Wendell "Rocky" Wright discusses his career as a production worker and GM manager at the Fisher Body plant in Lansing, MI Doug Rademacher: [recorder clicking] Good morning. Today, uh, is May 23, 2006. We’re the Lansing Fisher Body Historical Team. And today, it’s approximately, uh, 9:20 a.m. [sniffing] And we’re here to interview Rocky Wright. First, we’ll introduce the team. Cheryl McQuaid: Cheryl McQuaid. John Fedewa: John Fedewa. Jerri Smith: Jerri Smith. Doug Rademacher: And I’m Doug Rademacher. [0:26] Would you please state your name and spell it for us? Rocky Wright: Rocky Wright, um, I’m better known as Rocky Wright, anyway. The real name is Wendell Wright, W-E-N-D-E-L-L W-R-I-G-H-T. Doug Rademacher: [0:40] And what is your address? Rocky Wright: 1902 Shore Drive, Orleans, Michigan 48865. [papers rustling] Doug Rademacher: [0:49] And are you married? Rocky Wright: Yes, I am; 46 years. Doug Rademacher: [0:54] And do you have any children? Rocky Wright: Two. Doug Rademacher: [0:57] Are they, uh, boys or girls? Rocky Wright: Two girls. Doug Rademacher: Okay. [1:02] Uh, Rocky, where were you born and raised? Rocky Wright: I was born in Hartley, [coughing] Kentucky. And, uh, I came here, uh, at the age of 15 from Kentucky and, uh, lived, uh, on Jerome Street and went to school at Eastern High School. Doug Rademacher: Okay. [1:19] What is your education level? Rocky Wright: I have some college through General Motors classes [sniffing], graduated high school in ’58 and, uh, because I’d missed about a half a year there. Uh, then I took some courses, uh, through GM, over at GMI, in Flint. Doug Rademacher: All right. [1:39] And were you in the military? Rocky Wright: No, I wasn’t. Doug Rademacher: [1:42] What did your parents do for a living? Rocky Wright: My dad was a coal miner. My mother was a h-, a housewife. Doug Rademacher: Okay. [1:51] What did you do before you hired in at Fisher Body? Rocky Wright: I was a cook in the Lansing area, uh, different restaurants. Uh, one of the ones that really comes back to mind is Home Dairy Company. I was a second cook in probably one a the largest catering outfits around Lansing, anywhere. Doug Rademacher: [2:06] Where was that located? Rocky Wright: That was located on Washington Avenue, downtown Lansing. Doug Rademacher: Okay. Rocky Wright: And we ran a cafeteria there, uh, a, uh, delicatessen, bakery, uh. I worked on the third floor doin’, uh, all the food for the cafeteria. And then on the – when we had the catering jobs, we’d work all night sometimes. And at Thanksgiving, we’d do maybe 400 turkeys, stuffed turkeys. And people would pick’m up just the night before Thanksgiving. Quite an experience. Doug Rademacher: [2:35] Just for my own, uh, interest, where exactly, where was that on Washington Avenue? Rocky Wright: Uh, that was… Doug Rademacher: Was it downtown or was it, was it south? Rocky Wright: …uh, that was just, uh, south of the Michigan Theatre, if I remember correctly. Doug Rademacher: Okay. Rocky Wright: It’s quite a big building. Doug Rademacher: All right. [2:52] Uh, would you please tell us why did you hire into Fisher Body? Rocky Wright: Well, I’ll tell you, I, I, I loved cooking, but, uh, I couldn’t make the living that I wanted to make. So, uh, I hired in at, uh, GM because that looked like the best place to work at that time. And, uh, and then I could work weekends or whatever at the, uh, cooking business. Doug Rademacher: So you wanted more money, but you, uh… Rocky Wright: I wanted [inaudible 3:17]. Doug Rademacher …decided to work two jobs for a while. Rocky Wright: Yes, and I did that. Doug Rademacher: [3:20] When did you hire in at Fisher Body? Rocky Wright: Uh, May 16, 1963. Doug Rademacher: [tsk] [3:28] How did you know they were hiring? Rocky Wright: Uh, I had a, um, couple of, uh, neighbors talkin’ that they were going to be hiring, so, uh, I, uh, took off over here and put in a application. And, uh, within two or three days, I got called. [tsk] Doug Rademacher: [3:47] Did you have to stand in line or was there a, [sniffing] a group of people at that time or did you just show up and walk right in? Rocky Wright: I, um, basically walked right in. Because I don’t know if it was the wrong time or, or the right time a day or what but, uh, there was, uh, very few people fillin’ out apps at that time. Uh, but shortly after that, they really were hiring. I mean everything that walked through the door practically, they were hirin’ at that time. But, uh, there was really not that big a crowd when I came in and filled out the application. Doug Rademacher: [4:22] And do you remember where you went? Rocky Wright: Uh, yes, at the old Fisher Body plant down – went down in the main entrance and up to the – and [clanking] around the corner to the old employment office. Doug Rademacher: Okay. [4:34] And do you remember what your, uh – what that was like? Was there a… Rocky Wright: Oh. Doug Rademacher: …physical or what kinda things was… Rocky Wright: [laughter] Yeah, well, it was, uh, kinda reminds you of a dungeon, really. [laughter] It was, uh, very dark and not, not any windows or anything. And, uh, it was, uh, I mean it was – it looked like an office and it was clean and everything but it just seemed strange to me, you know, that everything was below ground level. And, uh, then, uh, I remember going upstairs when I came back to, uh, get a physical – had to go upstairs and get a physical [clicking] but that was on the main floor. And that, that area must’ve moved I don’t know how many times – uh, half a dozen in my career there. Doug Rademacher: [5:20] How old were you when you hired in? Rocky Wright: Twenty-three. Doug Rademacher: [5:24] What shift and what department did you first work? Rocky Wright: I, uh, started on days in the, uh, cushion room. And, uh, worked 41 days and g – or, uh, worked 89 days and got laid off. Doug Rademacher: Well before I get you to the 89th day and ask you why, why that’s a special thing, tell me about – you’d been a cook. You’ve came in. You’ve been accepted for work. [5:50] Would you please share [clicking] – you saw the dungeon, where you, where you filled out your paperwork. The day they brought you in, can you describe what you saw and what it felt like when you saw the assembly line for the first time and, uh, [sniffing] and your first day on the job? Rocky Wright: Well, they brought me in and, uh, took me up to a supervisor’s office. And, uh, they talked to us and told us a little bit what was gonna take place and what we did in this area and, uh, in the, uh, cushion room. And, uh, I was overwhelmed really with, uh, how many seats they were building runnin’ on that line. And so, uh, I was, you know, uh, I wasn’t real young but I was – I mean I wasn’t a kid, 18 years old. But I’ll tell you, it was kinda scary, what you was gonna have to do to make that money, you know. And if I remember right, it was only about $2.29 an hour or somethin’ like that. Doug Rademacher: [6:53] Were you welcomed by the people… Rocky Wright: Absolutely. Doug Rademacher: …when you went up to the – to that assembly line? Rocky Wright: Yes, I was. Doug Rademacher: [6:58] Now did you – the cushion was a separate area. Did you see the, the automobile assembly line on your way there? Rocky Wright: No, no I didn’t. Um, they, uh, took us through the hallways and you could hear the things goin’ on in I guess it was the body shop and stuff. But the cushion room was located in Building 15 over on – off Michigan Avenue and, uh, right next to the Shipping Building 17. And, uh, we didn’t see any, uh, [tapping] any real production areas because they took us through the office area and out across by Layout and stuff like that to get us over there. Um… Doug Rademacher: So… Rocky Wright: …but then I really was scared when they finally got me upstairs and showed me where everything was put in – bein’ put together. It was awesome. Doug Rademacher: It was awesome? Rocky Wright: It was awesome. [tapping] I said, “Lord, have mercy. What did I get into here?” [laughter] Doug Rademacher: Now, you’ve shared getting taken to your job. You said