Marilyn Poland discusses her career as the Secretary to the President
 and Bargaining Chair of UAW Local 602


Marilyn Coulter:	[recorder clicking] Lansing Fisher Body Historical Team interview with Marilyn Poland. The date is Thursday, January 5th, 2006. We’re in the UAW Local 602 Conference Room. Uh, first we’ll introduce the team. [door closing] I’m Marilyn Coulter.

Jerri Smith:	Jerri Smith.

Earl Nicholson:	Earl Nicholson.

Cheryl McQuaid:	Cheryl McQuaid. [throat clearing]

Marilyn Coulter:	[0:22] Um, Marilyn, can you please, uh, s-, uh, say and spell your last name, please, for us?

Marilyn Poland:	Marilyn Poland, P-O-L-A-N-D.

Marilyn Coulter:	[0:33] And could you please spell “Marilyn,” also?

Marilyn Poland:	M-A-R-I-L-Y-N.

Marilyn Coulter:	Thank you. [0:40] Um, Marilyn, uh, can you, um – and your a-, and your address, please?

Marilyn Poland:	2711 East Rowley Road in Williamston, Michigan.

Marilyn Coulter:	All right. [0:53] And, um, you’re a female?

Marilyn Poland:	Yes, I am.

Marilyn Coulter:	[0:56] You’re white. Right?

Marilyn Poland:	Yes. [coughing]

Marilyn Coulter:	[0:58] Uh, marital status?

Marilyn Poland:	I am married.

Marilyn Coulter:	[1:00] And you have children?

Marilyn Poland:	Yes; I have four children and a step-daughter, I have 17 grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

Marilyn Coulter:	[1:10] And your education level?

Marilyn Poland:	Uh, some college.

Marilyn Coulter:	[1:13] Uh, any military service?

Marilyn Poland:	No.

Marilyn Coulter:	All right. [1:19] Um, you were – y-, what was your title?

Marilyn Poland:	Secretary to the President.

Marilyn Coulter:	[1:26] And, um, you came to UA-, you were the secretary for the presidents of UAW Local 602, correct?

Marilyn Poland:	Yes.

Marilyn Coulter:	[1:34] Uh, what did you do prior to becoming a secretary at 602?

Marilyn Poland:	I worked for the State of Michigan for 10 years; uh, the last department I worked in was the Department of Agriculture. I had left, um, there and had had a baby and was at home when there was a secretary at Local 724 who was in a serious car accident, and my husband at that time was the Financial Secretary of 652 and was called upon by Local 724 to, uh, see if he knew of anyone who was completely trained in UAW secretarial duties who could come in and help out, and he said, “Well, my wife.” So I went and covered [inaudible 2:19] post until her recovery, and at that time, I had worked long enough to regain my seniority in OPEIU Local 42, and when a secretary left at 602, I was up for consideration for hiring, and I was hired at that time by Richard Sanborn, and that was 30 years ago.

Marilyn Coulter:	[2:41] And do you remember what date that was?

Marilyn Poland:	I don’t have that date with me; I can supply it to you.

Marilyn Coulter:	[2:47] Oh. Do you...

Marilyn Poland:	Uh, because I don’t remember dates.

Marilyn Coulter:	...around as, as far as the year?  Do you remember the year?

Marilyn Poland:	’68.

Marilyn Coulter:	You were at Lansing ’68. [2:56] Now, was 602 the first UAW local you worked for?

Marilyn Poland:	No, I had worked at Local 652, and then I worked at Local 724, and, um, then I worked as Vacation Replacement to the International Region 1C Office here in Lansing.

Marilyn Coulter:	Okay. [3:15] So when you came into, uh, the UAW Local 602 and, um, 602 was the union representation for Fisher Body, Lansing, um, did you know much about Fisher Body before hiring in?

Marilyn Poland:	Yes.

Marilyn Coulter:	[3:34] And what did you think about the Plant then?

Marilyn Poland:	I thought it was, um, a very active plant and a plant that had always had active politics, active committees. Uh, it was one I was looking forward to working with.

Marilyn Coulter:	[3:54] So when you came in [throat clearing] as the Secretary to the President of 602...

