side
34/2-B
Time
8:37 to 11:12
|
Contract negotiations with the Eagle Knitting Co.--G. L. thrown out of plant, then readmitted--later G. L. and the president of Eagle became more friendly
|
|
|
Tape/Side
34/2-B
Time
11:13 to 13:13
|
Janesville Public Library as a source of information, very little in early stages--the University of Wisconsin Bookstore
|
|
|
Tape/Side
34/2-B
Time
13:14 to 20:00
|
No factionalism in Rock River local--Walter Nails succeeded G. L. as president--G. L. worked with and trusted Van Horn and Yenney of the UAW--meeting at the Apollo Theater partially concerning the Communist problem-Communist disruption of Chicago Industrial Union Council meeting, later Communists formed their own council in Chicago
|
|
|
Series: Eugene Osmond
: 1416 East Van Buren, Janesville
|
|
|
1976 June 8
|
|
|
Tape/Side
1/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:20
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
1/1-A
Time
0:21 to 8:30
|
Family background--father as a railroad worker--family's ethnic heritage--family religious background--family political background
|
|
|
Tape/Side
1/1-A
Time
8:31 to 14:35
|
Eugene Osmond as one of fourteen children--large family as “rough”--close family--self description
|
|
|
Tape/Side
1/1-A
Time
14:36 to 18:45
|
Further comments on father and the railroad, helped organize railroad union--E. O.'s reaction to father's work and unionism
|
|
|
Tape/Side
1/1-A
Time
18:46 to 23:34
|
Family's religious commitment--E. O. goes to work for Janesville Sand and Gravel at age thirteen
|
|
|
Tape/Side
1/1-A
Time
23:35 to 28:50
|
School experiences--pleased to leave school--aspiration for medical school
|
|
|
Tape/Side
1/1-B
Time
0:00 to 6:40
|
Bringing home a paycheck--Sister Thomas as a favorite teacher, gentle--dislike for farm chores
|
|
|
Tape/Side
1/1-B
Time
6:41 to 10:43
|
More on aspirations--E. O. liked to read--reading habits
|
|
|
Tape/Side
1/1-B
Time
10:44 to 15:14
|
Class awareness--family as second-class citizens--grandfather as a gardener for the Kaiser in Germany, shoe story--came to United States to escape, no desire to return to Germany
|
|
|
Tape/Side
1/1-B
Time
15:15 to 18:45
|
Union as a means of betterment, seniority as the key
|
|
|
Tape/Side
1/1-B
Time
18:46 to 25:10
|
People admired by E. O.--Mr. Hemingway, successful but tough landlord--admired parents for their sacrifices--working at fourteen
|
|
|
Tape/Side
1/1-B
Time
25:11 to 33:40
|
Early experiences at Chevrolet, 1928 to 1933--first job moving frames, made feet bleed--the bullpen, hiring--Chevrolet not good working place then--lunches, skimpy then
|
|
|
Tape/Side
1/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:10
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
1/2-A
Time
0:11 to 4:00
|
Further recollections of first job at Chevrolet--tacks on floor--“chew-off time” from foremen
|
|
|
Tape/Side
1/2-A
Time
4:01 to 12:10
|
Getting a job at Chevrolet in 1928--more on the bullpen--influence of friends--Mr. Coryll's help--rubber doughball problem--lodge associations too influential, Masons and Oddfellows--Knights of Columbus may have been helpful for E. O.
|
|
|
Tape/Side
1/2-A
Time
12:11 to 20:30
|
Working conditions in 1928--work formula--plant layout--rest rooms and lighting adequate--work too hard--Chevrolet as “dealing in labor”, from a personnel man
|
|
|
Tape/Side
1/2-A
Time
20:31 to 26:00
|
Very few good jobs at Chevrolet--Ford screwdriver joke--making time to go to the rest room and the water fountain
|
|
|
Tape/Side
1/2-B
Time
0:00 to 9:25
|
E. O. fired for union activities--E. O. as a recruiter of union members--won back job through the Wolman Board, appearance before the Board
|
|
|
Tape/Side
1/2-B
Time
9:25 to 14:37
|
Expectations of assembly line work--plant shutdown during 1933 World's Fair--work on truck frame line--work at Chevrolet now much improved
|
|
|
Tape/Side
1/2-B
Time
14:38 to 25:43
|
Early attitudes toward unions--influence of Harry Johnson, first union member at Chevrolet--problem with stool pigeon, trip to Chicago to track him down
|
|
|
Tape/Side
1/2-B
Time
25:44 to 26:39
|
General Motors sabotage methods
|
|
|
Tape/Side
1/2-B
Time
26:40 to 29:05
|
Fear of losing jobs, made union organizing difficult
|
|
|
Tape/Side
1/2-B
Time
29:06 to 34:55
|
Development of positive attitudes toward union--E. O. as enthusiastic union member--difficulty talking about union
|
|
|
1976 June 15
|
|
|
Tape/Side
2/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:15
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
2/1-A
Time
0:16 to 4:50
|
Good jobs and bad jobs at Chevrolet--group piece work as a problem
|
|
|
Tape/Side
2/1-A
Time
4:51 to 9:28
|
Characteristics of the work force--good people with similar problems--no pronounced demographic characteristics
|
|
|
Tape/Side
2/1-A
Time
9:29 to 15:20
|
Mr. Wright as manager--managers as distant--E. O. had personal contact with managers as member of bargaining committee--Fitzpatrick, the prison warden, as manager during the organizational period
|
|
|
Tape/Side
2/1-A
Time
15:21 to 18:55
|
Efforts to intimidate strikers in 1937--shutoff of food and water then--Sheriff James Croake recalled as fair to the strikers
|
|
|
Tape/Side
2/1-A
Time
18:56 to 28:40
|
Number in sitdown in 1937--story of Mel Jordan and his sick child, to illustrate the union's determination--workers reactions to the sitdown--three factions among the work force--definition of militant--the roles of government officials
|
|
|
Tape/Side
2/1-B
Time
0:00 to 6:00
|
Further comments on the roles of local government officials during the sitdown--more on Sheriff Croake
|
|
|
Tape/Side
2/1-B
Time
6:01 to 14:20
|
The anti-union workers, the Loyal Alliance--nose benders--ridicule of Alliance members--union takeover of Alliance meeting during sitdown
|
|
|
Tape/Side
2/1-B
Time
14:21 to 20:15
|
Alliance leaders as weak, manipulable--selfish people--group action v. individualism--the story of “Sailor” who wanted to be a foreman
|
|
|
Tape/Side
2/1-B
Time
20:16 to 23:20
|
Further comments on the Loyal Alliance--fight with Alliance members--“button day”, the end of the Alliance
|
|
|
Tape/Side
2/1-B
Time
23:21 to 30:05
|
Necessary and unnecessary violence--tavern brawls
|
|
|
Tape/Side
2/1-B
Time
30:06 to 32:25
|
Union and non-union hangouts, avoided by E. O. who drank little
|
|
|
Tape/Side
2/1-B
Time
32:25 to 39:40
|
Justification for holding the plant during the sitdown--GM denied workers their dignity
|
|
|
Tape/Side
2/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:18
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
2/2-A
Time
0:19 to 359
|
Fear during the sitdown--most strikers as family people, E. O. single then
|
|
|
Tape/Side
2/2-A
Time
4:00 to 8:48
|
Mood of sitdowners--solidarity, serious
|
|
|
Tape/Side
2/2-A
Time
8:49 to 10:39
|
Movement in and out of the plant during the 1937 sitdown strike
|
|
|
Tape/Side
2/2-A
Time
10:40 to 12:40
|
Leadership of Local 121 during the sitdown--reliable, honest officers
|
|
|
Tape/Side
2/2-A
Time
12:41 to 16:25
|
Community reaction to the sitdown--story of Manager Fitzpatrick at Mass and John Donagan's button--little reaction from Church, E. O. avoided talking with pastor about union
|
|
|
Tape/Side
2/2-A
Time
16:26 to 20:26
|
Reconciling the union and religion--pride in union activities--fraternity of sitdown strikers
|
|
|
Tape/Side
2/2-B
Time
0:00 to 6:22
|
Further comments on pre-union period--attitude toward capitalism--obligation to organize
|
|
|
Tape/Side
2/2-B
Time
6:23 to 15:38
|
Attitudes toward socialism--reaction against UAW leaders identified as communists, Wyndham Mortimer--positive reaction toward the Reuthers
|
|
|
Tape/Side
2/2-B
Time
15:39 to 21:24
|
Reaction to other national union leaders--Homer Martin of the UAW--Bill Green--John L. Lewis--reaction to the concept of industrial unionism
|
|
|
Tape/Side
2/2-B
Time
21:25 to 24:13
|
Signing up under the influence of Harry Johnson--arguments at the Osmond home
|
|
|
Tape/Side
2/2-B
Time
24:14 to 28:54
|
Reaction to Federal Local 19324, the first union at Janesville Chevrolet, AF of L--recollection of first meeting and earliest members--departments where the union was strongest and weakest
|
|
|
Tape/Side
2/2-B
Time
28:54 to 31:42
|
Poor air conditioning in the paint dept.