the people welcomed you. [8:00] Can you share that first day? What’d they have you do and what was it like? Was there a, a ra-… Rocky Wright: Well, it… Doug Rademacher: …race to learn the job or did… Rocky Wright: Uh, it was, um, completely new to me – what I’d, what I’d been doing all my 23 ye-, years of life. And, uh, I remember this lady, uh, breaking me in on zigzag. And I don’t know if you guys even know what zigzag is but zigzag is where you, uh, put the springs together for the cushions and then brought this big gun down and put the clips on the springs to hold’m together, you know, before you put the jute and the pad and all on [clanking] for the cushion. And, uh, she showed me, uh, uh, two or three of’m and what to do and how many clips to put on and what have you and, uh, and I took over. But boy, I’ll tell you, by the time I got done that day, this little guy was tired. [laughter] Doug Rademacher: [8:56] And was [papers rustling] this a – uh, hard on the hands or, or was it, uh, just strenuous? Or was it just repetitiveness? What was – what wore you out? Rocky Wright: Basically, it was, uh, hard on your shoulder and hand because you’re pullin’ the gun down. It was on a, uh, balancer of some kind. You’d pull the gun down and, and then pull the trigger. So, uh, about anything new like that was definitely gonna make you sore and tired. But, uh, I hung with her. Doug Rademacher: Okay. [9:23] Well, now share that, uh, [clicking] you did that and you went on to this 89 days. You say you got laid off? Rocky Wright: Well, things slowed down, I guess you might say. And, uh, they, uh, um, started cuttin’ people and doin’ things different, slowin’ down the line and stuff. And they, uh, laid me off at 89 days. And I had to get 90 days in order to get the benefits and establish seniority. So, uh, I’m pretty sad when they laid me off, you know, because I had bec-, I had become pretty good at what I was doin’ and had moved around a couple a times in, uh, different jobs. [sniffing] And, uh, I hated to go back to that cookin’ full time, but, uh, I, uh, I left. I’m sad but I left. And, uh, I thought that was the end of it. And, um, 41 days later, I got called back. And I had [thumping] to quit my job again. But, um, I don’t know, you guys may not know [Jerry Brooks 10:24] but Jerry Brooks was the, uh, employment, uh, supervisor at that time. And he said – he called me and he says, “Rock, I got a job for you.” And he says, “It looks pretty good.” He says, um, “But you have to work nights.” And I said, uh, “No, I ain’t workin’ nights. I gotta job. I’m workin’ straight days and I guess, uh, I’ll just, uh, stay here.” He says, “Well,” he says, uh, “we really need you. We really need your help.” And, uh, he says, uh, “Come in on days then, Monday.” I said, “Okay, I’ll do that.” So, uh, I came in on days. And, and, uh, I had been laid off for the 41 days so, uh, now I gotta work on this 90-day thing again, you know. And I got up to 88 days and they laid me off again. Boy, I am fired up now. And, I mean, I’m hot ‘cause now I gotta go see if I can get a job back cookin’ [clicking] again. And – but anyway, [clicking] I left again. And, and I was only off, uh, 37 days, if, uh, if I remember the numbers right. And he calls me up again and he says, “I got a job for you but you’ll have to work nights.” And I said, “Jerry, don’t tell me I gotta work nights ‘cause I ain’t comin’ back to work nights.” And he says, “Okay. Fine.” And then he hung up. I thought that was the end of it. Couple days later, he called me back. He says, “All right. Come in on days. Can you be here tomorrow mornin’?” I said, “Jerry, I can’t just walk out on these people, you know. I’m cookin’ upstairs here and, uh, they need me.” And he says, uh – okay, I think this was on Wednesday, maybe. I said, “I can be there Monday.” He said, “Make it Friday.” And I said, “I don’t know if I can do it.” He says, “Make it Friday or I’m just gonna forget you.” So I says, “Okay. I’ll be there Friday.” So, uh, I went in at, uh, midnight at my cooking job and got everything ready for the cafeteria and I was here at 7:00 in the mornin’. And, uh, I was never laid off after that except for changeover. Doug Rademacher: [12:42] Did you continue to work the two jobs for a little while? Rocky Wright: Oh, yes. Doug Rademacher: Oh yeah? Rocky Wright: Yes. Doug Rademacher: So you didn’t let’m go. You… Rocky Wright: Well, in fact, I worked three jobs. I worked at Fisher Body [thumping] 40 hours a week. And I cooked, uh, [clicking] about 20 hours a week. And I worked weekends [clicking] at, uh, Texaco Gas Station, right across from Gorsline Runciman Funeral Home on Saturday and Sunday. I did that for over two years. Doug Rademacher: [13:05] And this time, you – uh, every time back to the cushion room or where were you at? Rocky Wright: Uh, yes, I went back to the cushion room there until, uh, uh, we started runnin’ seatbelts. Um, and, uh, I put in a transfer to go up in Trim and, uh, moved up to Trim and started installin’ seatbelts. Doug Rademacher: Okay, you spoke about seein’ that assembly line with the autos on it and you said it was awesome. Rocky Wright: Oh, it was. Doug Rademacher: [13:31] So tell me about goin’ to the seatbelt job and how awesome was that? Rocky Wright: Well, when I saw that, [tapping] [sniffing] I’m thinkin’, uh, how in the world [thumping] do you put all these bolts and screws in every one a these locations, you know? Every body that comes through there has gotta have one. And, uh, it don’t take you long to figure out how to do it ‘cause you get down at the end of that hose and that is tough work down there but more you can stay up the line, the better off you are. I mean you get the shot at it right way. So, uh, it was a, it was a new experience but, uh, I worked it out. And, and I had a little trouble with my arm, runnin’ that gun. But, uh, that’s the way it was, you know. Doug Rademacher: [14:15] Do you remember who taught you that job? Rocky Wright: Well, let’s see, I think maybe that that might have been, uh – I think the, um, hourly guy might have been, uh, Keith, um – oh goodness, forgive me, but, uh… Doug Rademacher: Oh, that don’t matter. I just wondered if, if, uh, that person treated you good. If you – if he, if he… Rocky Wright: He treated me really good. Doug Rademacher: …made it easy for you. Rocky Wright: He treated me really good. And, uh, he showed me some a the shortcuts of how to get there and, and not be down the line on time. That’s the worst thing you could do was be down the line. And I know from bein’ [coughing] an hourly, you know, I fought jobs. And, and as a member of, uh, 602 Local, uh, fightin’ the job because they were tryin’ to add on all the time, you know. Well, you know how that goes. And, uh, but, um, he just was, uh – I think he was glad to, uh, teach me because, uh, I think he was kind of a utility guy, you know. And he didn’t like that job either [laughter] and so, uh, he wanted me to catch on right away… Doug Rademacher: Yeah. Rocky Wright: …so he could get off of it. Doug Rademacher: [15:25] What’s a utility job? What’s that do? Rocky Wright: Well, at that time, it was, uh, extra people that when, uh, uh, Doug Rademacher don’t show up for work, he might be doin’ your job that day. [tapping] Or, uh, uh, I wouldn’t show up, he’d be doin’ my job. So, uh, uh, they called’m utility people back then. It, it got different later on. Doug Rademacher: [15:45] Did you have any other family members that worked at Fisher Body? Rocky Wright: [tsk] Uh, not at that time. Uh, later on, uh, uh, after I had, uh, went to salary, my, uh, brother came in here to work. And, uh, I did not get him hired in but he hired in on his own. But I did have a son-in-law that, uh, I, uh, talked him into comin’ here and he still works, uh, for General Motors. Doug Rademacher: [16:13] Thinkin’ back to, uh, your early days, do you remember any, uh, new hire initiations or pranks played on you? Rocky Wright: Oh, [papers rustling] yes, quite a few of’m, to be honest with you. [coughing] Doug Rademacher: [16:23] Could, could you [inaudible 