UAW: Untold Stories From The Factory Floor

From Frank Hammer

I was hired at the Detroit Chevy Forge in June 1974, my first of two GM plants, as a Loader, the lowest paying job in the UAW-GM contract. I became a member of amalgamated UAW Local 262. It was one of my most extraordinary life experiences.

The plant was built in the early 20th century, consisting of 3 large buildings. The building where I worked consisted of 40 huge steam hammers shaking the ground with every downward slam on red hot metal, showering sparks high above the plant floor. It was unheated in the winter, except for ground level heat jets. In the summer it was 110 degrees.

Our next door neighbor Chevy Gear and Axle

I filled skips from a conveyor belt with steel fed from a massive shear - maybe steel rods or large heavy blocks. The plant had a dirt floor. 75 % of the workforce was African American men who mostly migrated from a previous life as Southern sharecroppers. Many suffered severe hearing loss due to the slamming noise generated by the hammers. I lasted 7 months before I got laid off, out of line of seniority. Seemed the Local had a secret agreement granting super seniority to Plant 3 employees, where the supervisors' sons worked.

I had a 6 month old daughter and had to rely on unemployment insurance (no Supplemental Unemployment Insurance-SUB). I treasure fond memories of my union brothers, from whom I learned so much