|
|
|
Tape/Side
2/2-B
Time
31:43 to 35:18
|
Assemblers and paint dept. as easy to organize--development of cliques later
|
|
|
Tape/Side
2/2-B
Time
35:19 to 42:45
|
Company reaction to organizing activities--role of section 7a of the National Industrial Recovery Act
|
|
|
1976 June 22
|
|
|
Tape/Side
4/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:25
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
4/1-A
Time
0:26 to 3:53
|
E. O. with nothing to lose during the sitdown strike
|
|
|
Tape/Side
4/1-A
Time
3:54 to 9:14
|
Service as a picket captain, turning back armed picket--no weapons on picket line--efforts to control violence
|
|
|
Tape/Side
4/1-A
Time
9:15 to 17:27
|
Spontaneous fistfights between union and Alliance members--picketing of Alliance homes--over-exuberant union members--need to control violence to preserve the legality of the strike
|
|
|
Tape/Side
4/1-A
Time
17:28 to 18:23
|
Sitdown as minor legal violation
|
|
|
Tape/Side
4/1-A
Time
18:24 to 23:32
|
Problem with local stool pigeons, not GM-hired spies--management always knew results of union meetings
|
|
|
Tape/Side
4/1-A
Time
23:33 to 29:51
|
Planning the sitdown, small strike committee--Manager Fitzpatrick's threat to Elmer Yenney--need to build courage for the strike--role of international UAW in the Janesville sitdown
|
|
|
Tape/Side
4/1-B
Time
0:00 to 3:30
|
Local union weak at time of sitdown--union leaders more cool and smarter than management
|
|
|
Tape/Side
4/1-B
Time
3:31 to 13:03
|
Membership of strike committee--more on need to build courage--sitting down as spontaneous decision for many workers--extent of workers knowledge about impending strike
|
|
|
Tape/Side
4/1-B
Time
13:04 to 15:49
|
Sitdown as a “time of action”, convincing people to participate--choice of strike time
|
|
|
Tape/Side
4/1-B
Time
15:50 to 18:40
|
Picket captains and strike captains--head captain recruited others
|
|
|
Tape/Side
4/1-B
Time
18:41 to 22:33
|
Relationship between Local 121 and Local 95, the Fisher Body union--coordination, separate strike committees
|
|
|
Tape/Side
4/1-B
Time
22:34 to 29:04
|
Strikebreakers hired as sheriff's deputies--problem for Sheriff Croake who chose many of them--good timing for the strike--communication between Locals 121 and 95 only at leadership level--split between them
|
|
|
Tape/Side
4/1-B
Time
29:05 to 33:35
|
Positioning of the sitdowners in the plant--gathered at front end of plant--company shut off heat, union opened windows
|
|
|
Tape/Side
4/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:10
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
4/2-A
Time
0:21 to 2:39
|
Strength in numbers--need for cooperation from railroad people
|
|
|
Tape/Side
4/2-A
Time
2:40 to 8:25
|
Slight recollection of City Manager Henry Traxler's role--relations in the plant between union members and workers reluctant to join union--giving up dues to keep members
|
|
|
Tape/Side
4/2-A
Time
8:26 to 14:50
|
Repair department hard to organize--Alliance strength there and in conditioning department--limits on union talk in the plant
|
|
|
Tape/Side
4/2-A
Time
14:51 to 19:29
|
E. O. offered foreman job, considered it a bribe attempt--hard to recruit workers from rural areas--Local 121 as a better union, more careful with money
|
|
|
Tape/Side
4/2-A
Time
19:30 to 23:24
|
End of sitdown--Janesville plant not essential to UAW's national plan--E. O. pleased at ease of sitdown
|
|
|
Tape/Side
4/2-A
Time
23:25 to 26:45
|
E. O.'s discontent with piece work system--recruiting union members as a learning experience
|
|
|
Tape/Side
4/2-A
Time
26:46 to 30:30
|
Learning about unions, trial and error--current problems--no reading matter available on industrial unions then
|
|
|
Tape/Side
4/2-B
Time
0:00 to 3:05
|
Importance of local and national leadership--the Reuthers, Walter as a used car salesman story
|
|
|
Tape/Side
4/2-B
Time
3:06 to 9:36
|
Community to the Janesville locals during the mid-1930s--no support from local political leaders--unions ignored by Janesville community leaders
|
|
|
Tape/Side
4/2-B
Time
9:37 to 16:07
|
No support from community religious leaders--local newspaper, The Gazette, as anti-union--no sense of isolation
|
|
|
Tape/Side
4/2-B
Time
16:08 to 18:38
|
Joining the union as generally a personal decision, occasionally a group decision--many workers fearful for family needs
|
|
|
Tape/Side
4/2-B
Time
18:39 to 22:14
|
Change in recruiting methods after the sitdown strike, tougher--recognition from a GM supervisor in the hospital
|
|
|
Tape/Side
4/2-B
Time
22:15 to 24:45
|
Recruiting in outlying communities--use of beer and booze in recruiting
|
|
|
Tape/Side
4/2-B
Time
24:46 to 30:21
|
Further recollections about AF of L Federal Local 19324--focus of AF of L on skilled workers, no understanding of industrial unionism--transition to the CIO--E. O. supported the CIO faction
|
|
|
1976 June 29
|
|
|
Tape/Side
6/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:20
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
6/1-A
Time
0:21 to 3:40
|
Recollection of Civic and Industrial Council--suspicions of Henry Traxler
|
|
|
Tape/Side
6/1-A
Time
3:41 to 435
|
Absence of support from other labor organizations
|
|
|
Tape/Side
6/1-A
Time
4:36 to 12:46
|
Local 121 and the UAW international--121 generally supported those in power--opposition to communists--response to Martin-Reuther factionalism within the UAW
|
|
|
Tape/Side
6/1-A
Time
12:47 to 21:07
|
International office responsive to local needs--Jack Livingston of the UAW forced GM to change the “lousy” bargaining room which had been arranged to favor the company
|
|
|
Tape/Side
6/1-A
Time
21:08 to 23:08
|
UAW representatives from Detroit--more on Jack Livingston
|
|
|
Tape/Side
6/1-A
Time
23:09 to 25:49
|
The 1937 strike after the sitdown ended--E. O. as picket captain, ruined car--bitterness in Janesville
|
|
|
Tape/Side
6/1-A
Time
25:50 to 29:30
|
Stopping the delivery of materials and the shipment of cars during the strike--potential for violence
|
|
|
Tape/Side
6/1-B
Time
0:00 to 1:50
|
Keeping informed on national strike activities
|
|
|
Tape/Side
6/1-B
Time
1:51 to 9:10
|
Gains from the strike, recognition primarily--encounter with the general manager--membership drive after the strike--rural workers hard to organize--majority by 1939--company as tough
|
|
|
Tape/Side
6/1-B
Time
9:11 to 10:23
|
Further comments on gaining new members--Harry Johnson as key person
|
|
|
Tape/Side
6/1-B
Time
10:24 to 12:54
|
Comments on the first contract, 1937--period of ad hoc problem-solving--need for UAW local reference library
|
|
|
Tape/Side
6/1-B
Time
12:55 to 16:15
|
Management's attitude after the 1937 strike, no softening--Stanley Judd, the time study man for GM at Janesville Chevrolet
|
|
|
Tape/Side
6/1-B
Time
16:16 to 19:45
|
E. O. as a member of the first bargaining committee--other members--issues, wages, plant conditions--need for a seniority system
|
|
|
Tape/Side
6/1-B
Time
19:46 to 22:36
|
Further comments on the seniority system--division between skilled and unskilled workers
|
|
|
Tape/Side
6/1-B
Time
22:37 to 28:57
|
Typical bargaining committee meeting--chairman did most of the talking--the management team
|
|
|
Tape/Side
6/1-B
Time
28:57 to 31:37
|
Trips to Detroit for a variety of purposes
|
|
|
Tape/Side
6/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:10
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
6/2-A
Time
0:11 to 1:50
|
Problem-solving at the Chevrolet central office
|
|
|
Tape/Side
6/2-A
Time
1:51 to 3:26
|
The ladies' auxiliary, soup kitchens
|
|
|
Tape/Side
6/2-A
Time
3:27 to 5:22
|
UAW political involvement in Janesville--recent strength on City Council
|
|
|
Tape/Side
6/2-A
Time
5:23 to 9:43
|
Comments on Harold Lewis case, trustee expelled from Local 121
|
|
|
Tape/Side
6/2-A
Time
9:44 to 10:39
|
Local 121 and Janesville Labor Council
|
|
|
Tape/Side
6/2-A
Time
10:40 to 13:30
|
E. O.'s work during World War II--work for Fairbanks-Morse in Beloit