16:24]? Rocky Wright: Uh, I didn’t fall for all of’m, but some of’m I did. And, uh, you know, that, uh, that went on. I don’t care who you were, sooner or later, they’re gonna get you for one. Uh, and I can remember one that, uh, these guys all got together in a little – what we called a smokin’ area in the cushion room because everything was so flammable over there. You had to go in this room if you smoked. And they said, uh, “Hey Rock,” he says, uh, “you know it’s almost Thanksgiving.” And he says, uh, “The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, uh, if you go over to, uh, the employment office at, uh, [tapping] 4:00, they, uh, will give you a turkey.” And so, you know, [tapping] naïve, dumb or whatever you wanna call it – wow. So I started askin’ around, you know, some of the people that didn’t play pranks and stuff, and they just kinda grinned. I thought, uh-oh, [thumping] somethin’ is wrong here. So I go back and I was tellin’ this guy that told me this story, I said, uh, “By the way, uh, we’ve already bought our turkey and, uh, we don’t have a freezer to put it in. So you just, uh, take my badge number and go over there and get it for yourself.” And he said, “But I’m already gettin’ one.” I said, “Well, get two of’m. You gotta big family of liars.” [laughter] Doug Rademacher: Got him right off – caught him on, on that one, huh? Rocky Wright: But there was more than th-, that that they tried to pull. I’ll tell you. There was some, oh, there was some real dirty tricks that some guys pulled. They, they – that were almost sickening. Doug Rademacher: Uh… Rocky Wright: But we got through it. Doug Rademacher: [18:02] You don’t wanna share one of those sickening ones? Rocky Wright: Uh, well, I can tell you one that was, uh, real, I thought it was – I won’t mention any names of who did it because I thought it was really sick. But, uh, this, uh, one gal that hired in, uh – and like I said, I won’t mention any names. Uh, uh, she was workin’ on the line up there and one a the guys told her, uh, “Hey, uh, go back and tell your foreman there, uh, um – listen to him talk about his, uh, kid. He just won a, a skating contest in the Olympics.” There’s no Olympics goin’ in, but she was real naïve, and she goes back. And she says, uh, to the supervisor, says, uh, “Hey, I hear that you have a, uh, real talented son that, uh, won a skating contest in the Olympics.” He said, “What are you talkin’ about? My son don’t have any legs!” Jerri Smith: Oh no. Rocky Wright: That was the sickest thing I ever heard in my life but that was some of the stuff that wa-, they came up with. Jerri Smith: [tsk] Oh… Doug Rademacher: Those guys thought that was funny, didn’t they? Rocky Wright: They thought it was funny, and she just broke down and cried like crazy. And, and, she wouldn’t even talk to those people for a long time after that. [sighing] That’s a bad joke, really. Jerri Smith: Mm-hm. Doug Rademacher: Oh, that’s painful for… Rocky Wright: Real bad. Doug Rademacher: …all the parties. Rocky Wright: Yeah. Doug Rademacher: [19:24] Do you remember the people you hired in with or did you hire in alone? Did you come in in a group? Rocky Wright: I, uh, came in with a group, uh, but, uh, boy, I can hardly remember the names or anything. But, uh, there, there was a lotta people came in there right around that time. Um, they started in April, I think, uh, hiring and, uh, tryin’ to fill the place up, so they could speed up the lines or something. And, uh, oh yeah, I remember a lotta people but to tell you the names, I just can’t, uh. Doug Rademacher: [19:55] So you hired in and out a few times, but you don’t re-, you don’t hang out or re-, keep contact with people you hired in with originally, back in the – in those days? Rocky Wright: No, not really because I moved outta town, you know, soon as I retired. And, uh, we used to do some things together, uh, uh, like with [Jerry Chamberlains 20:10] [tapping] and I and [Frank Meis 20:13] and, uh, people like that, uh, even [Ron Allman 20:17]. Uh, we used to do a little drinkin’ together, I guess you’d call it. Doug Rademacher: [20:25] Recreating? Rocky Wright: Recreating. Doug Rademacher: Uh-huh. [laughter] Um… Rocky Wright: Lip-wetting. [laughter] Doug Rademacher: [20:31] Now, tell us about your work life at Fisher Body. What was the environment like inside the plant? And what was the typical day like? Rocky Wright: Well, uh, when I first started, the typi-, typical day was just, uh, come in and do your job [tapping] for 8 hours and go home tired. But then, we started runnin’, uh, what they call the Astrodome Wagon. [coughing] Remember that, where the – all the folding seats were built offline. And, uh, [tapping] I got into buildin’ the second seat. And that thing had a ton a hardware on it and it was heavy. And, uh, and they wanted us to work, uh, 10 or 12 [sniffing] hours a day ‘cause they were sellin’ every one of’m. The Astrodome was the one that had the, uh, raised roof with the glass across the front of it. Doug Rademacher: Oh, the Vista Cruiser. Rocky Wright: Vista Cruiser. Uh, it was – when we first started runnin’, it was, uh, called the Astrodome but it – then they changed it to the Vista Cruiser. Doug Rademacher: [21:25] Oh, so, that was the real name? Rocky Wright: I was gonna get to that, yeah. Doug Rademacher: [21:26] It was called the Astrodome? Rocky Wright: Early, early on. Doug Rademacher: I didn’t know that. Rocky Wright: Yes. And, uh, that was, uh, that was a trying job. But, uh, it was awful hard work and heavy work, um, but I did that for quite some time. And, uh, then, uh, you know, there was a real [sniffing] trick to skin and covers too. I became a – what we was talkin’ about a little bit ago – a utility guy in the cushion room. And, uh, when you first started in skin and covers on where there was backs or cushions, you know, rollin’ the corners and stuff, you had some sore hands for a few days. But, uh… Doug Rademacher: So explain… Rocky Wright: …after you got good at it – I mean you, you, uh, the cushion would come to you, let’s say, uh, with all the pad and, uh, jute and all that stuff, hardware on the, onto the springs. And then, uh, the guy next to you would put a thin rubber pad on. And then we’d put the cover down [tapping] and I’d hog-ring it across the back and then flip the corners, flip the cushion over and [thumping] pull up in the center with a hog ring and hook it to the frame. Doug Rademacher: [22:30] What is a hog ring? Rocky Wright: A hog ring is a, is kind of a U-shaped thing that you push onto a, uh, wire or the, uh, uh, binding in the – on [tapping] around the cover and then you squeeze it together. And we did, uh, on certain jobs, you did’m by hand. And I still have my hog ringer and the hog ringer I own today that I used in the cushion room. And then, of course, we got high tech, started, uh, makin’ hog ring guns and, uh, they were run by air. And you’d put a – you had a strip a hog rings that were shaped like a U, let’s say, or a C and you put, uh – slide’m onto the gun and then, uh, you pushed the cover up to where this wire was and pulled the trigger and it would squeeze the hog ring for you. Doug Rademacher: [22:22] Now, automation brought a little more danger, though. Can you tell me about that? Rocky Wright: Oh, absolutely. You, uh, sometimes would come up with that gun and slip or the, the, uh, cord would break on the cover and you might hook one in your chin or one in your arm or, uh, your lip. [thumping] Uh, yeah, it brought some dangers. [sniffing] A lotta people fainted down there from runnin’ one in their arm and closin’ it up and then somebody had to have a set of cutters to get it out. I know the ladies were real, uh, prevalent to faintin’ if – always when they got one in’m. They’d usually faint and hit the floor. [laughing] Doug Rademacher: [23:59] And what was the, uh, [coughing] – what was it like? Was there a lotta women in this cushion room or? Rocky Wright: Oh, yes. Um… Doug Rademacher: [Inaudible 24:03]. Rocky Wright: …cushion room was, uh, uh, a lot – mostly, uh, women, uh, in, uh, pad-up and