Marilyn Poland:	Mm-hm.

Marilyn Coulter:	...what were the job [throat clearing] responsibilities of the Secretary to the President?

Marilyn Poland:	The Secretary to the President worked directly with the President and the Chairman of the Bargaining Committee; [writing] um, typed letters, wrote correspondence, did original writings, helped, uh, the date procedural timelines on the grievance procedure, uh, prepared cases as the [sighing] Chairman of the Shop Committee would dictate them or correct them from [second-step 4:33] minutes, um, kept all the records, filed original grievances, and then worked with each chairman of the standing committees on work they might need to have accomplished, also worked in the Financial Secretary’s Office, uh, during the absence of their own secretary and, uh, covering lunch breaks and coffee breaks.

Marilyn Coulter:	[5:00] So you were an integral part in the bargaining procedures of 602 as far as making sure the documents were in order.

Marilyn Poland:	Also if any district committeemen wanted to come over and research for a particular grievance, I would assist in that, helping them locate a subtle grievance so that they might continue on in a positive manner and prove that this has already been settled.

Marilyn Coulter:	[5:30] So in doing that, um, how many presidents and bargaining chairs would you say that you went through?

Marilyn Poland:	12.

Marilyn Coulter:	12.

Marilyn Poland:	That’s presidents and bargaining...

Marilyn Coulter:	And bargaining...

Marilyn Poland:	...chairs.

Marilyn Coulter:	...chairs.

Marilyn Poland:	Mm-hm.

Marilyn Coulter:	[5:53] So – and you started with, um...

Marilyn Poland:	Richard Sanborn.

Marilyn Coulter:	...Richard Sanborn? So, um, during that time and you had the grievance procedures and the presidents – oh. [recorder clicking] [6:13] So Marilyn, you’ve been through a total of 12 presidents and bargaining chairs and you came in and you’d been involved in local unions and local union politics, and you knew about Lansing Fisher Body. Can you tell us your story?

Marilyn Poland:	Yes, I will briefly describe some a the things [papers rustling] that happened after I was hired by Richard Sanborn. Uh, Richard Sanborn became president of Local 602 following the appointment of Lloyd Cain, the preceding president, to the International Staff of Region 1C. 

	During, uh, Mr. Sanborn’s [background conversation] term of office, there was a major strike. The strike committee of Local 602 was well set up and one of the, I believe the Strike Chairman at that time was Nick Kelley, [writing] a very dedicated union person, and he and his committee made sure that all the people had done their strike duty by picketing or by delivering coffee to the people on the gates, or whatever was needed, and the responsibility of the secretaries at that time was to type up picket strike rosters as to those people who had actually done their time, uh, strike time to enable their checks to be processed, [chair squeaking] their strike fund checks. Um, the en-, the Union was eventually successful in settling the strike, but the strike committee behaved very admirably and very much, um, carried out the duties.

	There was an interesting, uh, division of unionism versus personal power that comes into play on some committees where people were being harassed or demanded to know why they were absent when they had a reasonable excuse to be gone. That was handled by the Chairman, saying that we were brothers and sisters in this Union; together, it was not our responsibility to question each other.

	Uh, during the period of Mr. Sanborn’s presidency, [papers rustling] one thing that they held at that time were district meetings, and this gave the opportunity the-, for the members of a district to come together, discuss the problems they were having, uh, with each other and with management, and they could talk about the problems with their district committeemen, their aldermen, their zone. It was also a social time where they could build bonds of friendship. This is a Union Hall, and it is not only strife; it is togetherness and happiness. And by having these district meetings, I think that a lotta things were aired out and the district committeemen had a clearer picture of some a the problems that were cropping up in his area, and now that they have done away with that procedure, I think they have lost because of it. I think this is a good, positive thing to have people be able to express their opinions.

Marilyn Coulter:	[9:23] Excuse me, Marilyn, can you explain what a district is for us?

