MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY – SHAWN NICHOLSON RUDOLFO (RUDY) REYES, A HISPANIC AMERICAN, DISCUSSES HIS CAREER AS A PRODUCTION WORKER AND UAW MEMBER AT THE FISHER BODY PLANT IN LANSING, MI Marilyn Coulter: Fisher Body Historical Project interview, uh, August 11, 2005, Thursday. In the conference room and [clicking throughout audio] Skill Center. Interviewer: Marilyn Coulter. [background noises] Interviewee: Rudy Reyes. [0:16] Uh, Rudy, could you please spell your name for me, please? Rudolph Reyes: It's R-U-D-Y R-E-Y-E-S. Marilyn Coulter: All right. [0:23] And, um, are you – it's Rudolph [but 0:25] do they call you Rudolph or Rudy in the plant? Rudolph Reyes: They usually call me Rudy in the plant. [zipping] [thumping] Marilyn Coulter: [0:30] And, uh, Rudy, can you, um, give your address? Rudolph Reyes: Yes. I live at 310 Beaver Street, Lansing, Michigan 08906. Marilyn Coulter: [All right 0:38]. [0:39] And your seniority date, [clanking] please? Rudolph Reyes: 4/18/69. Marilyn Coulter: 4/18/69. [0:44] Um, [throat clearing] now – and y-, are you a resident of Lansing? [0:49] Were you a resident of Lansing? Rudolph Reyes: Yes. I've always been a resident, so. Marilyn Coulter: [0:53] So, um, you – how old were you when you hired in to Fisher Body? Rudolph Reyes: I was 18. The next day, I turned 19. Marilyn Coulter: And the next day, [papers rustling] you turned 19. [1:02] Uh, did you have any prior, um, uh, jobs prior to you coming in to Fisher Body? Rudolph Reyes: I had plenty a jobs. I was a working kid. Marilyn Coulter: You were a working kid. Rudolph Reyes: I worked in the fields like a lot of, uh, Latinos. [background noises] Worked in the fields and I knew I didn’t wanna do that for a living. So I worked at restaurants. [clanking] Um, I worked at, um – I guess I worked from the fields to the restaurants and I did a lotta errands for people in the neighborhood. I found out I could make money running errands, shoveling snow, cutting grass, so I did all kinds a stuff, washed cars. Marilyn Coulter: So, um, you’ve always been a working person. Now you grew up in Lansing. [1:41] Uh, what high school did you go to? Rudolph Reyes: Eastern High School. Marilyn Coulter: Eastern High School. That’s quite a ways away from the Fisher Body plant. [1:47] Was there anything – any kind of, um, connections did you have with the plant as you were growing up? Rudolph Reyes: My dad worked here. Marilyn Coulter: [1:54] Your dad worked here? Rudolph Reyes: Yes. Marilyn Coulter: [1:55] Now did you ever visit the plant or what did you… Rudolph Reyes: No. I never visited… Marilyn Coulter: …think about the plant? Rudolph Reyes: …the plant. I just knew he worked there and knew they made good money there but I never wanted to work here. Marilyn Coulter: [2:04] But you never wanted to work here? Rudolph Reyes: No. Marilyn Coulter: Okay. [2:07] Um, I see now as your work experience is you said [that now 2:10] – were there any other plants that you worked in before you worked in [clanking] before you worked here? Rudolph Reyes: I worked at [laughter] – it's funny – is that I worked for [Milling Forging 2:16]. I worked for, um, Oldsmobile once. I hired in Fisher Body twice. So the third time around, I stayed. Marilyn Coulter: Now you say you hired in to Fisher Body twice. [2:28] What was it like, eh – if you hired in twice and on 3 different occasions you came here, was – which – what was each time like? [2:36] What was it like the first time you came in here? [2:37] What’d you think? Rudolph Reyes: The first time I went was to Oldsmobile and it was, it was [clanking] hurry up, learn this job, you're on your own. Ended up cutting myself on the motor blade 'cause we had to tighten down to 3 bolts, so you put a gun on there and if you didn’t get it right, it spun like a regular engine and the lady I worked with got really mad because she said there’s no way I should've been on that job by myself so fast. Marilyn Coulter: [2:58] So how long did you work at Oldsmobile? Rudolph Reyes: Uh, I'd say about 60 days. Marilyn Coulter: 60 days. Rudolph Reyes: Uh-huh. Marilyn Coulter: [3:02] And then on your second time? Rudolph Reyes: I hired in Fisher Body and I worked 1 day. Marilyn Coulter: [3:06] You worked 1 day? [3:07] Now… Rudolph Reyes: Yes. Marilyn Coulter: …what was the experience like that caused you to work only 1 day. Rudolph Reyes: Was I was working really hard and the guy next to me says – and, and I know who he is [thumping] to this very day. He says you think