|
|
|
Tape/Side
6/2-A
Time
13:30 to 16:25
|
Recollection of 1946 strike against GM--bad timing--strike resulted from unfair treatment during the war
|
|
|
Tape/Side
6/2-A
Time
16:26 to 21:16
|
Leadership during the 1946 strike--bitterness--continual grievances, workers unwilling to follow process
|
|
|
Tape/Side
6/2-A
Time
21:17 to 30:22
|
Information on Local 121 leaders which E. O. recalls--including hometown, department in which the person worked, residence in Janesville or area, religion, ethnic background, degree of militancy, and anecdotal material--Waldo Luchsinger and Elmer Yenney
|
|
|
Tape/Side
6/2-B
Time
0:00 to 5:20
|
Information on Lou Adkins, Martin Setzer, John Carter, Harry Johnson
|
|
|
Tape/Side
6/2-B
Time
5:21 to 9:30
|
Information on Howard Johnson, Straus Ellis, Belle Olson, Harold Lewis
|
|
|
Tape/Side
6/2-B
Time
9:31 to 17:00
|
Information on Joe Knipshield, Mark Egbert, Glenn Swinbank and John Wuksinich
|
|
|
Tape/Side
6/2-B
Time
17:01 to 24:00
|
Information on Richard Wagner, Clarence Carroll, Francis Sheridan and Frank Shumacher
|
|
|
Series: Hugo Preuss
: 1619 Elizabeth Street, Janesville
|
|
|
1976 August 3
|
|
|
Tape/Side
13/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:25
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
13/1-A
Time
0:26 to 7:00
|
Family background--grandparents emmigrated from Germany, parents as children at the time--origins in Pomerania near Stettin--never any desire to return to Germany
|
|
|
Tape/Side
13/1-A
Time
7:01 to 10:06
|
Family spoke High and Low German when H. P. was a youth--H. P. born on River St.--residences of grandparents
|
|
|
Tape/Side
13/1-A
Time
10:07 to 16:22
|
Maternal grandfather as a mason tender--family political background--Lutheran religious background--the role of the minister as advisor to grandparents, members at St. Paul's, Missouri Synod
|
|
|
Tape/Side
13/1-A
Time
16:23 to 27:03
|
Persistent German custom--gardening--Low v. High German--no German spoken after World War I, warned by minister--minister used Bible to encourage patriotism, Reverend Troy--no antagonism from community, played with Irish children
|
|
|
Tape/Side
13/1-A
Time
27:03 to 29:23
|
Relations between German Lutherans and Irish Catholics in Janesville
|
|
|
Tape/Side
13/1-B
Time
0:00 to 1:15
|
Relations between earlier and later German immigrants, separate communities
|
|
|
Tape/Side
13/1-B
Time
1:16 to 11:00
|
Hard work, mother worked in cotton mill--social life, gathering life, soda pop at the tavern--Janesville breweries, ale brewed at Boub's brewery during the summer
|
|
|
Tape/Side
13/1-B
Time
11:01 to 19:45
|
Elementary school at St. Paul's Lutheran--bilingual education--strict teachers--use of German declined after WW I--H. P. preferred public school--“religion to deal with” at St. Paul's, repetitive and boring--public school offered baseball and football teams
|
|
|
Tape/Side
13/1-B
Time
19:46 to 30:26
|
Forms of recreation as a youth--good fishing below dam, raking in fish--raking and spearing illegal--water quality good, variety of fish--lax enforcement of game laws--drownings and inexperience
|
|
|
Tape/Side
13/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:10
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
13/2-A
Time
0:11 to 1:35
|
More on recreation
|
|
|
Tape/Side
13/2-A
Time
1:36 to 3:36
|
Odd jobs for kids--picking fruit at Kellogg Nursery--other jobs
|
|
|
Tape/Side
13/2-A
Time
3:37 to 8:23
|
Preus family position in community--class awareness--frugality--“high-toned” people getting into a trade as the goal
|
|
|
Tape/Side
13/2-A
Time
8:24 to 11:48
|
H. P. aspired to be a railroad engineer--got into electrical work through Frank Albright, a family friend--apprenticeship
|
|
|
Tape/Side
13/2-A
Time
11:49 to 15:29
|
German language newspaper in Janesville, both English and German papers in Preus home--German paper in Janesville stopped publishing around WW I
|
|
|
Tape/Side
13/2-A
Time
15:30 to 28:25
|
Further comments on apprenticeship--wiring for lights as primary work for apprentice--contractors did not push wall plugs and appliances in early stages of electrical business--machine work--H. P. developed great interest in electricity--rapid changes in electronics--from current to electron theory, H. P. learning about electrons
|
|
|
Tape/Side
13/2-B
Time
0:00 to 2:50
|
Resistance to electron concept--H. P. attended night school to learn new ideas
|
|
|
Tape/Side
13/2-B
Time
2:51 to 7:30
|
Hazardous work on utilities--daring behavior, bravado
|
|
|
Tape/Side
13/2-B
Time
7:31 to 14:20
|
Janesville Electric Company--more on apprentice work--work on Samson Tractor plant--H. P. preferred industrial work--the Samson tractor--the coming of Wisconsin Power and Light
|
|
|
Tape/Side
13/2-B
Time
14:21 to 17:21
|
Hazards of industrial electrical installation--development of regulations, little enforcement in early years
|
|
|
Tape/Side
13/2-B
Time
17:22 to 22:30
|
Further comments on Frank Albright--summer as off-season--some workers travelled, union development made that more difficult--Albright as small contractor, later joined union himself
|
|
|
Tape/Side
13/2-B
Time
22:31 to 25:45
|
H. P.'s early attitudes toward unions--only learned about labor unions by word of mouth, mostly negative comments
|
|
|
Tape/Side
13/2-B
Time
25:46 to 27:00
|
The strike of 1919 against Janesville Electric--the company hired strikebreakers
|
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1976 August 10
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Tape/Side
14/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:15
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Introduction
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Tape/Side
14/1-A
Time
0:16 to 9:15
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Organization of Local 890 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers--early members--working conditions were the primary grievances--big contractors unionized--local contractors as anti-union
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Tape/Side
14/1-A
Time
9:16 to 12:55
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Janesville contractors hostile to union, fired workers who voiced support for unions
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Tape/Side
14/1-A
Time
12:56 to 17:05
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H. P.'s first contact with the union, asked by Frank Kelly not to work during strike--Kelly later got job at Samson Tractor for H. P.--the boomers, travelling workers with nationwide contacts
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Tape/Side
14/1-A
Time
17:06 to 22:00
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Union structure, three divisions within the IBEW, none within Local 890--factionalism within the IBEW, little impact on Janesville
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Tape/Side
14/1-A
Time
22:01 to 28:25
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More on H. P. joining union at age 16--initiation--attitude toward unionism--could still work in open shops--no written contracts--more on Samson Tractor job
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Tape/Side
14/1-A
Time
28:26 to 29:34
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Absence of safety precautions
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Tape/Side
14/1-B
Time
0:00 to 3:10
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Improvements in safety--H. P. as a union members
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Tape/Side
14/1-B
Time
3:11 to 7:35
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Leaders of Local 890--terms of verbal agreements--death benefit for IBEW members
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Tape/Side
14/1-B
Time
7:36 to 11:06
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Reasons for joining the unions--chance for big jobs, overtime pay--big jobs for H. P.