Marilyn Poland:	A district is divided up according to the national agreement and a local agreement by a certain number in, of people in a set area. As your plant populations go up, you have more districts; as they go down, you have fewer districts, and each district elects their own committeemen to represent them and their own alternate. There were times during both Mr. Sanborn and Mr. [Somers’ 9:52] presidency that the people became very disheartened with a particular committeeman that they might have, and they would – there is an avenue for removing them. If you are elected, uh, you can be removed by your constituents, and they were unhappy enough that they did take this action at least 1 or 2 times.

	Uh, one a the highest compliments I can give Mr. Sanborn is he is a union man. He believed in the union, he was active in the Lansing Labor News, and I enjoyed serving as a secretary during his administration. At that time, a lotta the standing committees were not as active as they became in later years, uh, and Mr. Sanborn, during his tenure, um, there was a change in the Shop Committee. The Chairman of the Shop Committee at that time was not elected by the membership; the Chairman of the Shop Committee was selected by the elected zone committeemen. They picked who they wanted to be their leader. And there some merits to that, because they are, by agreement, saying, “I will follow this leader,” not “We are all equal and nobody’s gonna be our leader.” 

	They’re selecting who’s going to lead, but at this time, the chairman was [Bob Sanders 11:24], [chair squeaking] and he was a man of great knowledge of the contract; one of the few people I’ve ever been able to see quote large segments of contractual language by memory. He had this within his mind. But the Zone Committee at that time said, “We will not have you as Chairman anymore. You’re done.” They then selected Bob Somers to be the Chairman. Bob Sanders, naturally, was very hurt over this. Uh, he subsequently resigned from the Zone Committee and he became a member of management’s team; he became a foreman.

	Bob Somers, both during his tenure as Chairman and later at President too, was a true union man. Bob always, always took the part of the person wronged and was particularly interested in young people. If young people had made an error and a grievance was resolved in their favor, he wanted them to know that they were being given a second chance. It was very important to him that young people be given the chances they need to succeed, and not only young people, but all people, but particularly young men and women as they were starting out in the Labor Movement. He cared about their problems. He was one a the few presidents that was here all day long. He did not run around becoming involved in a lot of ac-, outside activities. His activity was representing the people of Local 602. He was a here, he available. If they wanted to talk to him, his door was open. He was here to hear them. The wasn’t involved in, uh, going on to other committees or other events; he was here for the membership.

	After, um, Mr. Sanborn and Mr. Somers had served as Chairman and President, they then reversed, Somers becoming President, Sanborn becoming Chair, and [chair squeaking] during that time, there was a lot of strife in the Plant. The committees started to become a little more active. One of the committees that’s always been active in this local is the Recreation Committee; it’s had some very dedicated people throughout the history of the local. Um, I can remember as a teenager that Local 652 and Local 602 at that time had active dance programs, and they would have a dance every other weekend and rotate halls, and it was a good time. Uh, after, after they reversed positions, as I say, the Committee started becoming more active. Um, [papers rustling] Mr. Ward, Terry Ward – well, during – excuse me. During the tenure of, uh, Mr. Somers as President, there was some, uh, extensive, rep-, uh, repairs and redecorating done to the Union Hall, and there were some monies that the membership appropriated for that purpose, and it was upgraded, and then it was never upgraded again until many years later, under Garry Bernath.

	Terry Ward, when he came into power, the committees became very active. Uh, one of the things that he oversaw was the renovation of the GreenHouse across the street. There was a lot of structural things that had to be corrected, new stairs built in the back. Uh, this was the house where the Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous met and, um, it really was in need of a lot of help. The building was deteriorating, and so he oversaw the upgrade of this. During h-, uh, the time he was President – can we stop? [recorder clicking] 

	When I first hired in here, the property immediately to the east of the Union Hall was a huge farmhouse. They owned property back in toward the, uh, Plant 2, and they had a large parcel, and they had grapevines, and they had fruit trees, and they had [chair squeaking] chickens, and every day, this little old gnarled up lady who was the owner’s mother, I think at that time her son owned the property, but she would make the rounds of her property every morning going all the way around the fence line to make sure that her chickens and everything was doing well, and the GreenHouse [chair squeaking] across the street that Local 602 eventually purchased was originally a private residence, and the people there had, to my understand, planted one of every type of tree, uh, particularly fir trees, that grew in Michigan. They had a beautiful stone pond, they had fountains. They were in, um, House Beautiful or Better Homes & Garden; they were written up as an outstanding showplace home. That house eventually became a jewelry store, and then after that, it, uh, was purchased by Local 602 who used it for the insurance officers and for the [background conversation] Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, also various committees would meet there as needed. During the time Terry Ward was president and he s-, oversaw the renovation of the GreenHouse, the Committees were becoming more active. [Louis Schultz 17:36] became the Chairman of the Bargaining Committee.