this job’s hard now, wait till Christmas and I didn’t come back the next day. Marilyn Coulter: [3:21] You didn’t come back the next day? Rudolph Reyes: No. Marilyn Coulter: [3:23] And now how – d-, do you remember how old you were? Rudolph Reyes: I'm all 18 in that... Marilyn Coulter: [3:26] You're… Rudolph Reyes: …[inaudible 3:27]. Marilyn Coulter: …all 18? Rudolph Reyes: Yeah. [Inaudible 3:28]. Marilyn Coulter: [3:27] So on your third time you came back, so… Rudolph Reyes: I was, I was married. My wife was pregnant. [background conversation throughout audio] I worked at, uh, Universal Steel [thumping] and my wife was pregnant before I hired [knocking] in, so they weren't gonna pay for it. So the night before, I had, um, [clinking] had to wait for the bus 'cause I rode the bus – didn’t have a car – and it rained. So I missed the bus. Marilyn Coulter: Missed [clanking] the bus. Rudolph Reyes: So I had to walk home. So by the time I got home, I was sopping wet and my wife says you have a job interview tomorrow. It's Friday. Friday. I said okay. So I went to the job interview. Mr. [Roach 4:08] interviewed me and he says, uh, on the first question – I mean after we did the interview, I was healthy and everything else. He says, um, you wanna start tonight or you wanna start Monday. I said, no, I'll start tonight. He said come in tonight and that was Friday. That was – [knocking] the next is Saturday [inaudible 4:23]. He said [heh 4:25]. So I started that night and I went to my old boss and I said, I p-, I won't be working here anymore. He goes don’t ever come back here for, um, with a c-, a reference or a job or anything else. So my, my foreman where I worked said don’t come back no more… Marilyn Coulter: [Inaudible 4:41]. Rudolph Reyes: …and I'd been there for like 6 months. Marilyn Coulter: [4:42] And that was at the Universal Steel plant? Rudolph Reyes: Yeah. Marilyn Coulter: [Inaudible 4:45]. Rudolph Reyes: So I didn’t plan it but, um, but I asked Mr. [Brooks 4:48] when I – I mean after the interview, I said my wife has a baby 6 f-, months from now. Will you pay for it? [tapping] And he said she can have it tomorrow and we'll pay for it and that’s when I signed the paper. [knocking] I'm here. Marilyn Coulter: [5:00] So [tapping] then you're saying benefits [inaudible 5:01]? Rudolph Reyes: Benefits. Yes. [clanking] Marilyn Coulter: [5:05] So – and this is back [tapping] in 1969? Rudolph Reyes: Right. Marilyn Coulter: [5:08] And so what was it like coming in here for good… Rudolph Reyes: I didn’t know… Marilyn Coulter: …from 1969? Rudolph Reyes: I was coming for good. Marilyn Coulter: [Inaudible 5:14]. Rudolph Reyes: ‘Cause I wanted to be an engineer. Marilyn Coulter: Oh. Rudolph Reyes: But then I had a wife and then I got a baby and then I learned how to do the job and it was good income in. I went to school parttime and everything else and then one day I just didn’t go back to school. I just stayed here and learned as much as I could. And I'm still going to school to this very day 'cause I take classes as I need’m. Marilyn Coulter: [Inaudible 5:36]. Rudolph Reyes: So th-, it's been good. Marilyn Coulter: [5:39] So when you were a new hire… Rudolph Reyes: [Inaudible 5:43]. Marilyn Coulter: …on the nightshift, what was – was there an initiation? [5:49] What was it like? [5:50] Can you remember what that first day was like that you were here and what area did you hire in? Rudolph Reyes: I hired in in, oh, the cushion room. Marilyn Coulter: [5:57] In the cushion room? Rudolph Reyes: Yes. Marilyn Coulter: [5:58] And what was done in the cushion room? Rudolph Reyes: We would put the seats together. We’d put the covers. We'd put all the springs. We [clanking] hog ringed’m. We, uh, stapled’m with big staples, not little staples. [Inaudible 6:07] like, uh, we stretched’m. Um, some people hog ringed their fingers. [tapping] And, uh… Marilyn Coulter: [6:13] Now what's a – can you describe a hog ring or… Rudolph Reyes: A hog ring is… Marilyn Coulter: …[inaudible 6:15]? Rudolph Reyes: …is a gun that comes together like a, um, like a hook. It’ll hook and it's got points on both ends and you, you learn to go really fast and I'll do the noise for you. It goes chk-chk-chk. And the faster you are, the faster you can get done. So we had people that could really run that baby. But every so often, you'd hear a howl that somebody [laughter] got themselves and everybody else would howl with’m because it hurt. Marilyn Coulter: They hurt. Okay. [6:38] How long did you, um – so was there