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Tape/Side
14/1-B
Time
11:07 to 11:47
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GM annual changeover as big job here
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Tape/Side
14/1-B
Time
11:48 to 19:08
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The strike of 1919, Janesville Electric used strikebreakers--community reaction--H. P. won nothing from that strike--Emmons, a union man, began an electrical shop as a result of 1919 strike
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Tape/Side
14/1-B
Time
19:08 to 26:43
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H. P. went back to Albright after strike--other unions in Janesville in 1919, also used only verbal agreements--meetings and activities of the Building Trades Council
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Tape/Side
14/1-B
Time
26:44 to 28:30
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Early meetings of Local 890--pleas for assistance from other unions
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Tape/Side
14/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:10
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Introduction
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Tape/Side
14/2-A
Time
0:11 to 3:55
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Vague recollections of the Council on Industrial Relations--Allied Pipe Trades
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Tape/Side
14/2-A
Time
3:55 to 5:15
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Repairing street car motors
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Tape/Side
14/2-A
Time
5:16 to 9:46
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Local membership during the 1920s--no decline in local membership parallel to national IBEW decline during the 1920s--impact of the Depression--H. P. had steady work then, serviced radios
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Tape/Side
14/2-A
Time
9:47 to 18:27
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H. P.'s reaction to the 1937 sitdown strike at GM--story about merchant demanding cash--recollection of picketing Ringling Circus--Carl Bunce--arrangements regarding electrical work at GM
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Tape/Side
14/2-A
Time
18:28 to 21:50
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Reaction to the CIO--problem with UAW members moonlighting on electrical work--UAW seemed down on the AFL to H. P.--strained relations
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Tape/Side
14/2-A
Time
21:50 to 29:40
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Bill Kuhlow's concern for local building codes, safety concerns, lobbied with the city government to improve them--relations with Henry Traxler--H. P. with few recollections of Janesville politics
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Tape/Side
14/2-B
Time
0:00 to 3:42
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Early business agents, not reimbursed for time--union couldn't afford a full-time agent
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Tape/Side
14/2-B
Time
3:43 to 6:07
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H. P. as a member of the apprentice examining board, role of board
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Tape/Side
14/2-B
Time
6:08 to 10:53
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Impact of Rural Electrification Administration on Local 890--REA used a different method of wiring--most REA work done by open shop workers in Janesville
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Tape/Side
14/2-B
Time
10:54 to 14:32
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H. P.'s overall attitude toward his union membership--importance of apprentice program and of getting the big jobs
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Tape/Side
14/2-B
Time
14:33 to 16:43
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Disagreements on contracts--the IBEW pension system
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Series: John S. Scott, Jr.
: 648 West Delavan Drive, Janesville
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1976 August 24
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Tape/Side
16/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:25
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Introduction
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Tape/Side
16/1-A
Time
0:26 to 6:40
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Family background--mother born in Illinois, father in Indiana--family lived in Coweta, Oklahoma--father as a drayman and farmer
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Tape/Side
16/1-A
Time
6:41 to 17:15
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Coweta--Scott family one of few with northern background--Scotts as a black family in Coweta, got along with whites and Indians--recollection of Indian pow-wow in June--feasts for the dead--lodges and churches
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Tape/Side
16/1-A
Time
17:16 to 24:56
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Segregated schools in Coweta--county exams, black students graded low--nearest black high schools at Tulsa and Muskogee--Indians attended white schools
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Tape/Side
16/1-A
Time
24:57 to 27:37
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Scotts lost home in Coweta--Dr. Carter
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Tape/Side
16/1-A
Time
27:37 to 29:32
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Family religious background--father offended by church-going hypocrites
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Tape/Side
16/1-B
Time
0:00 to 4:35
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Family political background--parents “working the poll tax”--no voting rights for blacks in Waggoner County, Oklahoma--awareness of voting as power--use of the term “colored”
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Tape/Side
16/1-B
Time
4:36 to 10:26
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Little sense of class--no library in Coweta's black school--throw-away books and crayons--other school problems
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Tape/Side
16/1-B
Time
10:27 to 15:49
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Parents did not compare Coweta with Indiana or Illinois--no reaction against segregation--spiking tops on the playground--J. S. wanted to be a doctor
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Tape/Side
16/1-B
Time
15:50 to 25:08
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J. S. and the railroads, hired by the Pullman Co.--move to Chicago--hitchhiking, driving for drummers--fourteen year-old hobo out of Coweta, left home in Coweta hoping to be able to go to high school, no opportunity available--ranged over the whole country during early Depression years, welcomed back home by father
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Tape/Side
16/1-B
Time
25:09 to 30:14
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Riding the freight trains, living in hobo jungles--the workhouses--dodging the railroad dicks--states to stay out of
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Tape/Side
16/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:10
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Introduction
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Tape/Side
16/2-A
Time
0:10 to 10:15
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Women in hobo jungles--protection--more on evading railroads dicks--hoboing in cold weather--comment on Grapes of Wrath--J. S. as the “youngest bum”--boarding trains
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Tape/Side
16/2-A
Time
10:16 to 17:06
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Railroad men helped hobos evade railroad dicks--hitching-hiking and riding rails--law enforcement and hobos--help from churches in Chicago--Pilgrim Baptist Church, later when working for Pullman
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Tape/Side
16/2-A
Time
17:07 to 21:42
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Hardships in Chicago, before being hired by Pullman--beginning with Pullman--too much travel with Pullman--then a waiter with the Chicago and Northwestern
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Tape/Side
16/2-A
Time
21:43 to 28:53
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Member of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters--strikebreakers and the grocery store--fights with winos during strikes, J. S. has scar from such a fight--during stockyards strikes
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Tape/Side
16/2-B
Time
0:00 to 2:25
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Comments on Sleeping Car Porters leadership--respect for A. Philip Randolph
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Tape/Side
16/2-B
Time
2:26 to 8:40
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Service on the “Dakota 400” and the “Merry-go-round”--fellow dining car workers--leaving the Chicago and Northwestern in 1948, no more troop trains
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Tape/Side
16/2-B
Time
8:41 to 12:55
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Looking for a home in Wisconsin--problem in Chicago school--need to be home more--fears of Chicago
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Tape/Side
16/2-B
Time
12:56 to 14:56
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Visiting in Janesville--unaware of the absence of blacks--attended First Baptist Church
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Tape/Side
16/2-B
Time
14:57 to 19:37
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Primarily worked on troop trains with the Chicago and Northwestern, the “Challenger” comments on passenger service--late-running passenger trains
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Tape/Side
16/2-B
Time
19:38 to 25:23
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Finding a home in Janesville--getting approval from the “Good Neighborhood Association”--overview of working experience--coal from Hill's Coalyard
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Tape/Side
16/2-B
Time
25:24 to 29:19
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J. S. had to buy a home in Janesville--no rentals to blacks, lost room at Milton Hotel, finally got a room at 104 S. Locust--deal for present home--decided to stay in Janesville after retirement
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1976 September 9
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Tape/Side
20/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:15
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Introduction
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Tape/Side
20/1-A
Time
0:16 to 5:55
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Decision to move to Janesville--Chicago overcrowded--suggestion from couple on train, gift of money
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Tape/Side
20/1-A
Time
5:56 to 8:32
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More on finding a house in Janesville--visiting Wilson School--few other black families--ability to get along with whites
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Tape/Side
20/1-A
Time
8:33 to 16:15
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Work at Janesville Country Club, low pay--job with Chicago and Northwestern at South Janesville--keeping track clear
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Tape/Side
20/1-A
Time
16:16 to 28:56
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Backgrounds of fellow workers at South Janesville yard--work as a carman, repairing cars--use of American Ass'n of Railroads rulebook--inspection and care of freight cars--flat spots on wheels
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Tape/Side
20/1-B
Time
0:00 to 3:30
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J. S. as member of Brotherhood of Railroad Carmen--comments on fellow workers
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Tape/Side
20/1-B
Time
3:31 to 5:31
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Reason for freight train priority over passenger trains
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Tape/Side
20/1-B
Time
5:32 to 8:17
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No recollection of discrimination from Chicago and Northwestern--acquaintance with manager, Mr. Lightheiser--switchman as desirable job
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Tape/Side
20/1-B
Time
8:18 to 13:30
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Living in Janesville--member of First Baptist Church--wife asked to join choir--J. S. as usher captain--getting acquainted
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Tape/Side
20/1-B
Time
13:31 to 16:06.