spring-up and stuff where I started. Uh, but, uh, you know, there was many more women when I first started there than there was, uh, men. But they – that was just prior to, uh, or just after they had, uh, moved cut and sew out. ‘Cause they used to make all the covers there in the cushion room also. Doug Rademacher: [24:31] So you developed friendships with the people you worked around. Did you come a time where you considered them brothers and sisters? Rocky Wright: Absolutely. Doug Rademacher: Can you tell me… Rocky Wright: Uh, there was, uh… Doug Rademacher: [24:42] How does that develop? Rocky Wright: Well, I think, uh, that if you’re like, uh, UAW membership, you do a lotta things together. You go to union meetings together. You work [thumping] together every day. And, uh, seemed to be everybody was brothers and sisters in there. Or, uh, and if one had a problem, we all had a problem, uh-huh. [throat clearing] And of course, later on, there was always a few, you know, that kinda separated and come to the top, you know, sorta like the cream. Uh, and, uh, those were – there was a few a those that were a little better than everybody else, you know. They didn’t have time to, uh, hobnob with us or, uh, drink a beer with us or they were, uh, just snobbish, uh, ornery people, I guess I called’m. So, uh, those were kind of in a little clique a their own, you know. And, uh, we stayed away from them. Doug Rademacher: [25:38] So you say they were cream, they, maybe they were sediment. Rocky Wright: Well, they might have but sediment don’t come to the top. Doug Rademacher: That’s what I mean. Maybe [coughing] they were actually on the bottom, huh? [laughing] They just thought they were on top. Rocky Wright: Mm-hm. Yeah. That’s what I mean. Yeah. They did think [tapping] they were on top, uh, but they weren’t. Doug Rademacher: [25:52] Have you developed friendships from there that extended outside the plant? Rocky Wright: Oh, yes, yes. Uh, like, um, uh, [Ron Allman 26:00] started in the cushion room, see. And, uh, we’ve, we’ve been friends for a lotta years. And we know his wife. And, uh, we don’t – they live in Charlotte and we live in Orleans, so we don’t get together durin’ the year but I see’m every year in Florida, every year. And, uh, we tip a few colas, you know, and, uh, summer soft drinks. Doug Rademacher: Mm-hm, mm-hm. [thumping] [tsk] [26:25] What did you do for lunch and can you talk about what it was like to, to know a break was comin’? Was it hard to keep up with the line? So what about breaks and lunches and stuff? [paper rustling] What did you do when you hired in? Rocky Wright: Well, if I remember right, we had like, uh, two eight-minute breaks a, a day and, uh, [throat clearing] two six-minute wagons. Uh, a wagon was where a coffee thing would came around on a little cart with doughnuts and, uh, coffee, and, uh, milk and stuff like that. We didn’t have the pop or anything. But, uh, uh, we had two a those a day. But the cushion room had two eight-minute breaks. Uh, because, uh, you couldn’t smoke in the cushion room, so we’d take the break and go in that room and just puff our brains out, you know. And, uh, a lotta folks smoked back then. And it was just a cloud of blue, I’m tellin’ you. [laughter] And, uh, but for lunch, um, I usually brown-bagged it. But once in a while, you’d go to the cafeteria. We had a 42-minute lunch back then. And, uh, then we kinda changed that, went to a half an hour ‘cause everybody wanted to get out earlier. Doug Rademacher: Okay. [27:38] Was there departmental dinners and did you participate come the holidays or other [tsk] events that would happen? Rocky Wright: Yes, we used to, uh, have, uh, a [tapping] Thanksgiving one and a Christmas one. Uh, we – everybody’d bring a dish to pass. And, uh, uh, those that didn’t want to bring a dish would, uh, throw in a few bucks. And, uh, some, some of the team would take a, a – or get ham or roast beef or turkey. And, uh, [clicking] we’d have a nice layout and [thumping] – for the holidays. Doug Rademacher: [28:12] And you just worked right on around this food? And… Rocky Wright: Oh, yes. Doug Rademacher: …and ate for eight minutes or… Rocky Wright: Yeah, we, uh… Doug Rademacher: …of course, you had the lunch. Rocky Wright: We would always, uh, figure out some way where the relief people, uh, uh, who [clicking] relieved people from their job for emergency release and stuff and, uh, they would, uh, um, set up tables beside the line or somethin’, you know, or right down the aisle where they wouldn’t have to run material trucks or somethin’. And, uh, or in the smoking room, we called it. Uh, but those were really a lotta fun. Doug Rademacher: [28:46] Would you share a story about the cushion department and, uh, some trouble that happened and would you share your, your story of that particular chain of events and what happened back then? Rocky Wright: Yep, I, uh, [tapping] if I remember… Doug Rademacher: [29:00] What year, what year was that? Rocky Wright: …seems to me like it was, uh, 1966, but I may be wrong, and seems to me like it was September 17th. And, uh, we had been fighting, uh, for, uh, pigskin gloves, really. And pigskin gloves were expensive. And of course, they wanted to give us, [door closing] uh, cloth gloves that were, uh, about 10 cents a pair or somethin’. I mean they didn’t last at all. I thought it was crazy that they bought those because they didn’t last at all, uh, especially with the oily frames and, uh, sharp metal and stuff. And, uh, so, uh, we, uh, our, uh, union kept fighting for it and fighting for it. And, uh, I won’t, again, won’t mention any names, but there was a few people got together and, uh, decided that, uh, we’ll bring her to a head, either they’ll give us gloves or we’ll shut it down. And, uh, I happened to be involved in that a little bit. And, um, some awful stories started about me in that area but then they weren’t all true. Uh, but I was involved in the wildcat. And, uh…. Doug Rademacher: [30:19] What’s a wildcat? Rocky Wright: Well, that’s a, that’s a, uh, unauthorized work stoppage. And, uh… Doug Rademacher: [30:27] And being unauthorized means it wasn’t approved by the international union or… Rocky Wright: That’s right. Doug Rademacher: …the local? Rocky Wright: Never been a strike vote on it or anything. That was not approved by the international. But we got some attention. Doug Rademacher: [30:37] What happened? What did you do? Rocky Wright: Well, we ended up gettin’ a few gloves, uh, and we went outside and locked the gates, so they couldn’t move the trucks. And, uh, and the people, uh, didn’t have any seats but the cars, so they sent’m home. And, uh, of course a lotta them then kinda congregated around the, [sniffing] uh, gate and stuff and out in the parkin’ lot and, you know, discussin’ the matter and whether it was good, bad or indifferent. Uh, but it was kind of a, a wild night... Doug Rademacher: Now... Rocky Wright: ...to say the least. Doug Rademacher: [31:12] And back then, did you, uh, with the work stoppage, did you still get paid, the other people? Rocky Wright: Uh, I, I don’t know. I think maybe the other people did. We didn’t get paid. Doug Rademacher: Okay. Rocky Wright: Uh, well, I guess we did get paid. Some of us got disciplined. Doug Rademacher: That’s what I was wonderin’ about. Rocky Wright: Yeah, uh. Doug Rademacher: [31:27] So did somebody take the, the [wrath 31:29] for that? Rocky Wright: Uh, yeah, there was, uh, some people that got, uh, [clicking] got some pretty harsh pun-, punishment, uh. I know Dorothy Stevens was one in that case. And, uh, I got a couple weeks myself. Um, so it, it was really tough on me. I – as soon as they gave me the discipline, I went to Florida. But, uh, it was a interest-, interesting situation. And I learned a lot, [thumping] brother. I learned a lot about that. And I don’t think I’d ever do it again, not like that. But, uh – because that’s the only blemish that was ever on my record here and, oh well, you know. I lived through it. Thank God, I did, but, uh, it’s, uh… Doug Rademacher: Well, you say it was a