an initiation? Rudolph Reyes: No. Marilyn Coulter: [6:44] [No] [inaudible 6:44]? Rudolph Reyes: What, what happens is when I went in the cushion room, my dad worked in the cushion room… Marilyn Coulter: Mm-hm. Rudolph Reyes: …so a lotta the ladies there would ask me are you Poncho’s boy and I'd say yes. We're gonna take good care of you. And they did. They taught me a lotta stuff to do, not to do and sometimes they kept me in line too. Marilyn Coulter: [Inaudible 7:00]. [7:01] So they kinda held your hand and helped you… Rudolph Reyes: Yes. Marilyn Coulter: …learn the ropes? Rudolph Reyes: Mm-hm. Marilyn Coulter: [All right 7:05]. [7:06] So how long did you work in the cushion room? Rudolph Reyes: About a year and a half. Marilyn Coulter: A year and a half. Rudolph Reyes: Then they shipped everybody out [background noises] that was in the cushion room that had less than 2 years [thumping] up to Trim or to the Plant 9 up in Trim. Marilyn Coulter: [7:15] And Trim is what? Rudolph Reyes: Uh, it was [3X 7:17] at that time. Marilyn Coulter: [7:19] And what did you do in Trim? Rudolph Reyes: I, um, put in inner parts [coughing] of the car like, um, screws and bolts and convertibles, you know, the little holes that go around to hold your, uh, convertible top that you put it down. Marilyn Coulter: Okay. [7:35] So trimming, eh, is, is the… Rudolph Reyes: A lotta handguns, a lotta screw guns. Marilyn Coulter: A lotta screw guns and a lotta handguns. [7:40] So tra-, Trim is just considered like the interior fineries of the car? [clanking] [7:45] So, um, did you do work in, um, just the metal part of trim or did you work in the fabric part of trim? Rudolph Reyes: No. I worked, uh – I didn’t work, uh – I don’t think I ever worked on the outside of the – I mean the coverup part. I call it where – all the part you cover up everything that everybody else does. No. [thumping] Marilyn Coulter: Okay. [8:04] So you did all the interior trim? Rudolph Reyes: Mm-hm. Marilyn Coulter: Okay. Rudolph Reyes: I was good with my hands. [clinking] Marilyn Coulter: You were good with your [laughter] hands. [8:10] So and you’ve worked in Trim. [8:12] Uh, did you work in Trim for your whole ent-, for your… Rudolph Reyes: Almost all except during ’74 when they laid off everybody during the gas embargo, when they laid me off from March to August and then they called me back and said we're gonna send you to the Body Shop. So I went to the Body Shop was 6 months. Then one day they asked me do you wanna go back to Trim or you wanna stay here. By the fi-, time they finished their question, I was gone. I went back to Trim. Marilyn Coulter: [8:35] So what was it like going from the [thumping] cushion room to Trim to Body Shop to back to Trim? Rudolph Reyes: It was, uh, hot 'cause you had to wear coveralls. You had – and I – and, uh, a shield for your glasses and sometimes you had to wear a hat. Marilyn Coulter: [And a hat 8:53]. Rudolph Reyes: It depends on what you were doing because they had a lotta sparks flying around. Marilyn Coulter: Okay. [8:57] So was it… Rudolph Reyes: [Inaudible 8:57]. Marilyn Coulter: …a cloth hat, a metal hat, a…? Rudolph Reyes: Cloth hat. [I got] [inaudible 8:59]. Marilyn Coulter: Okay. [9:02] And now, um, [tsk] so the primary reason you didn’t wanna work in Body Shop [clanking] was the heat? Rudolph Reyes: The heat and the noise. Marilyn Coulter: [9:10] And the noise? Rudolph Reyes: Yeah. Marilyn Coulter: [9:12] So would you say that the, um, people, culture in Body Shop, Paint and cushion room was similar or how did they differ? Rudolph Reyes: I think they all had their own culture. Marilyn Coulter: [9:25] How so would you say? Rudolph Reyes: Because the Body Shop people were all – you had your own area. You had to yell to talk. So you made kinda like noi-, not noises but gestures to get somebody’s attention and then once you got their attention, you do what you could to entertain each other and I did pretty good down there. Marilyn Coulter: [9:43] So what types of things did you do to entertain yourself? Rudolph Reyes: Oh, one time the car went by and we made it a, a floating trashcan. So I told everybody they had to throw all their trash in the car. So [clanking] everybody threw all their trash in the car. [laughter] Marilyn Coulter: Okay. [Inaudible 9:57]. [9:58] And so – then how was Trim? Rudolph Reyes: Trim was you could talk to people. People – there was people side by side to each other, so you had to get along with people 'cause you're working [thumping] next to