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The Scott children and Janesville's schools--story about daughter Sandra--note about African forefathers
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Tape/Side
20/1-B
Time
16:07 to 17:55
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Availability of public facilities
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Tape/Side
20/1-B
Time
17:56 to 24:38
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Discrimination at local tavern, support from a friend--served at Isabel's that night--other minority residents in Janesville, Dr. Nino and the Lopez family
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Tape/Side
20/1-B
Time
24:39 to 26:29
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Other black people in Janesville--George Davis and the city body shop--Ike Williams family--Stud Wilson
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Tape/Side
20/1-B
Time
26:30 to 27:55
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Little contact with Beloit black community until J. S. worked at Beloit Iron Works and joined the Kennedy Lodge
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Tape/Side
20/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:10
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Introduction
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Tape/Side
20/2-A
Time
0:11 to 3:53
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The Al Beck story, dismissed from GM because of race, Beck did not appeal
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Tape/Side
20/2-A
Time
3:54 to 6:54
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Timing of Al Beck's firing--importance of his fair-skinned appearance--Beck Working at Chrysler today
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Tape/Side
20/2-A
Time
6:55 to 10:15
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J. S. getting a job at GM--assistance from a Mason friend--J. S. once assisted a white Mason
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Tape/Side
20/2-A
Time
10:16 to 17:32
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S. Janesville yard closed down--work in Chicago and Beloit--pay discrimination at Beloit Iron Works, bad treatment there--then work at Clinton, Iowa yard with Chicago and Northwestern
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Tape/Side
20/2-A
Time
17:32 to 21:12
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Then received call from Fisher Auto Body--worked through Paul Meicher in public relations office--Tom Jeffries as personnel director then
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Tape/Side
20/2-A
Time
21:13 to 25:38
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J. S. “knew the score”--allegations of discriminative clause in local union contract--no hard evidence--Elmer Yenney refused J. S. a copy of the contract, prior to J. S.'s hiring by Fisher
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Tape/Side
20/2-A
Time
25:38 to 29:03
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Conversation with Local 95 official, no follow-up--J. S. insulted in conversation with Elmer Yenney, J. S. characterized as “another Paul Robeson”
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Tape/Side
20/2-B
Time
0:00 to 6:40
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Self-restraint in face of insult, spiritual influence--J. S. reluctant to force issue--Yenney died shortly before J. S. was hired--J. S. in Clinton at time of his hiring by Fisher
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Tape/Side
20/2-B
Time
6:41 to 17:46
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“Robeson” comment taken as Communist slur--recollection of meeting Blue Jenkins from Racine, labor leader there--Jenkins took J. S.'s Gazette clippings relative to job discrimination, letters to editor--experience fishing near Fort Atkinson--Jenkins failed to return clippings--Jenkins asked about hiring at GM, several years prior to hiring of J. S., no mention of Beck case
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Tape/Side
20/2-B
Time
17:47 to 21:11
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Nature of J. S.'s work at Fisher--started at straight pay due to proficiency
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Tape/Side
20/2-B
Time
21:12 to 28:12
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Attitudes of fellow workers--new job, steaming headliners--problem of depleted stock at beginning of shift and cut steam hose, harassment--pressure for working early to set up job
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Series: Glenn Swinbank
: 1514 Greenview Avenue, Janesville
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1976 September 23
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Tape/Side
24/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:32
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Introduction, Mrs. Swinbank sat in on this session and occasionally contributed her comments
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Tape/Side
24/1-A
Time
0:33 to 3:17
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Family background in New Diggings, southwestern Wisconsin--comments concerning grandparents--father a barber, mother a music teacher
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Tape/Side
24/1-A
Time
3:18 to 4:28
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New Diggings rough--G. S. and John Carter who also became a leader in Local 121 at Chevrolet as members of first New Diggings high school class
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Tape/Side
24/1-A
Time
4:29 to 7:00
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Family ethnic background--religious background, mother as primitive Methodist, father unaffiliated--father as Republican
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Tape/Side
24/1-A
Time
7:00 to 14:40
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Schooling in New Diggings--ethnic groups in New Diggings--more on the town's rough character--high school years--recreation--G. S. aversion to mines--background on John Carter--slight knowledge of unions
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Tape/Side
24/1-A
Time
14:41 to 16:57
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Swinbanks as middle class, little class consciousness--more on mines
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Tape/Side
24/1-A
Time
16:58 to 22:24
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G. S. came to Janesville in 1928--others from New Diggings before, John Carter came before G. S.--easy to get GM job then--Chevrolet did not recruit
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Tape/Side
24/1-A
Time
22:25 to 25:20
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Getting a job--stayed in rooming house, met wife there--the bull pen--hired by Clayton Orcutt, conversation with Orcutt
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Tape/Side
24/1-A
Time
25:21 to 29:03
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First job on fenders--second job--piece work system--old vacuum fuel system
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Tape/Side
24/1-B
Time
0:00 to 5:08
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Work on steering column and floorboard in 1929--no breaks--unpredictable hours--putting on tires as backbreaking job, with John Carter
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Tape/Side
24/1-B
Time
5:09 to 7:24
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Reaction to assembly line work
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Tape/Side
24/1-B
Time
7:25 to 11:31
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Backgrounds of workers--nearly half from Janesville and surrounding towns--many from northern Wisconsin--mixed ethnically
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Tape/Side
24/1-B
Time
11:32 to 17:27
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Fellow workers who later became active in the union--early knowledge of Elmer Yenney, Mark Egbert and other leaders of Local 121--little union talk prior to 1933--laid off railroad workers worked at Chevrolet, recommended union, John Kaufman, they later returned to railroad
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Tape/Side
24/1-B
Time
17:28 to 24:43
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Relations with foremen--Frank Shuler as tough production manager--plant managers as remote--Fitzpatrick as hard plant manager--G. S. had no desire to be foreman, refused opportunity--foremen as younger men
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Tape/Side
24/1-B
Time
24:44 to 28:14
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Attitude toward work, pride--pushed too hard by management--general resentment against work overload
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Tape/Side
24/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:10
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Introduction
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Tape/Side
24/2-A
Time
0:11 to 3:29
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Attitude toward capitalism--GM not giant company at that time, understood need to establish company--savings system prior to 1933
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Tape/Side
24/2-A
Time
3:30 to 5:22
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World Fair workers in 1933--no work for G. S. in 1933, plant closed, used savings
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Tape/Side
24/2-A
Time
5:23 to 10:08
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G. S.'s political attitudes--voted for Hoover in 1928, confirmed Democrat thereafter--vague about AFL in early years--recollection of the GM Alliance--200 plus stayed in Chevrolet plant during the sitdown of 1937
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Tape/Side
24/2-A
Time
10:09 to 11:04
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Little socializing among workers, no time
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Tape/Side
24/2-A
Time
11:05 to 13:23
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First organizing efforts in Fisher plant--early organizers--G. S. succeeded John Kaufman as recording secretary
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Tape/Side
24/2-A
Time
13:24 to 18:27
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Early meetings, topics of discussion--Elmer Yenney's father a railroad man in Iowa--Yenney and Joe Knipschield as effective speakers--G. S. as secretary
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Tape/Side
24/2-A
Time
18:28 to 22:23
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Grievances--recollection of AFL federal local as first GM union in Janesville--switch to the CIO
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Tape/Side
24/2-A
Time
22:24 to 27:02
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G. S.'s reasons for joining union, need for change--firings for soliciting union members in plant--Fisher workers pushed harder for union
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Tape/Side
24/2-A
Time
27:03 to 30:13
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Workers at 1933 World's Fair--Harry Johnson and Elmer Yenney as workers at the Fair in Chicago--impact of the National Industrial Relations Act--Fisher organizers assisted Chevrolet union members
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Tape/Side
24/2-B
Time
0:00 to 1:15
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Early recruiters for Local 121--value of members in maintenance department