blemish. [32:19] Did – but you felt you did it for the right reason? Rocky Wright: Yes, I thought I did it for the right reason but it’s still on my record. I mean it was on my record that I had, uh – was involved in a illegal work stoppage. And, uh, but, uh, I probly would do it again but I’d do it different, let’s put it that way. Doug Rademacher: [32:38] Well, as we talk about that then, would you please tell me about moving into the, uh, management role? And, uh, what made you – [papers rustling] when did you become a supervisor? And obviously they, uh, didn’t think too less of you if they asked you to join the, the other side, the other [inaudible 32:54]. Rocky Wright: Well, uh, I was always [thumping] – ‘cause I never missed any time, [clicking] ever. And, um, I always did my job, even though I argued with certain people. Uh, one in particular I will tell you about in the cushion room was, uh – I don’t know if you guys know or heard of’m is [Charlie Socher 33:16]. [laughter] Uh, that guy I just absolutely could not get along with that guy and I don’t care how hard I worked for him or whatever, he just did not like me. And then in, uh, after I had left the cushion room and, uh, I went on salary in Quality Control on October 7, 1968 and so now I’m the Quality Control Supervisor over all the inspectors, see, so I come to the cushion room to check something and Charlie Socher runs over and throws his arm around my shoulder and “Boy, I just, I just think you’re the greatest guy and I’m so proud of you.” And I said, “Get your hand off me. You wanted to walk on me like dirt when I worked for you, so don’t touch me now.” And him and I never ever [throat clearing] got along after that or before. Excuse me. [coughing] But, uh, that was the only supervisor that I ever really did not want him around me, touch me, anything, you know. [clicking] And, uh, [thumping] so I, I mean he might have thought I was a real knucklehead, you know, when, when I told him to get his hands off me, don’t touch me but, uh, that’s the way I felt, so. And but anyway, uh, I had, uh, I transferred into Quality Control and I did a good job for him so my boss, uh, Robert Martin, Bob Martin, you probably heard of him. He was the night shift superintendent at the time in Quality Control and he offered me the job, I took it and, uh, never looked back and, uh, I retired in 1998 as a, uh, production superintendent on the chassis side. Doug Rademacher: [tsk] You – I’m gonna go back real briefly to, uh, you got your, uh, 89 days in a couple times, you said the gentleman had called you back, said, “Rock, I got a job for you.” [35:26] Where did Rocky come from? And obviously it was on, early on, so why don’t you share how... Rocky Wright: Okay, well... Doug Rademacher: ...you got that nickname? Rocky Wright: Uh, when I was a, a young lad in Kentucky I used to do some fighting, you know, for the school. [papers rustling] And, uh, and we had a little gym there in Kentucky, at that time it was Weeksbury, Kentucky just over the hill from where I was born. And, uh, I had never, uh, been knocked down or anything. I lost a few fights on points but I’ve never been knocked down, so my coach starting calling me, uh, Rockhead. And, uh, I don’t know, It just kinda stayed with me. [papers rustling] And then when I got to Michigan, uh, in 1955 I started working for this guy by the name of [Jerry Yarger 36:17] who was a farmer in Dimondale and he had a stall in the Lansing, uh, vegetable market down there, the – at Shiawassee and... Jerri Smith: City... Rocky Wright: Cedar. Jerri Smith: City Market. Rocky Wright: City Market, yes. And, uh, [throat clearing] I started working for him and, uh, he says, uh, to me one day, he says, uh, “Where did you get a name of Wendell?” I said, “Well, my dad was an avid Republican. My grandfather was an avid Republican. And when Wendell Willkie was runnin’ for president in 1941, that’s where I got the name.” And I said they – my grandfather wanted to call me Wendell Willkie but my dad said, “No way you puttin’ Willkie in there.” So I don’t have a middle name. And so this Rocky just stuck with me, uh, from I don’t know, somebody mentioned it to somebody and somebody started calling me Rockhead, next thing you know they’re calling me Rocky and it just hung with me the rest of my life and everybody knows me as Rocky today. And, uh, I even go to my credit union and just sign Rocky and they know who it is. [laughter] Doug Rademacher: Really? Um, you went into management, you say you went right fairly moved – just a moment here, Jerri Smith. Jerri Smith: Yes. [37:36] Rocky, seeings how you worked on the line as a line worker and then [coughing] into supervision, how did you and the committee people get along after the transformation? Rocky Wright: Well, [throat clearing] we, uh, I thought we got along quite well. There were certain committee men that, uh, you had a tough, tough time with and that’s when I became tough, [tapping] you know. If you want to be reasonable with me, I’ll be reasonable with you. You start trying to walk on me, I’m gonna get on top of you one way or another. And, uh, yes, we had, uh, uh, [Curley Jones 38:13] and I have had some trying times, uh, but I never gave in to Curley Jones, uh, without a fight. And, uh, it doesn’t make any difference [throat clearing] if I’m a, a committeeman or a salary man, I’m still gonna fight for what I think is right. I’ve had, uh, some very good relationships with, uh, people like, uh, uh, [Don Brown 38:35] when he was on, uh, shop committee and, um, I never had any problem with, uh, many other committeemen. But Curley Jones and I just didn’t see eye to eye but, uh, we didn’t see eye to eye when I had Repair up in 3X and, uh, Curley Jones was a repairman either ‘cause to be very honest with you, I thought Curley Jones when he came to work was so tired he couldn’t do his job because he was farmin’, you know and, uh, maybe that was the reason. But, uh, him and I were head to head most of the time and, uh, then when he went on committee, uh, we – it didn’t change much. Uh, we’re not great friends yet but we still hobnob together a little bit in Florida. Uh, but I try to be honest and, uh, true. I mean I try to tell people what I thought was right and, uh, I never had a lotta people mad, or not a lotta people problems while I was managing. Uh, there – yes, there was, uh, I mean I had some pretty tough questions for the committeemen sometimes you know, like, uh, why do you spend, uh, 98% of your time with 5% of the workforce? Because we had such good people and then we’d have, you know, like a, a lump in the sugar box. You have just a few, you know, that caused you problems all the time, didn’t show up for work, drunk on the job or whatever. And, uh, that, um, that always just absolutely blew my mind why we spend s-, me too, you know, because I spend a lotta my time with those problem people. We spent, uh, 98% of our time with, uh, 3% to 5% of the workforce, uh, rather than us going up and tellin’ Doug Rademacher, “You just did a fine job today. I hope you have a nice evening.” Uh, we didn’t have time for that because we’re talkin’ to the guy that didn’t come to work Monday, don’t come to work on Friday especially on night shift. You paid’m on Thursday night then you didn’t see’m Friday night, you know, we had a few of those. And then I won’t mention one committeeman, I called him one day or one night, I was the night shift superintendent for quite some time in, uh, Trim and I called this committeeman up and said, “Get down to the office right now, I’ve got one down here, a real live one.” “What’s a matter?” I said, “He’s drunk. He can’t stay on the chair.” He said, “Oh.” He said, “Just call a cab and send him home.” I said “Uh-uh. I’m not gettin’ no lawsuit outta this one, pal. Come on down here.” So he comes down and now I’ve got two drunks. [laughter] This committeeman was as drunk as the guy he’s going to represent, so obviously I, uh, got another committeeman and, uh, we disciplined both of’m and Plant Security took one of’m home. I don’t know what happened to the