the person. I mean there were like 3 or 4 people and you got your job done [thumping] and somebody else got their [thumping] job done but we were all sequential. Everybody was – it was body to body in those days. Marilyn Coulter: [10:19] So how has [clanking] – so what did you do for fun there to get through your night? Rudolph Reyes: Oh, I did a lotta things. I was, um – one time I went in the, um, phonebooth and they put a cloth around my neck and put an S and M on my shirt [thumping] and everybody – when we took a break – everybody had to take a break at the same time, so as they came to the break area and I waited till everybody sat down and I opened the phonebooth and I hollered Super Mex. [laughter] [Inaudible 10:46] and they all thought it was funny. [thumping] And I had that name for a long time. Some people still [throat clearing] remember it. Marilyn Coulter: So [laughter] Super Mex [inaudible 10:55]. [10:56] So now I see, um – and I know [clanking] that, um, you – while you were here, you said you went to school but I know that while you were here, you got involved with your [tapping] union? Rudolph Reyes: Yes. Marilyn Coulter: [11:11] So, um, can you tell me something about your union experiences. Rudolph Reyes: Um, I have good – a lot of good union experiences. Union has, uh – put it bluntly, spent a lot of money on me but in reverse, I hope I've giving – given at least that much and back because they educated [tapping] me. They sent me places. They showed me things that I've nev-, never had the opportunity to do, to sit on boards. Uh, I've had the opportunity to represent labor. [clanking] I've been in the newspaper many times but a lotta people forget when they put my name in the newspaper. It says, uh, Local 6-, Rudy Reyes, Local 602 Community Service chairperson 'cause that who I represent when I sit on the board. I usually represent labor. Ninety-nine percent of the time, I'm labor and if I'm not, um, I associated with labor. Marilyn Coulter: [12:00] So do you remember what year you first got involved with the union? Rudolph Reyes: Um, it was like around the ’80s. I always did – I mean I always did stuff with the union but it was around the ’80s when I started, uh – I was on the Community Service Committee. I was asked to be on the Community Service Committee. Marilyn Coulter: [12:19] Is that the only… Rudolph Reyes: By [Kenny 12:20], by [Kenny Schultz 12:20]. Marilyn Coulter: [12:21] Is that the only committee you’ve ever been on? Rudolph Reyes: Uh, yes. I, I did it – one day he asked me if I'd like to be a Chair because he was thinking about retiring and then he had a heart attack and decided to retire and there was 5 people ran for the job and [clanking] everybody told me [thumping] they were gonna to get the job, all the union guys that ran for it. [clinking] The only part they forgot to tell me is [clanking] the part – the bad part they told me is they were gonna win it and by them telling me they were gonna win it, made me more determined that I was gonna win it and I won it. Marilyn Coulter: [12:57] What does a Community Service Chair [clinking] do? Rudolph Reyes: Community Service Chair represents the union in the community, like on United Way boards, uh, Old Newsboys, blood drives, food drives. Um, sometimes our people, um, have financial problems or medical problems that nobody else seems to solve and by sitting on those boards, you get to know those people from Red Cross or United Way and you – and then Community Service has a class up to Black Lake once a year. We learn all the ins and outs or other agencies that help people. So the more you mix with people, the more you mingle with people, the more people you have, more resources you have to help people. So I'm a pretty good mingler and [inaudible 13:45]. Okay. Marilyn Coulter: We're gonna pause for 1 second [here 13:47]. [throat clearing] [clanking] [13:51] Uh, Rudy, as you're doing [crinkling] community service, what I wanted to ask you is [clanking] how do you feel that your community service committee affected and it helped to change the culture within the plant? Rudolph Reyes: It helped to change because [clanking] we got people to believe in us and all we had was our credibility and when all you have is your credibility, um, [clanking] people either believe in you and don’t. I was fortunate that, that the union people at that time were able to go tell management that this is a good job and hopefully I was doing a good job that they let out of the plant fulltime for, for about 