Marilyn Coulter:	 Mar-, Marilyn, I need to interrupt you for one...

Marilyn Poland:	Yes. [chair squeaking]

Marilyn Coulter:	...second. [17:43] But [background conversation] so you were a member of the Lansing community?  Were you a member of the Lansing...

Marilyn Poland:	Yes, I...

Marilyn Coulter:	...community?

Marilyn Poland:	...was born in Lansing.

Marilyn Coulter:	[17:52] So being born in Lansing, can you tell me, what did the community think of Fisher Body Lansing?

Marilyn Poland:	Well, I can give you a good example. When I was first married, I lived with a woman who lived within half a block of Fisher Body, and we rented an apartment from her. Her son worked at Fisher Body. She said, “What a grand neighbor they are. They keep their property so beautiful. How could anybody complain?”  And at that time, Fisher Body had a program where they had a beautiful, uh, hand-tended floral arrangement of the famous Fisher Body coach, and this was at an angle, so as you were driving down the street, you could see this beautiful, beautiful natural, uh, growing plant production of this coach. And they did, they always maintained their grounds. They weren’t trashy, they weren’t dirty like a lot of great plants are in inner-city areas. They were acknowledging that they were part of the neighborhood and they kept up their end to make good neighbors, and the people liked them.

	It wasn’t until many, many years later that people started complaining, [throat clearing] after they had bought a home by a factory, that factories have odors, uh, and they do. This is a paint facility. This is a body shop. This is a thing that is creating employment and good conditions for many people, but there’s downsides to it too, and they tried to correct the odors by extending the stacks, they tried to comply with these requirements so that people would never have to smell anything to do with their industry that was creating so much wealth for them and the people in the City of Lansing.

Marilyn Coulter:	[19:49] What about the employees of Fisher Body?  How did the community look at the people who came in from different communities to work here?

Marilyn Poland:	In my personal knowledge, no one was ever, ever took exception to people s-, uh, seeking a job. They didn’t resent their being here. Everybody needed jobs, and if they came from Flint, if they came from Detroit, if they came from the deep south, they came from the east, they were not shunned or misused, to my knowledge.

Marilyn Coulter:	Mm-hm.

Marilyn Poland:	Um, at that time too it was a family tradition. If a father worked at Fisher, he could get his son a job at Fisher. If a mother worked at Fisher, which in the ancient days didn’t happen ‘cause there weren’t any women employed there until, well, much later years, but they could get their children a job. So this was an ongoing “I work for this company, I’m proud of’m, and I want my children to work for them.”  So this was, this is something I think that Fisher and General Motors in general has lost is that family tradition as they’ve turned over their responsibility to hiring agencies who are not directly involved with the company culture. I think they’ve lost ground there because they had people that said, “My dad worked there, and he struggled and he got to where we are, and I’m gonna work there and I’m gonna make things better,” and I think this is a loss of continuity to families for not having changed the f-, hiring structure.

Marilyn Coulter:	[21:36] Do you feel that that might have also been one a the things that might’ve made it difficult for the unity with the new labor, because people did not know what it took to get there where they might have known with their fathers?

Marilyn Poland:	Right. Because that was a deliberate severing by management of union history. The father could not say to his son – y-, ya know, we’ve already settled that. This, this has been accomplished, because now you have people who have no knowledge of what happened before or no knowledge of the, of the dedication and of the sacrifice that was made to gain each union increase that they obtained, and so management was successful in that by altering their hiring policy of severing that, uh, continuity, but I think as a manufacturing facility, they may have done this to weaken the union, but they’ve also weakened themselves through this, and I think that that may be one of the things that’s playing out now.