other one but, uh, man they were both messed up. And, uh, but we’ve had some, we had some real encounters around contract time. Uh, you know, um, union representation always tried to protect their people and management always tried to protect their people also and, uh, there was times when, uh, we got rid of some bad apples, uh, on discharging’m, you know. Uh, I remember [throat clearing] a little guy from Albion by the name of [Fred Whitney 42:10]. Uh, we sprayed headlinings up in 3X and this Fred Whitney, I mean which is a really dumb thing to do, he walks through [sniffing] and throws a firecra-, cracker in, uh, [FS1120 42:26] and that was that old yellow glue, you know, that we sprayed on headlinings. The flash point is so low and that is pathetic and fortunately we didn’t have a fire but he could’ve blown that building up because we had barrels of it around there, you know. I discharged him and he’s one that never came back. He threatened my family, threatened me, everything but he never came back ‘cause boy, he really put some people in jeopardy that night. And, uh, I don’t know why he did it but he just thought it was gonna be funny if we had a little fire in that booth, you know. It was really dumb. But that’s just some of the things you encounter with some of these people and, uh, but when you had people out for absenteeism and what have you, uh, I mean discharge, uh, contract time comin’ up, you know, of course the union is gonna try to get those people back and most of the time they did but, uh, again they just brought the problem back and we fought with it for another three years, you know, ‘cause those people, a lot of’m never made it. [throat clearing] They had problems and they just couldn’t correct them. We couldn’t either I guess. And you probably have some of those today. [laughter] Doug Rademacher: Absolutely. [throat clearing] There are some new changes in, uh, in, uh, the national agreement to continue to help make it easier to, uh, uh, get rid of that people [coughing] [inaudible 43:51] that’s, that always has been our effort to protect our, our workers. Cheryl McQuaid. Cheryl McQuaid: [43:57] Rocky, what did you feel made a good employee? Rocky Wright: Uh, a good employee was one that came in, uh, you know, he didn’t have to get involved in anything else but he did his job and did it right. If he didn’t do it right, he let somebody know that he didn’t get it done right because the ultimate customer out there wants it right when he buys that car. And, uh, you know, for years we had salary people that keep [sniffing] pushin’ the people, you know, to get it out, get it out, get it out, it don’t have to be right, you know, get it out. And guess what? Look where we’re at today because of that, because we did ship some, uh, bad quality for a long time. But then we improved but it was a little [sniffing] bit late. Uh, but a good employee was one that came in and, uh, did his job and, uh, if he wanted help with anything he wasn’t afraid to ask and, uh, those type of people you weren’t afraid to help’m either. And, uh, they need to be at work every day, you know. Unless you’re deathly ill, you need to be at work every day because we depend on somebody to be on that job every day and, uh, it’s so much easier on everybody if everybody is here every day. And, uh, I don’t care if you’re a, a what they call a absentee replacement or utility guy or relief guy, or what, you don’t do that job like the guy that does it every day, day in, day out. Uh, so absenteeism was probably one of our worst problems we had. Uh, we had some – but we had bad salary people too, don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t just the hourly folks. We had a lot people that just lived on numbers and some of’m were pretty high, uh, positions and, uh, I didn’t, I didn’t know why that we had to do business that way but it’s not right. Doug Rademacher: [45:59] When you say lived on numbers, you’re talking about, uh, head count or workload or [inaudible 46:03]? What do you mean? Rocky Wright: Head count, workload, uh, buy rates, uh, shipping rates. Uh, I mean there’s a chart of numbers like the calendar there, you know. Uh, if you got, uh, if you didn’t have 85% buy rate at the end of the line, you’re not runnin’, you know, it’s just too much repair going up there. And, uh, I don’t know. There was attitudes from some of the salary just didn’t care, you know, that, uh, whether we got it done or not, just get it out the door. And a lotta those are not around anymore or weren’t when I left. And some of those went bye-bye even though they were salary. Doug Rademacher: [46:43] Uh, what was your relationship with the skilled trades? Rocky Wright: Very good, very good. I, uh, I had a lot of friends in, uh, maintenance and skilled trades, uh, like [Glen Borman 46:54] and I are very good friends. Um, I had a tinsmith down there that we used to do a lot of stuff together and I got his daughters hired in here at one time, uh, uh, Lloyd Wolever. Uh, that guy was the most talented tinman I’ve ever seen. He could make anything out of tin. And, uh, if I needed anything in Trim, um, it might not have been the right thing to do but he’d go around his regular job and get that done for me. He – we were just good friends, you know. He’s quite a guy. He’s, he was never able, able to have kids yet he adopted a couple a girls and, uh, boy, they’ve been a lot of problems for him. And, uh, I’ve tried to help him out with it. I got’m a job but one of’m took the buyout and the other one she has all kinds of other problems and sh-, I think, uh, maybe drugs and booze might be the biggest problem. But I feel so sorry for him because they, they did so well with those kids or tried to give them everything they wanted and just never, never came to grips with it, their kids I mean. Doug Rademacher: I want to take you back, uh, [throat clearing] the Fisher brothers purchased the building, they have what’s recognized as the Body by Fisher is a coach. [48:17] Can you tell me about the Fisher coach and something that you might have done? Rocky Wright: Well, I remember, uh, and again I don’t, I don’t even remember what year it was but, uh, we were down for changeover and, uh, usually at changeover I take the first two weeks vacation, you know. And, uh, we were going to be down four to five weeks that time, so I took the first two weeks and I come back and, uh, Bob Martin, who, the guy that hired me in, um, Quality Control, uh, he met me at the door and he had a, a drawing as big as that chart you have up there, uh, maybe as big as that board. Doug Rademacher: [48:58] So about a 4 x 5? Rocky Wright: Yeah, something like that, with a draw-, hand drawing of the coach that he had drawn and he met me at the door with it and he says, uh [tsk] “I got a project for you here and I, I need it in two weeks.” I looked at that and I said “Holy mackerel. What do you need me to do, color it? [laughter] And he says “No.” He, uh, I mean he was the second man under the plant manager at that time. He was the production manager at that time. And, uh, he says, uh, “I’ve been told that you were one of the best woodworkers around.” And he says, uh, “I want you to build this coach, a life-size coach that we can put some kids in for the parade in downtown Lansing.” I said, “Holy mackerel. That’s quite a, quite a job.” He said, “Yeah but you can do it.” And he says, “We’ve already been to the union and got an okay that you can work on this and we have a room set up for you and everything.” So I go over there and while I was on vacation they had went to Indiana and bought a Amish buggy and they had it back there and we took the [papers rustling] cab off of it and, uh, I started measurin’ everything and I said, “Bob, you’re going to have to cut this frame and extend it two feet before we can get the front seat on it, you know.” So [papers rustling] we did that and got that all welded up and ready to go. And, uh, I got a few guys lined up, uh, most of’m were salary just to run to the hardware and get parts or what have you and [John Chanson 50:45] in Labor