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Tape/Side
24/2-B
Time
1:16 to 5:02
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Best organized departments--Joe Knipschield in paint department--outlying departments difficult to organize--GM homeowners
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Tape/Side
24/2-B
Time
5:03 to 8:47
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Older men harder to organize--assembly line workers easy to organize--other factors made little difference
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Tape/Side
24/2-B
Time
8:48 to 14:43
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Company reaction to early organizing efforts--Loyal or GM Alliance of anti-union workers, fizzled--G. S. persuaded Floyd Mabie, Alliance leader to join the union, picketed his house--no “roughhouse”--Alliance members
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Tape/Side
24/2-B
Time
14:44 to 18:04
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Company espionage--Jimmy Hill as company spy in the maintenance department--Hill as a Pinkerton--effort to contact him in Chicago--local stool pigeons
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Tape/Side
24/2-B
Time
18:05 to 19:45
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Firings of union members, Eddie Flood as the first--G. S. encounter with manager Shuler
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Tape/Side
24/2-B
Time
19:46 to 24:10
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Community reaction to union--story about G. S. and a bill at Rayberg's store--Labor Day parade, G. S. got permit for first parade from Henry Traxler, company spied on parade
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Tape/Side
24/2-B
Time
24:11 to 27:56
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No supportive local politicians--Traxler as fair city manager--no support from churches--support from local merchants, City Meat Shop, grocery stores and taverns
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1976 September 30
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Tape/Side
25/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:25
|
Introduction
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Tape/Side
25/1-A
Time
0:26 to 1:34
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Many people left New Diggings during the 1920s due to the closing of the mines
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Tape/Side
25/1-A
Time
1:35 to 6:47
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Sources of information on unions--influence of those who worked at the 1933 World's Fair--reliance on Elmer Yenney for information--the Gazette--the Capital Times--the public library
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Tape/Side
25/1-A
Time
6:48 to 13:18
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The sitdown strike of 1937--incident between Manager Fitzpatrick and Dick Wagner--Fitzpatrick, Sheriff Croake and the crowd in the plant lobby--Joe Knipschield stopping the railroad cars
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Tape/Side
25/1-A
Time
13:19 to 22:34
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Planning the strike--executive board meeting--relationship between Local 121 and the international--dues-paying membership--assistance from merchants--desire to avoid trouble--surge of new members after sitdown, Alliance ceased functioning
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Tape/Side
25/1-A
Time
22:35 to 28:35
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Strike vote in December, 1936--firings before strike--difficult to move around plant--opposition from strike from members timing of strike--Shuler's comments on morning of the strike
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Tape/Side
25/1-A
Time
28:36 to 31:11
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Local 121 and the international--activities after the sitdown
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Tape/Side
25/1-B
Time
0:00 to 1:15
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Attitude toward post-strike members--some strong members from the Alliance
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Tape/Side
25/1-B
Time
1:16 to 5:51
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Sheriff Croake's role, recommended that GM agree to shut down--parts department continued to operate during strike
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Tape/Side
25/1-B
Time
5:52 to 8:57
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Shuler firing people--actions of supervisors during the strike--bargaining committee to negotiate settlement
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Tape/Side
25/1-B
Time
8:58 to 12:23
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G. S.'s actions during the strike, after the shutdown, signing up new members--groups from outlying towns--activities at Local 121 office--bargaining committee
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Tape/Side
25/1-B
Time
12:24 to 18:00
|
Comments on the agreement--management as somewhat more cooperative--Shuler stripped of right to hire and fire--strike as “make or break” effort
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Tape/Side
25/1-B
Time
18:01 to 24:01
|
The button dispute--button day, later in 1937--community reaction to union--story about Local 121 buying old school near plant, company opposed, assistance from City Council and Henry Traxler
|
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|
Tape/Side
25/1-B
Time
24:01 to 27:37
|
Comments on time study--Stanley Judd as time study man
|
|
|
Tape/Side
25/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:10
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
25/2-A
Time
0:11 to 10:00
|
Wildcat strikes in 1937 after the “Big Strike”--general spirit of militancy--emergence of new leaders--working conditions issues--wildcats productive for union
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|
Tape/Side
25/2-A
Time
10:01 to 15:35
|
Transition from AFL to CIO--Yenney and Egbert as CIO supporters--reaction to Homer Martin, long-term support for him
|
|
|
Tape/Side
25/2-A
Time
15:35 to 19:30
|
Recollection of Harold Lewis--Lewis an informer, according to G. S.
|
|
|
Tape/Side
25/2-A
Time
19:31 to 22:26
|
Reaction to allegation of agreement between company and city not to hire black workers--G. S. attitude toward black workers
|
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|
Tape/Side
25/2-A
Time
22:27 to 23:47
|
G. S. during World War II, entered Army in 1942
|
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Tape/Side
25/2-A
Time
23:47 to 27:07
|
G. S. returned from Army just before 1945-46 strike--picket captain during that strike--positive attitude toward the strike
|
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|
Tape/Side
25/2-A
Time
27:07 to 29:47
|
G. S. provides additional information on others who helped to organize Local 121--Elmer Yenney--Mark Egbert
|
|
|
Tape/Side
25/2-B
Time
0:00 to 1:55
|
Harry Johnson, militant after he was fired--Howard Johnson, Harry's brother
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|
Tape/Side
25/2-B
Time
1:56 to 8:36
|
Joe Knipschield, influential in paint department--Gene Osmond, influenced people in his area of the assembly line--Bob Brennan, cab trim leader--Louie Prohuska--Ollie Radtke--Eddie Flood in the radiator area
|
|
|
Tape/Side
25/2-B
Time
8:37 to 16:02
|
Getting off the line into the desirable jobs--Kenny Scholl--Cliff Porter on the body line, brought Brennan into union, picketed Floyd Mabie's house--Waldo Luchsinger
|
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|
Tape/Side
25/2-B
Time
16:03 to 20:38
|
Comments on the women's auxiliary--Mrs. Swinbank comments on auxiliary activities, the drill team and the chorus, the soup kitchens--Mrs. Swinbank's attitudes toward the union
|
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Series: John Wesley Van Horn
: 349 West Grand, Apt. 206, Beloit
|
|
|
1976 October 19
|
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|
Tape/Side
28/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:45
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
28/1-A
Time
0:46 to 3:51
|
Family background--father as “jack-of-all-trades”, farmed in Iowa, returned to family home in Milton, Wis.--importance of 7th Day Baptist churches to the family--early work experience
|
|
|
Tape/Side
28/1-A
Time
3:52 to 7:57
|
More on family background--7th Day Baptist religious background--children ceased 7th Day practice, worked on Saturday--W. V. H. later attended Congregational Church
|
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|
Tape/Side
28/1-A
Time
7:58 to 15:08
|
Republican family politics--W. V. H. considered radical--father worked at Badger Ordnance in Merrimac during WW II--W. V. H.'s development as a Democrat, influence of FDR and the UAW
|
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|
Tape/Side
28/1-A
Time
15:09 to 18:54
|
W. V. H. grew up in Iowa, cut wood during the winter--later life in Milton
|
|
|
Tape/Side
28/1-A
Time
18:55 to 24:40
|
First job at Chevrolet, mounting front springs--variety of experiences--Seaman Body Co. in Milwaukee--upholstered Majestic Theater seats in Milwaukee--A. O. Smith--bartending in Milwaukee during Prohibition--return to Janesville
|
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|
Tape/Side
28/1-A
Time
24:40 to 29:25
|
Getting first job at Chevrolet--arbitrary process--hard and dirty work
|
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|
Tape/Side
28/1-B
Time
0:00 to 1:35
|
Front spring mounting as slave labor
|
|
|
Tape/Side
28/1-B
Time
1:36 to 7:31
|
Good pay at Chevrolet, pay scale in 1924--work force at Chevrolet, many farm boys--younger men--many workers from Iowa, Illinois and northern Wisconsin
|
|
|
Tape/Side
28/1-B
Time
7:32 to 12:52
|
W. V. H. and Elmer Yenney, president of Local 121 later, stayed at same boarding house in early years--other early friends who were later UAW associates
|
|
|
Tape/Side
28/1-B
Time
12:53 to 15:23
|
First union meeting--W. V. H. left Chevy for Michigan
|
|
|
Tape/Side
28/1-B
Time
15:24 to 18:29
|
Return to Janesville, getting on at Fisher--sporadic productions--road work on Highway 26
|
|
|
Tape/Side
28/1-B
Time
18:30 to 24:25
|
Tack spitting at Fisher, resultant damage to teeth--case taken to the Wisconsin Industrial Commission--company refused compensation--Glen Demrow as “guinea pig”--Leon Feingold as attorney
|
|
|
Tape/Side
28/1-B
Time
24:26 to 27:41
|
Illegal picketing case after the War, involved a Milwaukee construction firm
|
|
|
Tape/Side
28/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:10
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
28/2-A
Time
0:11 to 6:36
|
More on illegal picketing case--confrontation--W. V. H. and Bob Donegan charged--contractor and income tax loss--case dismissed--related to 1945-46 strike
|
|
|
Tape/Side
28/2-A
Time
6:37 to 10:12
|
Leon Feingold as the UAW's attorney in Janesville
|
|
|
Tape/Side
28/2-A
Time
10:13 to 15:08
|
Fisher work force--union activists from trim department--the headliner gang
|
|
|
Tape/Side
28/2-A
Time
15:09 to 21:29
|
Strong union members in other departments--highest paid, experienced workers as best union members, “different class of people”
|
|
|
Tape/Side
28/2-A
Time
21:30 to 25:00
|
Line speed as key problem--arbitrary hiring and firing--Manager Hurley “shooting off his mouth”--chain gang
|
|
|
Tape/Side
28/2-A
Time
25:01 to 26:16
|
Line speed at 72 per hour--gaps in line lowered that somewhat
|
|
|
Tape/Side
28/2-A
Time
26:16 to 29:21.