12 years. I did community service fulltime. So what we were able to do [background noises] is we were able to do what we did better, work on it better. We were able to take the people on the committee and get them trained. Like for United Way, we'd, we'd do computer class and have a couple that do computer classes because we [inaudible 14:56] the computer classes. Our president was on a community center’s committee. Not bragging but [thumping] uh, Derrick Quinney, Roberta Cannon, a lotta people – yourself – did United Way. We had a lotta people that came through, did United Way and went different ways from there… Marilyn Coulter: Mm-hm. Rudolph Reyes: …and the best thing we could do is show’m their options and everything else or I guess let them be on their own and be their own boss. Marilyn Coulter: [15:24] A-, and with being with United Way and dealing with the regular everyday worker on the line, how do you feel your committee affected the average worker on the line, not the ones that were necessarily involved in the union activities but just those everyday workers on the lines who might have helped with your coat drives or with your – or, or through donations or through their blood drives? Rudolph Reyes: I think the things, the letters we put out that we tried to appeal to them on a one-to-one basis, some of the people, um, that we had write stories weren't just the committee. We had people write [background noises] stories. Plus hopefully our people felt that they were helping. [So ] [inaudible 16:02] said we needed coats. [background noises] We put a story out that, you know, a lotta kids don’t wear coats [when 16:07] you see’m wearing coats when they don’t have a coat [that 16:09] – it's not because they're warm. A lotta times they don’t have a coat. Those kinda stories that we put out. Um, and hopefully we were able to get back to people when they needed help and then got’m help. We had a situation where one of our EAP reps called and they placed people in a, a rehab place. And he, he said I have a guy that I can't place, can you call, [coughing] so I called one of the places. I called and they [tapping] were able to get’m in. They got’m in and it's just from the contacts that we had. Female: Mm-hm. Rudolph Reyes: But [our union ] rep couldn't get’m in [clanking] because it comes back to we make too much [tapping] money. Marilyn Coulter: [16:48] S-, so do you feel that through United Way it helped to connect the worker – the UAW GM workers to the community? Rudolph Reyes: I think with all the agencies that we sat on, all the, the coat drives, the food drives and people see you out there and everything else and they realize that it's not, um, a job to get out of the plant. It's a job that you do that you like and your hearts into it. Marilyn Coulter: [Mm-hm 17:17]. [All right 17:19]. [17:20] Um, so would you say that, um, during your time here and you did community service and then you say you hired in 1969 and this is 2005, how can you say – [background noises] how do you feel that the, um, involvement of employees in certain activities like that evolved? Rudolph Reyes: I think a lot of our employees do volunteer work but they don’t tell people. It's not, it's not – it's like a, um – something you do but you don’t want acknowledgement for. So I think a lot of our employees do volunteer work. If they're gonna take all the people in our plant, we'd be shocked of how much money, time that our people give back to the community. Marilyn Coulter: Um, and when talking about the plant, um, and the working conditions, you said you worked in a bunch of different places. [18:21] What made you – I know it was the [tsk] benefits was one reason you stayed but what would you say was the best thing [papers rustling] about working here outside of the benefits? [papers rustling] Rudolph Reyes: It's always been a good working environment. [papers rustling] I was impressed by – when I first came in some of the things that happened, um, [background noises] like getting a pair of gloves to work with. All you had to do was ask for a pair of gloves. Some places I worked, you wanted a pair of gloves, you had to fight tooth and nail to get a pair of gloves, and the first time I asked for a pair of gloves, I got a pair of gloves. And sometimes when you're handling things, [tapping] you know you need a pair of gloves or you need this or you need that and I was able to get that, to get drill bits, you know, driver bits. You asked for that stuff and you got it. Sometimes, you know, certain