	Uh, during Terry Ward’s, uh, term as President, Louis, Louis Schultz became [papers rustling] the Chairman of the Bargaining Committee. Louis Schultz was a ground-up activist. He had held Alternate Committee, Committee, Zone Committee, Chairman, and he had an absolutely amazing faculty of remembering names. He could remember everyone’s name; he could remember your daughter’s name, he could remember your dog’s name. He could say, “How is your mother Beth doing?” He had this amazing memory. Very few people are gifted with that, of knowing not only your name but other things associated with you, and Lou was a very independent politician. He did not depend on the mainstream political alliances for his election. He always depended on the grassroots and he always depended on the individual member. Uh, he was a very active Chairman. He was both liked and disliked. He was a person that only answered to the members, and his committee was active.

	Um, Don Brown gave Lou Schultz much advice on being a Chairman, on how to do things. Don was a very, um, wonderful Chairman. He was the Chairman during Dick Sanborn’s presidency, and he – regressing here back from Lou Schultz to Don Brown, Don maintained a completely unified committee. Each committeeman knew that if there were ever any complaints on their actions or lack of actions that first and foremost, Don Brown would support them. He would never go behind a district or alternate’s back. He would say to the member had a problem, “We’ll address your problem, we’ll get into this, but you’ve got a good committeeman.”  He always kept his committee solid, and as a result of that, they were able to handle a lot of grievances and a lot of problems because they were united, they were not divided amongst themselves, and they knew their chairman was always there for them.

	Um, with Lou Schultz, he became active in the u-, local union, and the committees, particularly Recreation Committee was active during, uh, Terry Ward’s time.  Lou Schultz has now died, but he left the local union to become an international representative. Uh, he was put on the, uh, Arena of Health and Safety and he had truly enjoyed his career after he left the local and became part of the International Detroit Local. Following Terry Ward’s de-, um – when Alvin Pressley became President, Alvin had had a lot of activity – uh, just a minute – we have. [recorder clicking]

	Alvin Pressley had been Vice President under Bob Somers, and during Mr. Somers’ illnesses had served as President. When the election was held, Terry Ward was elected. Following his term of office, Alvin Pressley ran for President and defeated him. Alvin brought a quality of professionalism to the Union Hall. He was active on his committees, he was an active President. He had come to this local from Albion where he had also been active. One a the main things that Mr. Pressley was interested in establishing in Local 602 and was successful in doing so was the Chaplaincy Program. This was the first local in the UAW to have such a program and he was a very keen advocate of that. He also was an advocate of educational programs. Um, because of his professional demeanor and his hard work, the International recognized him and put him on the International Staff, and his Vice President at that time, Ted Hartman, who had run for office on a different caucus. At that time, there were unofficial caucuses. They were never slates in this local, but there were unofficial affiliations and ties.

	Ted Hartman became president. Ted was a man who was a man of the people. He was a worker in the Plant. He knew the problems of the people in the Plant. He had not expected to become President but was given that opportunity when Pressley was chosen by the International Staff. Uh, Garry Bernath defeated Ted Hartman and I believe, going back here, Pressley, at that time, the Chairman was Dick Bennett. Dick Bennett was a very organized committeeman. Um, he kept an absolute eagle eye on the grievance procedure. There were a lot of grievances at the time. There were a lot – there was a lot of turmoil in the Plant. Um, Dick performed his job in such a manner that the International Union then selected him to go on the staff as a Bargaining Representative. Ted Hartman’s defeat by Garry Bernath caused great change in the local.

	Garry Bernath was a – was probably the most businessman-like person that the local had ever had. Uh, he completely reven-, [throat clearing] renovated the Union Hall. He insisted that all his committees become active; they all did become active, and so it was a time of great activity under his regime, because he expected it. He himself was busy and he wanted all of his committees to be busy, and he incorporated a lot of new people from the Plant into committees that had not been very active before. Mr. Bernath was then subsequently chosen by the International Union in Detroit to become part a their team and he left. Oh, and Matt Strickling became President.