|
Attitudes of management--periods of unemployment
|
|
|
Tape/Side
28/2-B
Time
0:00 to 2:15
|
Few health problem other than tack-spitting--solder pots
|
|
|
Tape/Side
28/2-B
Time
2:16 to 7:56
|
Early development of Local 95--joint union for Fisher and Chevy at first--reason for dividing them--Ed Hall as UAW-AFL international representative--dissatisfaction with early union
|
|
|
Tape/Side
28/2-B
Time
7:57 to 13:23
|
W. V. H. not hired back in 1935, appeal to Wolman Board--the hearing, those in attendance, Ed Hall for the union--radicalizing experience for W. V. H.
|
|
|
Tape/Side
28/2-B
Time
13:24 to 20:29
|
W. V. H.'s early union activities, visited workers at their homes--recruiting at local taverns--little help from AFL
|
|
|
Tape/Side
28/2-B
Time
20:30 to 27:45
|
UAW international convention at Milwaukee in 1937--factionalism at that convention--Martin v. Thomas factions at 1938 convention--Harold Christoffel as a Communist leader--W. V. H.'s fear of the Communist Party--little problem with Communists in Janesville--suspicions, especially during the 1937 sitdown strike
|
|
|
1976 October 27
|
|
|
Tape/Side
30/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:15
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
30/1-A
Time
0:16 to 9:50
|
Communist influence in UAW at the international level--more on Harold Christoffel and the 1937 Milwaukee convention--Communists in the UAW-CIO, Wyndham Mortimer--Ed Hall as right-wing--George Addes--Reuther brothers as socialists, distinction between Communists and socialists--recollection of Jack Livingston, “straight”
|
|
|
Tape/Side
30/1-A
Time
9:51 to 13:31
|
Membership in Local 95--fluctuation--the company union--membership influx after the 1937 sitdown
|
|
|
Tape/Side
30/1-A
Time
13:32 to 16:27
|
Recruiting members before 1937--wives often fearful--house-to-house canvassing--problems with organizing inside plant
|
|
|
Tape/Side
30/1-A
Time
16:28 to 20:43
|
Higher paid, skilled workers as union activists--key members in the various departments--polish department as hard work, metal finishing as hardest
|
|
|
Tape/Side
30/1-A
Time
20:44 to 24:04
|
Religious and ethnic backgrounds made no difference--other factors--more experienced workers more likely to join--encouraging new hires to join the union
|
|
|
Tape/Side
30/1-A
Time
24:05 to 25:50
|
Leadership in 1935, Straus Ellis sought management position
|
|
|
Tape/Side
30/1-A
Time
25:51 to 27:56
|
Company reaction to union in early years--union not taken seriously, no power
|
|
|
Tape/Side
30/1-B
Time
0:00 to 2:50
|
Confrontation with manager Hurley, union cigarettes, the headliners
|
|
|
Tape/Side
30/1-B
Time
2:51 to 4:55
|
Company union--local members in it
|
|
|
Tape/Side
30/1-B
Time
4:56 to 11:20
|
Local 95's executive board--AFL v. CIO as an executive board decision, board followed W. V. H.'s recommendation, after 1937--most anxious to join the CIO--Jap Michaels as international representative
|
|
|
Tape/Side
30/1-B
Time
11:21 to 14:46
|
Isolation of the Janesville locals from the UAW mainstream--confrontation with Frank Sihorsky from Racine Case local at a meeting of the CIO faction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
30/1-B
Time
14:47 to 21:07
|
The effort to strip Lou Adkins of the treasurership of Local 95 for supporting the UAW-CIO--W. V. H. lost, he and Adkins worked together on a friendly basis after
|
|
|
Tape/Side
30/1-B
Time
21:08 to 26:58
|
The decision to join the UAW-CIO, W. V. H. attended CIO meeting in Flint--resulting confrontation with Homer Martin and AFL leaders--W. V. H. and Elmer Yenney of Local 121 agreed on need to join CIO, 1940--fear of Communists as key reason for failure to join earlier
|
|
|
Tape/Side
30/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:10
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
30/2-A
Time
0:11 to 9:51
|
The sitdown strike of 1937--about 15% of workers as dues-paying members then--strike expected--planning for the sitdown, timing left to executives of Locals 95 and 121--one o'clock on Jan. 5, 1937, reason for that timing--W. V. H. told Coley Simmons to shut down line--subsequent events in the plant--agreement to end sitdown, Traxler forced to announce agreement
|
|
|
Tape/Side
30/2-A
Time
9:52 to 12:17
|
Trouble on the railroad tracks, keeping a train out of the plants
|
|
|
Tape/Side
30/2-A
Time
12:18 to 15:33
|
Further comments on planning--previous UAW experience in Flint--mass meeting on night before the sitdown
|
|
|
Tape/Side
30/2-A
Time
12:18 to 16:03
|
Community reaction--W. V. H. had no fear of plant closing--reason for sitdown, value of sitdown--spontaneous decision to sitdown
|
|
|
Tape/Side
30/2-A
Time
16:04 to 20:59
|
Negotiations to end the sitdown, W. V. H. not directly involved--role of Sheriff Croake--Henry Traxler's role--no arrests
|
|
|
Tape/Side
30/2-A
Time
21:00 to 24:10
|
News reporting of the sitdown--Rockford Morning-Star better than Gazette--coverage of the Madison Capital Times
|
|
|
Tape/Side
30/2-B
Time
0:00 to 3:25
|
Legality of the sitdown--W. V. H. thought it illegal--contest for power
|
|
|
Tape/Side
30/2-B
Time
3:26 to 4:46
|
Activites after sitdown, during strike
|
|
|
Tape/Side
30/2-B
Time
4:47 to 9:22
|
Grievances after plant re-opened--line speed--inconsistent pay scale--seniority--sanitation problems, toilets not cleaned--line speed dropped from 72 to 58--body banks used to keep the line full
|
|
|
Tape/Side
30/2-B
Time
9:23 to 16:08
|
Wildcat strikes after the big strike--“guys got cocky”--problems for union--role of Jack Cronin, a fair personnel man--cocky foreman and bosses--problem with a foreman who borrowed from his men--grievance system established prior to WW II
|
|
|
Tape/Side
30/2-B
Time
16:09 to 20:49
|
Response of Local 95 leaders to wildcat strikes--incident when non-union workers were thrown out of the plant--stopping a brawl at a country tavern--getting non-members into the union
|
|
|
Tape/Side
30/2-B
Time
20:50 to 24:15
|
W. V. H. as a UAW field representative--returned to Janesville after a few months
|
|
|
Tape/Side
30/2-B
Time
24:16 to 26:36
|
Work experience during WW II--wartime leave from Janesville plant--UAW field work in the Janesville area
|
|
|
Series: James Wells
: 1038 Jerome Avenue, Janesville
|
|
|
1976 October 14
|
|
|
Tape/Side
27/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:20
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
27/1-A
Time
0:21 to 4:41
|
Family background--mother from Beaver Dam--father with telephone company--ethnic background
|
|
|
Tape/Side
27/1-A
Time
4:42 to 10:32
|
Living in Colorado as a child, father did line work there with power and light company--returned to Janesville, father worked as a meter tester, mother at woolen mill
|
|
|
Tape/Side
27/1-A
Time
10:33 to 13:58
|
Mother's experience in the woolen mill--more of life in Colorado, difficult times--attending church in Colorado
|
|
|
Tape/Side
27/1-A
Time
13:59 to 16:59
|
Youth in Janesville-required to repeat a grade in school--selling newspapers
|
|
|
Tape/Side
27/1-A
Time
17:00 to 22:20
|
Family religious background--St. Patrick's Catholic Church--formation of St. Mary's, rules on attending new churches--strong Catholic family
|
|
|
Tape/Side
27/1-A
Time
22:21 to 31:36:
|
Attending St. Patrick's School--Sisters of Mercy--quality of education at St. Patrick's--discipline in the parochial school, respect for the nuns
|
|
|
Tape/Side
27/1-B
Time
0:00 to 3:35
|
Ethnic differences not too important--relations with St. Paul's Lutheran School--Irish priests at St. Patrick's
|
|
|
Tape/Side
27/1-B
Time
3:35 to 7:10
|