Relations he was one of those runners and I’m gonna tell you the whole story. So anyway, I get a guy over in Layout, Jerry, uh, he was a carpenter not Layout. He was a carpenter in Maintenance, Jerry somebody. He since passed away but, uh, I got him over there and I showed him what I needed. Uh, I said, “I want these things turned on the lathe, you know, and put together for puttin’ the eagles on top of it and all of that.” And so, uh, he said, “Yeah. I can do that.” And I said “Okay.” So, uh, [inaudible 51:27] into it and I started puttin’ the thing together. And, uh, then we had to get some people to do a little sewing, you know. We had Judy, uh, uh, that was married to the s-, general foreman in, uh, Quality Control or, uh, Material, uh, oh geez, I, I almost had it on the end of my tongue. [papers rustling] Uh, but anyway, uh, she did the sewing and built the, uh, made the skirt thing on the back and the skirt that went around the seat. And so I just started cuttin’ and puttin’ it together and then I, uh, framed all the windows and everything and, uh, upholstered the outside. And, uh, uh, like I said, I had a few people helpin’ me like, uh, [Dean Crostin 52:13] from Trim. He, uh, uh, did some welding on it and, on the frame and [beeping] stuff and, uh, made the seat frame and all that. And, and, uh, then I decided, well, we’ve got to, we got to have doors that open and close here. And, uh, I built these doors and put locks and stuff in’m and they just, I mean they sound like an old Cadillac, you know, back in the 40s, click, you can hear the thing work so good. [laughter] And then I upholstered the entire inside and never put a thread of needle in it. I took, uh, staples and stapled ribs in it and then took a broomstick and wrapped it in material and put it up through there and put, uh, finish nails up through it and you couldn’t even, you couldn’t see it and, uh, it really turned out [thumping] great. And I took this gold rope, we went somewhere and bought this gold rope and I trimmed out all the glass and bought the moldings for the top of it, bought the eagles. Uh, I think we paid like 50 bucks a piece for those eagles for it and, uh, then, we, uh, got her all finished. Uh, I finished it on Thursday and we were gonna run it in the parade on Saturday. We won a judges’ trophy with it. And everybody in the town I think had their picture taken by it or, uh – we had three kids. John Chanson’s, uh, one kid and, uh, one of Material supervisor’s, uh, two kids were dressed like the pilgrim dress, you know, in the black and white and their dresses and all that. And, uh, they rode in it with, uh – and we got a guy [inaudible 53:51] that, uh, pulled a, brought a identical set of Morgans and pulled that thing down through town and John Chanson was the, uh, pooper scooper [laughter] ridin’ a little scooter behind it, you know, and a bucket and a shovel. [Inaudible 54:06] good job for him. [laughter] And, uh, but that was quite an experience and it just turned out great. And, uh, it’s, uh, [inaudible 54:14] we, we took that to Detroit too, the Tech Center for, uh, about two or three months. And then they wanted to put it in the archives down here, so they stored it in the basement at Fisher for quite a while. Last time I checked, it was downtown, so, uh. Jerri Smith: It used to sit in the audit – Jerri Smith. Rocky Wright: Oh yeah. Jerri Smith: It used to sit in the audit area ‘cause when I came in the plant in ’94 it was in the audit area down there... Rocky Wright: Yep. Jerri Smith: ...before they changed the front of the plant. Rocky Wright: We had built a, we built [throat clearing] a special room... Jerri Smith: Right. Rocky Wright: ...for it there and had all the history of it in there. Whatever happened to that? I wonder if the books are with it. Doug Rademacher: Um, don’t know that I have a – I think it’s at the R. E. Olds Museum, downtown Lansing [inaudible 54:53]. Rocky Wright: [Inaudible 54:53] I’m gonna go down one of these days and see but, uh, that was quite an experience. Doug Rademacher: [54:58] Now just out of curiosity, did the Fisher brothers ever see or know of it? Anybody of the Fisher family or was it...? Rocky Wright: I, I haven’t any clue unless they saw it at the Tech Center but, uh, I got a lot of, uh, accolades for that. Doug Rademacher: Well, the, um, the plant known as Fisher Body changed names many times. [55:20] What’s, what’s it to you? What is – you left and went over to the chassis side. What is this plant? What’s...? Rocky Wright: I left Fisher Body and went to the chassis plant in, uh, October of, uh, or August I mean of 1985 and [papers rustling] it is still Fisher Body to me today. I mean you can take the boy out of Fisher but you can’t take the Fisher outta the boy. Doug Rademacher: Cheryl McQuaid. Cheryl McQuaid: [55:49] Rocky, um, did you ever see anybody hurt in the plant? Rocky Wright: Absolutely. Cheryl McQuaid: [55:55] Any stories you want to share with us? Rocky Wright: Well, um, I was one of’m. Uh, if you remember how we moved cars around in, [clicking] um, Building, uh, 5 upstairs there before they came out of 3X and then they go through this transfer, you know, and then head down to Building 17. And we were having a problem with where the tracks change, you know, to, uh, shift the cars. Uh, we had a problem. We couldn’t get it to go and Maintenance was [thumping] up there and, uh, I’m up there and of course I was the superintendent on nights at that time. And, uh, uh, we were about to shut Olds down because we didn’t have cars over there, you know, because of all the problems. And, uh, so, uh, the maintenance guys were jackin’ it up and trying to move this car over. And, uh, [tapping] one of’m says, uh, “Hold that wheel straight so it’ll go down in the track.” And I reach in and grab it but I grabbed it too low and it just smashed this finger and it’s still dead, you know. It just, uh, uh, it, it still hurts. [laughter] Uh, but that was just a minor injury. I’ve seen guys, uh, caught between cars. And then I didn’t see the guy, the, Steve, [clicking] uh, somebody that got killed over in, uh, the shipping building over there. They were trying to pull a, a car, a, a bunch of body trucks up or something and the cable broke and the thing hit him and killed him. That was quite a few years ago. Um, and then I’ve had, uh, I’ve seen guys get, uh – like we had a stack a quarter panels in the body shop. A stack was on a, a rack with wheels on it, probably had 20 quarter panels on it and, uh, the, uh, uh, strap around it broke and one of the quarter panels fell out and hit this guy on the back of the leg. And I mean it was a gash and the blood just pourin’, so I ripped my shirt off and tied it around his leg until they got there, you know. And, uh, but yeah, I’ve seen a few people hurt. Lotta hog rings when I was in the cushion room. And, uh, uh, I’ve seen people hit themselves in the chin, the hog ring went in the chin but it hit that bone and man that, that’s gotta hurt. [tapping] Uh, I’ve seen them in the nose, the lips. Uh, [thumping] and I’ll tell you what, you don’t stop pullin’ the trigger when it hits you either. You just, you do, you just automatically hit the trigger and it closes it up. Now you can’t get rid of it. You gotta cut it. Cheryl McQuaid: Another question I have Rocky is you worked in the cushion room, quality control and you were a superintendent. [58:46] What other departments did you work in the plant? Rocky Wright: Well, I worked, uh, I started out in cushion room, went to quality control. I was in quality control, uh, for about a year and a half and [Phil Darbor 58:59] was the Trim superintendent at that time. Uh, he came to me and he says, “How would you like to jump ship and go to, back to Trim?” I said, “I don’t know. What you got to offer?” He says, uh “I’d like to promote you to a seventh level and put you in Trim.” “I said “Yeah. I can handle that.” Get more money and more responsibility and so I transferred into Trim. Then, uh, I was, uh – Quality Control came back and wanted me to, uh, come back to Quality Control. And so I went