	Matt was, [chair squeaking] um, a great writer, a great President in the fact of communication, as was Garry Bernath. Garry was a prolific writer, uh, a good writer. Matt was into the arena of publishing, making sure that the in-plant newsletter was the best that it could be. Um, he did original writing for it. He was then replaced by Art Luna, who is the current president.

Marilyn Coulter:	Uh, Art...

Marilyn Poland:	Art...

Marilyn Coulter:	...was the [inaudible].

Marilyn Poland:	...uh, during Matt Strickling’s President, Art Luna was the Vice President, and then he subsequently ran for office and was elected in his own right as President. The end.

Marilyn Coulter:	Um...

Marilyn Poland:	Go.

Earl Nicholson:	Just a couple a fun questions...

Marilyn Poland:	Yes.

Cheryl McQuaid:	Earl Nicholson.

Earl Nicholson:	...Earl Nicholson – uh, before we wrap it up. [31:49] Um, I wanna ask you a series of questions. [papers rustling] The day you hired in...

Marilyn Poland:	Mm-hm.

Earl Nicholson:	...and from when you left. So, the differences [inaudible 31:59].

Marilyn Poland:	The day I hired in...

Earl Nicholson:	No, I’m n-, I’m gonna ask you, uh...

Marilyn Poland:	Okay. All right.

Earl Nicholson:	...some questions.

Marilyn Poland:	Okay.

Earl Nicholson:	[32:04] Okay, number one, smoking.

Marilyn Poland:	Smoking was allowed in the Union Hall. I didn’t smoke, and Mr. Sanborn didn’t smoke, but it was never off limits.

Earl Nicholson:	Yeah.

Marilyn Poland:	Those people who chose to smoke could do so.

Earl Nicholson:	And when you left, was there any change?

Marilyn Poland:	Yes, there was a change that people could not smoke in the membership meetings. But there still was not a change that they couldn’t smoke in the building.

Earl Nicholson:	Okay.

Marilyn Poland:	Um, it becomes quite smoky in a, in a room when you have a lotta people, and it can be bothersome to some people, but just on general meetings and other functions, social functions, smoking was allowed.

Earl Nicholson:	Okay. [32:41] Uh, the Bible, religion.

Marilyn Poland:	Mm-hm.

Earl Nicholson:	The difference, uh, between, uh, when you hired in and when you left.

Marilyn Poland:	At the time I hired in, religion had no, uh, prevalent basis in the union...

Earl Nicholson:	Mm-hm.

Marilyn Poland:	...with the exception of the Bible program whereby bibles were given out in loving memory of deceased people; not only members, but their immediate family, and so that was an ongoing, uh, thing that was broadened greatly under Garry Bernath to include a lot more people, but, uh, it wasn’t until the time of Alvin Pressley that religion had a basis in the Bargaining Unit. Um, most unions traditionally – and I’m talking about AFL, CIO, I’m talking about the [Wobblies 33:34], I’m talking about the UAW, I’m talking about Steel Workers, talkin’ about the Coal Miners – religion was not something that was conducted within the Union Hall; bargaining issues were.

Earl Nicholson:	Okay. [33:51] Um, your happiest moment?

Marilyn Poland:	Yes, my happiest moment? Well, I think the day I retired. It was very nice. It was very special. People had made that day nice, and I had worked with some wonderful, wonderful activists and people over the years who had made great strides for the Labor Movement and who had been especially nice to me. It’s nice to work with people that appreciate you and it’s nice to work with an organization that’s trying to better the lives of people.

Earl Nicholson:	Okay. [34:23] Your saddest moment?

Marilyn Poland:	Hm. I think when I found out that Alvin Pressley had laid dead unfound for 2 days. I think that was sad.

Earl Nicholson:	Okay. [34:48] Um, and when you left, uh, when you retired...

Marilyn Poland:	Mm-hm.

Earl Nicholson:	...the, were the, were the skills that you had learned, uh, did you carry those with you after you left, uh...

Marilyn Poland:	Yes, some a those skills I carry with me always...

Earl Nicholson:	Uh-huh.

Marilyn Poland:	...but, um, I tried to pass on as many of my skills as I could to the people who replaced me. Um, they had a difficult time finding the right person to replace me, that caused a lotta grief, but I tried to share as much of my knowledge of history of the local as I could to make their work experience and tenure as, as nice as mine had been.