Family political background, not active--father voted Progressive--supported rights of workers--reaction to 1928 election--high school experience, baseball
|
|
|
Tape/Side
27/1-B
Time
7:11 to 9:00
|
Father not in IBEW--father's attitude toward the labor movement
|
|
|
Tape/Side
27/1-B
Time
9:01 to 11:06
|
Early work experience at GM as a timekeeper, disliked the work, quit
|
|
|
Tape/Side
27/1-B
Time
11:07 to 17:02
|
Grocery delivery business--insurance salesman--further comments on timekeeper work at GM, son had similar experience at GM
|
|
|
Tape/Side
27/1-B
Time
17:03 to 21:28
|
More on the grocery delivery business--milk delivery business--getting a job at Parker Pen
|
|
|
Tape/Side
27/1-B
Time
21:29 to 24:49
|
Car driveaway at GM, beginning of Teamster union activity in Janesville
|
|
|
Tape/Side
27/1-B
Time
24:50 to 26:45
|
J. W. had contact with Teamster organizer--fired for attending organizational meeting
|
|
|
Tape/Side
27/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:10
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
27/2-A
Time
0:11 to. 3:05
|
Further comments on the organization of the Teamsters in Janesville--Frazier, the organizer from Chicago
|
|
|
Tape/Side
27/2-A
Time
3:06 to 6:16
|
J. W.'s attitudes toward the labor movement--decline of the grocery delivery
|
|
|
Tape/Side
27/2-A
Time
6:17 to 8:32
|
J. W. portrays Frazier as a close-mouthed, crafty union organizer
|
|
|
Tape/Side
27/2-A
Time
8:33 to 13:28
|
Opposition to the Teamsters from Janesville merchants and businessmen--organizing. Benison and Lane Bakery--attempt to organize Schaeffer Pen--hazards of organizing
|
|
|
Tape/Side
27/2-A
Time
13:29 to 19:37
|
More on organizing Benison and Lane--other Teamster targets--important move driveaways to trucks at GM--J. W. as a Teamster member
|
|
|
Tape/Side
27/2-A
Time
19:38 to 22:08
|
Typical early Teamster meetings, hatred for employers--J. W.'s attitude--emergence of car-hauling companies
|
|
|
Tape/Side
27/2-A
Time
22:08 to 29:32
|
Impact of Teamsters on Janesville, union awareness--exorbitant salaries for union officials--attitude toward George Meany--choosing a union for Parker Pen
|
|
|
Tape/Side
27/2-B
Time
0:00 to 1:16
|
Further comments on the United Rubber Workers at Parker Pen, desire of workers to maintain local autonomy
|
|
|
Tape/Side
27/2-B
Time
1:17 to 10:22
|
Community reaction to the Teamsters--wives often hostile--the Gazette's reporting--anti-union teachers in the schools, J. W.'s children anti-union--unions and municipal workers--opposition to compulsory arbitration
|
|
|
Tape/Side
27/2-B
Time
10:-23 to 15:13
|
Reaction to Firefighters Association, no right to strike--argument that they produce nothing of value
|
|
|
Tape/Side
27/2-B
Time
15:14 to 22:49
|
The Church and labor unions--reaction of priests to organized labor, allied with employers, tried to keep pay low for janitors-J. W. learned about Rerum Novarum, the papal encyclical on labor, at the School for Workers--anti-union statements in sermons recalled
|
|
|
Tape/Side
27/2-B
Time
22:50 to 26:10
|
J. W. active in Democratic Party politics--helped to develop the Democratic Party in Rock County after World War II--other active Democrats
|
|
|
1976 October 21
|
|
|
Tape/Side
29/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:15
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
29/1-A
Time
0:16 to 6:00
|
Beginning work with Parker Pen in 1941--made delayed-action fuses during the War--J. W.'s work as a tool sharpener--supervisor in fuse plant
|
|
|
Tape/Side
29/1-A
Time
6:01 to 8:39
|
Management of the fuse plant--responsibilities as fuse plant supervisor--J. W.'s ability to get along with people
|
|
|
Tape/Side
29/1-A
Time
8:40 to 14:10
|
Work force at the fuse plant was non-traditional in many ways--inexperienced as factory workers, many problems--methods to counter the problems
|
|
|
Tape/Side
29/1-A
Time
14:11 to 15:29
|
Women workers at the fuse plant
|
|
|
Tape/Side
29/1-A
Time
15:30 to 20:35
|
Returning to the pen plant after the war--back into work force as a set-up man
|
|
|
Tape/Side
29/1-A
Time
20:36 to 26:41
|
Parker as a good place to work, not too difficult--floor inspection work
|
|
|
Tape/Side
29/1-A
Time
26:42 to 29:52
|
Parker as closed shop by 1941--background on the union--first meeting in Anna Marsden home--Holtons and Dabsons as early organizers--incentive pay system as key grievance--union time study after the war
|
|
|
Tape/Side
29/1-B
Time
0:00 to 2:45
|
More on problem with incentive pay system
|
|
|
Tape/Side
29/1-B
Time
2:46 to 4:41
|
Company relatively cooperative with the union--wildcat strike after the war
|
|
|
Tape/Side
29/1-B
Time
4:42 to 9:27
|
The independent, federal union--federal local satisfactory for long time--problem with AFL being trades unions, federal locals as industrial unions, stepchildren
|
|
|
Tape/Side
29/1-B
Time
9:28 to 18:13
|
No knowledge of establishment of closed shop at Parker--Waldo Luchsinger as personnel director--absence of hard feelings between labor and management--importance of women workers at Parker--several families with more than one employee--separate payrolls maintained for men and women
|
|
|
Tape/Side
29/1-B
Time
18:14 to 24:34
|
Women workers in majority, most holding second family job--more on hiring of families by Parker--Mr. Hall as production superintendant
|
|
|
Tape/Side
29/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:10
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Tape/Side
29/2-A
Time
0:11 to 2:45
|
Variances in pay for men and women during World War II--little reaction by women
|
|
|
Tape/Side
29/2-A
Time
2:46 to 8:10
|
J. W.'s service with the union--long term as local president--Rock County Board of Supervisors--term as union steward
|
|
|
Tape/Side
29/2-A
Time
8:11 to 16:11
|
Issues on the bargaining board--the Scanlon Plan during the mid-1960s--need for the Scanlon Plan, alternative to an incentive system--determination to avoid profit-sharing
|
|
|
Tape/Side
29/2-A
Time
16:12 to 19:27
|
Good working conditions--most complaints settled with foreman--crowded conditions in old plant
|
|
|
Tape/Side
29/2-A
Time
19:27 to 23:07
|
Term as president of Janesville Labor Council--the UAW and the Labor Council--UAW left at time of AFL-CIO split
|
|
|
Tape/Side
29/2-A
Time
23:08 to 26:08
|
J. W.'s involvement with the Democratic Party through Earl Heffernan--problem with by-laws
|
|
|
Tape/Side
29/2-A
Time
26:09 to 29:49
|
Phasing-out of the federal unions--Parker union required to select an international--competition from main internationals
|
|
|
Tape/Side
29/2-B
Time
0:00 to 3:05
|
Selecting the United Rubber Workers--autonomy for smaller locals--decision made by local leadership
|
|
|
Tape/Side
29/2-B
Time
3:06 to 5:51
|
International Association of Machinists at Parker Pen--weak IAM effort to organize the whole plant--competition between the old federal local and the IAM
|
|
|
Tape/Side
29/2-B
Time
5:52 to 7:07
|
Rubber Workers in the AFL
|
|
|
Tape/Side
29/2-B
Time
7:08 to 10:43
|
URW organizers in Janesville--Bill Kitchens--J. W.'s knowledge of Pete Bomarito, current URW president--importance of bringing wives to the conventions
|
|
|
Tape/Side
29/2-B
Time
10:44 to 17:34
|
Few changes resulted at the local level--Janesville local from bookkeeping standpoint--Janesville people offered opportunities with the URW international office--J. W. involved in effort to organize Schaeffer Pen, ran into anti-union sentiment
|
|
|
Tape/Side
29/2-B
Time
17:35 to 19:35
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Parker management did not care about shift from federal local to URW--concluding comments
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