back to Quality Control, became a general supervisor over, uh, Quality Control and I stayed with that for a while. And then I went, uh, back to Trim again as an eighth level, night shift and, uh, then I started replacin’ the night shift superintendent in the entire plant, so I had Paint, Body, Trim, Cushion, uh, the whole works. Uh, I did that quite often, all the vacations and stuff I would replace them. And, uh, then in ’85 I went to Building 90, uh, Production Superintendent. I traded jobs with Randy Thayer and then, uh, I stayed in there for five years and I went to the, uh, center plant which was engine dress, uh, wheel room and, uh, paint repair, Building 150 and then I was up there for three years. And then, uh, uh, [Bill Biggle 60:31] came to me and he says, “I’d like to give you an eighth level job in, uh, Material Handling.” I said, “I’ve never worked in Material Handling before.” He said, “Well, I’d like to have you come to work for me.” So I said, “Okay.” So I go to Material Handling. And, uh, [tsk] then, uh, [Randy Walter 60:54], who was the area manager at the time over there, he come to me and he says, uh, “Rocky,” he says, “I got troubles down in wheel room, I got troubles in engine dress and fascia paint.” He said, “If you come back to center plant and get it runnin’” he says, uh, “I know you want to retire so I’ll see that you get a [mutual 61:15].” I said “Okay, Randy. I’ll be back.” And the year after that I was gone. So I’ve been all over the place. Doug Rademacher: [61:27] And you solved that problem before you went? Rocky Wright: Yes, I did. [laughter] Doug Rademacher: Rocky, uh, I know you’re on a time limit today. I just wanted a quick story. You were, uh, uh, obviously Oldsmobile enthusiast. You had a, a pretty white car. [61:40] You want to tell a little story about that real quick here? You remember that? Rocky Wright: Yeah. You mean that little ’69 convertible? Doug Rademacher: Yeah. Rocky Wright: Yeah. That was, uh, uh, I put a lotta money in it but it was a beauty and, uh, [laughter] we were – you talkin’ about when I was over at the Huddle that night? [laughter] Doug Rademacher: Well, I [inaudible 61:59]. Rocky Wright: Oh, oh, oh. There’s two stories. [laughter] Doug Rademacher: Well, that’s, that’s fine. I know that story. Just we were – you had a need and, uh, I happened to be an Olds enthusiast also so I, uh, it’s, it’s your story. You got something you needed. Rocky Wright: Well, uh, yeah And you know what? I can’t even remember for sure how it all went. You probably could enlighten me but, uh, but I did have a very nice ’69 convertible and, uh, the engine wasn’t very good in it so I, I needed a 455 engine and we got that and, uh, and I didn’t get it from here. [laughter] We didn’t have any. [laughter] But, uh, boy, it’s hard to remember all this stuff that went on. Doug Rademacher: Well, I got you some exhaust, some exhaust chrome bells for your bumper, but... Rocky Wright: Oh, oh, yes. Doug Rademacher: ...uh... Rocky Wright: That was, uh, when I put that 455 Tornado engine in it and you got those bells for me. Yes. And, uh, I thought I had [tapping] died and gone to heaven. [laughter] Uh, but one thing I did do was I was over to the Huddle Lounge one night after we got outta work and these guys were talkin’ about “oh that white convertible, it’s purty but it ain’t got no guts” and all this, you know. And, uh, so when the bar closed and everybody was gone but me and two other guys, we had a little bet over there and, uh, I backed up right to the edge of the parking lot and burnt rubber all the way to the drive [laughter] and the guys they, [coughing] they shut up then. And, uh, next time I’m in there, uh, Dick, uh, that owned the place, he was, he was beside himself. He said, “You got to get rid of these, uh, black marks on my parking lot.” [laughter] Female: Hi. How are you doing? You look good. Female: [Inaudible 63:57]. Male: I feel good. [recorder clicking] Doug Rademacher: Rocky, uh, you’ve retired. You’ve been, been out for a while. Lansing Fisher Body is now being disassembled as we speak. [64:12] What’s your feelings about that? What’s your comments about the future for Lansing? Uh, you mentioned Randy Thayer. Would you just close up this last couple minutes here and talk about that? Rocky Wright: Well, I have a couple a spies in Lansing that keep emailing me with pictures of all the, the des-, destruction that’s going on. And, uh, Randy Thayer also is a very good friend of mine and he keeps sending me pictures of the plant as they progress in the construction and gettin’ it ready go. And, uh, I have a son-in-law, a ex-son-in-law that works over there and so he always calls me too and tells me what’s going on. So I still have quite an interest in what’s going on but I know from my experience that Lansing will succeed. Uh, if there are any cars built anywhere, they will be built in Lansing because of the workforce we have here and the relationship between the unions and management, uh, that’s improved considerably, uh, both 602 and 652. And, uh, uh, I know that if cars are built in Michigan, they will be buil-, building them here in Lansing. And, uh, I don’t think you can beat the workforce in Lansing. I mean we struggled for a while and forgot what we were there for I guess but, uh, we learned and when we did finally figure out what we were doin’ wrong, we became one of the best there was and we came, became a great team I thought. And, uh, I, uh, I always felt really good about how I was received when I walked up and down the line, you know. I was always out there on the line. I didn’t spend my days in the office. And, uh, if I had to, uh, get something done, uh, if I had to pull 5% of the people or whatever, I did my best to do it but I went and talked to everybody before we did it and, uh, we would come to some kind of a conclusion that was good for both of us. And I always, I always enjoyed my job and I’ll always be Fisher Body and I’ll always be GM. And, uh, I don’t drive anything but GM and, uh, neither do my kids or, uh, my son-in-laws or, uh, they don’t drive anything but GM. And it makes me sick to go to Florida and see all the foreign cars, Toyotas, Hondas, Nissans, Infinitis, uh, just sickening because there are not many American cars in Florida. And we need to – the people are, the American people are fickle people I’ll tell you. It’s, uh – they don’t know what they’re doin’ to this country by the automobile route and, uh, we got some politicians too. Uh, you know, I get pretty upset with Granholm sometimes with the way she talks about the automotive industry. “Well, we don’t need them. We can go tech, high tech.” Well, sure, yeah, you can but how long you think it’s gonna last, you know. I mean I have a son-in-law I would, or a grandson that I would have loved to have him hired in General Motors but it probably won’t ever happen anymore. And, uh, he’s, uh, you know, he struggles in school ‘cause he doesn’t like school but he’s not dumb. He’s smart but I don’t know, he’s gonna be a mechanic I guess, uh, ‘cause he [inaudible 67:33] be able to get into GM or anything like that and I always wanted to have that. But – and we used to have it. It was nothing to get your kids in here or whatever. But believe me, some of the supervisors’ kids were a problem too, let me tell you [laughter] and a lotta them worked for me. But I enjoyed my career. It was a long career. And, uh, I, uh, I truly miss the people, I really do. And, uh, [tsk] that’s about all I can tell you about it. Doug Rademacher: Well... Rocky Wright: There’s a lot more stories but we ain’t got enough time in the day. Doug Rademacher: I know that’s true. And, uh, you know, I’ve only known you as management. I knew the stories of your past [coughing] comin’ up from the line and we really appreciate you taking the time, uh, in your retirement years to come over and share your story with us. Thank you very much. Cheryl McQuaid: Thank you Rocky. Rocky Wright: You’re welcome. Jerri Smith: Thank you. John Fedewa: Thank you very much. Jerri Smith: Thank you. [recorder clicking] /mlc