supervisors, you had to pull a tooth or two but you got it. Plus [inaudible 19:11] seniority. I'm a firm believer in seniority because I think seniority counts and I think it's about the fairest way that I know to give somebody a job or apply for a job because I've seen the boss’s buddy, the union buddy, the union guys’ buddies get jobs. Somebody’s always taking care of somebody or their buddies and seniority seems to be the, the equalizer. That if you had seniority and you kept your little receipt, you could get a job. A lotta people used to ask me, well how come you get all these easy jobs and I would tell'm I applied for’m just like you can and I'd apply for the job. A couple times I was told I couldn't have the job 'cause I didn’t have a receipt, so I'd say okay. Then I'd go home and I'd get my little receipt and I'd show’m the receipt and this look on their faces like, hm, like a mad look but I got that job 'cause I saved my little receipt that says… Marilyn Coulter: So… Rudolph Reyes: …I applied for that job. Marilyn Coulter: Ahh. Okay. [20:11] So you [banging] so you had to have – you, you kept your application that said you had it? Rudolph Reyes: Application. Yeah. Marilyn Coulter: You had to apply for [throat clearing] the jobs if you wanted to change [tapping] stuff. [20:18] Um, so being there what would you say was you happiest moment or your most fondest memory working in the plant? Rudolph Reyes: [20:27] Working in the plant? Marilyn Coulter: Mm-hm. Rudolph Reyes: Um, helping people. Marilyn Coulter: [20:30] Helping people? Rudolph Reyes: Yes. Be a team leader but I – I think I've always been a team leader. Now they have jobs called team leaders. [clinking] It's when somebody needs something and they can't get it and they have – everybody has their way of trying to get something and s-, I guess sometimes I have a, a knack for getting things and, and sometimes it's try to make somebody’s job easier. Marilyn Coulter: [20:54] So [tapping] what was the kinda knack that you needed [tapping] to help make somebody’s job easier? Rudolph Reyes: Talking to people, just talking to people, giving logic and, and putting it in the terms that the person needed the logic. I could put in my logic but it's my logic that I wanna hear. So if I can put it in a supervisor’s logic, [tapping] which gonna save’m money, save’m time, save’m production, they would listen. It would get done but I had to put it in their logic. Marilyn Coulter: [Inaudible 21:23]. [21:23] So you had to have the power of communication in order to do that job? Rudolph Reyes: [Right 21:28]. Marilyn Coulter: [21:29] So, um, do you feel that, um, given the fact [clanking] that you were – [crinkling] and, and you are, uh, of Hispanic descent, correct? Rudolph Reyes: Yes. Marilyn Coulter: All right. [21:41] And, um, do you feel that that played a part in your, eh, in, in your, um, [work at all 21:48]? Rudolph Reyes: I say yes and no and some people may giggle and they say that’s what – I'm a hard worker. I learn quick. I learn easy. So you can stick me on a job, in half an hour, I would learn it and then I would manipulate the job [tapping] to eliminate steps and everything else to make it easy for me. Marilyn Coulter: [22:06] So, um, now and I, and I said that y-, and I said you're an Hispanic male but what are y-, are you mixed with anything else? Rudolph Reyes: No. Genuine Mexican parts. Marilyn Coulter: Okay. [22:15] Just genuine Mexican part? Rudolph Reyes: Mm-hm. Marilyn Coulter: All right. [background noises] [laughter] [tapping] [22:19] Um, [tsk] so during your time, I know – did you ever have to go through any major strikes? [background noises] Rudolph Reyes: Yes. I went through one in ’69. Marilyn Coulter: In ’69? [22:28] How long were you… Rudolph Reyes: Yes. Marilyn Coulter: …[out 22:29]? Rudolph Reyes: I think we were out for almost 90 days. Marilyn Coulter: [22:31] And what were you striking for? Rudolph Reyes: Um, tell you the truth, I can't remember what it was for 'cause I was – just came in… Marilyn Coulter: Yeah. Rudolph Reyes: …and we're – it’s just before, uh, Walter Reuther [tapping] passed away, I'm pretty sure. Marilyn Coulter: Okay. [22:45] Um, did you take part in the strike? Rudolph Reyes: Yes. I [thumping] was in front of the building and my job was [tapping] to sit out front and make sure nobody came in that door. And they came by every so often. You had to sign up. You had a certain day you showed up for 4 hours [tapping] and then you stayed for those 4 hours. Somebody