Earl Nicholson:	Okay. One more question.

Marilyn Poland:	Mm-hm.

Earl Nicholson:	And, uh, I don’t want you to hold back. [35:44] You know, over the years, you’ve been here a long time. What’s probably the most outrageous prank that you’ve ever been – that you’ve ever known of or been associate with?

Marilyn Poland:	I don’t know. I really don’t know how to answer that. I can’t – right off the top of my head, I can’t – oh, I know. This was a prank of a group of men who had gone to – uh, it was the Bargaining Committee. They had gone to a [sighing] meeting in Detroit and afterward had decided to go out for a social time. And they went to an unfamiliar bar, and a gal got up on the bar and was – and on their table, and was dancing. And then they got to looking around at the clientele and they figured they were really in the wrong place, and they tried to leave, and their way was blocked until they paid this exorbitant amount of money for the dancer in order for them to be able to leave the bar. And they paid it and they left. [laughter]

Marilyn Coulter:	[37:07] Y-, um, Marilyn, there were some, uh, things that, um, like as part of your duties, all the postings that came from the Union Hall, that was your responsibility...

Marilyn Poland:	Yes.

Marilyn Coulter:	...to make sure that all the postings were done...

Marilyn Poland:	Um...

Marilyn Coulter:	...for the people of the Plant, correct?

Marilyn Poland:	Everything...

Cheryl McQuaid:	Marilyn Coulter.

Marilyn Poland:	...that was, everything that was done, um, by the Union Hall as far as, w-, posting for meetings, for postings for different committee activities, worked on by me, um, very proudly with a union bug on them. Uh, I am proud of my union association also. Um, my local has a contract with the Local 602 and they abided by my union bug being on anything that they produced for meetings, for members, for boards, uh, or the other secretaries that was here in the Hall. It was not her primary duty to do posters, but it was mine.

Marilyn Coulter:	[Inaudible 38:11]. [38:12] I was gonna say, um, you grew up in Lansing...

Marilyn Poland:	Mm-hm.

Marilyn Coulter:	...you grew up with Fisher Body being here. What do you – how does it affect you?  What do you think about the factor knowing that, um, Fisher Body Lansing’s gonna leave?

Marilyn Poland:	I’m very sad. I grew up in Lansing on the north side, on Vermont Avenue. My father worked for Fisher Body – or worked for Motor Wheel. He subsequently worked for [Rio 38:39]. Um, as each of these automotive facilities has gone down, it makes me very sad. I hate to see this end of an era for Lansing. This has given so much to the city and so much to the people of the city, and I see to see this end. It makes me very sad. I’m hoping the Delta Project will be successful and that some of our people will be able to find employment, but things are vastly different now in the world of finance than they were during the time I was here, and they’re in a death struggle with surviving.

Marilyn Coulter:	Okay.

Cheryl McQuaid:	Marilyn, I’d like to say thank you very much for allowing us this time.

Marilyn Poland:	You’re welcome.

Jerri Smith:	Marilyn...

Marilyn Poland:	Yes?

Jerri Smith:	...Jerri Smith. [39:39] Do you, uh, have anything that you would like to say that we haven’t touched on?

Marilyn Poland:	Jerri, um, it isn’t just the leaders that make the union; it’s the members, and this is something that’s so important. Members are so turned off a lotta the times by unions, by government, that they forget their own power, and it’s so imperative that each member knows that it’s their responsibility to elect people who are going to represent their interests and that they have the power to make sure they have the right person, and they should not overlook this. They should vote in everything they can that controls their lives. Whether it be an alternate, a district, a zone, a president, state offices, federal offices, these people you have control over by your vote, and if you think your vote isn’t strong enough, that’s why there is a union, because in numbers, there is strength. [papers rustling]

Jerri Smith:	Thank you.

Marilyn Poland:	Mm-hm.

Marilyn Coulter:	All right. Thank you, Marilyn.

Marilyn Poland:	You’re welcome.

Earl Nicholson:	Thank you, Marilyn.

Marilyn Poland:	Mm-hm. [recorder clicking]


/rt