came by and brought coffee and doughnuts and then afterwards they would stamp or mark your car that you showed up and then a [background noises] certain day you’d go get your check. Marilyn Coulter: [23:11] So did you participate in any [thumping] others? Rudolph Reyes: Uh, we had a s-, 1-day one. I think it was 1-day or 2-day one. Other than that, those were the only 2. Marilyn Coulter: Those were the only 2. [23:20] In working and I know you had your strikes and your layoff and your [tapping] [funding 23:24] but are there any things that, um, they used to have in the plant that you miss that you don’t have anymore? Rudolph Reyes: I think the part is, uh, all the people 'cause there was a lotta people in the plant. There was a lotta camaraderie. Now everybody’s spread out [inaudible 23:44] your own. You're in your own little world almost everywhere you're at [and so that 23:47] you have a couple places where there’s a lotta people. And, and one time we had 6,200 employees. Just before we closed down, we were like 2,800 employees. That’s a big drop of a lotta people. Marilyn Coulter: So that's a big drop. Now when ch-, when you talk about the amount of people here. [24:03] I guess I'll ask when you were her in 1969 were there a lotta females working here? Rudolph Reyes: No, there wasn’t a lot. Marilyn Coulter: [24:09] How was… Rudolph Reyes: And if they were, they were on nights 'cause they didn’t have seniority to stay on days. Marilyn Coulter: [24:12] So what was it like for the a-, for the transition when a lotta women started coming into the plant? Rudolph Reyes: We had a lot of, [laughter] we had a lot of droolers. Marilyn Coulter: [24:19] Droolers? Rudolph Reyes: Droolers. ‘Cause all the sudden these – all these young ladies are coming in and they want jobs and everything else [throat clearing] and it was like oh, my goodness. Marilyn Coulter: Okay. Rudolph Reyes: [Yeah 24:30]. Marilyn Coulter: [24:30] Was it hard for you being a man working in the facility and having women come in the plant? Rudolph Reyes: No. Marilyn Coulter: [24:36] It was an easy transition for you? [clanking] Rudolph Reyes: Sure. It was, you know, [clanking] better scenery because you got [thumping] tired of seeing them ugly guys all the time. So it was better scenery and then what happens is as they, as they came in and they proved themselves that they could learn the jobs, they learned a lotta respect from almost everybody but there’s a few that, you know… Marilyn Coulter: Um, you came from Lansing. [24:59] How was it working with people from outlying communities coming in to Lansing to work? Rudolph Reyes: It was different. You had a lotta people from a lotta small towns. Eh, we had a lotta farmers from all small towns and you learned about who they were and they also learned about us… Marilyn Coulter: [Hm 25:15]. Rudolph Reyes: …us people who lived in town [tapping] and everything else and I always thought that was good that General Motors did that because they gave a fair chance to everybody, not just the people who lived in Lansing but people from all areas of this – the state got to come in and work. Marilyn Coulter: [25:29] How did it affect Rudy Reyes to work with people from out – how did it help you? Rudolph Reyes: Well my dad came from a farming community but I was, you know – I never knew – I knew he lived in a farming community but never knew about it and [background noises] then some of the people he grew up with already worked in the plant, so they’d recognize me and s-, ask me if you – I, you know, are you [Elias’ 25:50] boy and I said yes and then he said well, your dad grew up with me. So they would tell me bits and pieces of his stor-, his story that he had never told me. Marilyn Coulter: Oh. Rudolph Reyes: So then and the other people when they came in, you found out there was 2 kinds a schedules, those that get to go home and go to sleep after you get outta work and those who go to work. Say we're working nights, will go work all day long and then come to f-, General Motors, Fisher Body and work. Marilyn Coulter: [26:20] S-, uh, so do you feel that the people who worked in the fields that that effected the way [clinking] Fisher Body was able to do their job here? [26:30] What made it special? Rudolph Reyes: You learned a lot about, um, their way of life. Not their way of life but what they did all day. Marilyn Coulter: Hm. Rudolph Reyes: And then you had a respect for what they did. Um, was it hogs? Was it farming? Was it goats or whatever it was, sheep? You learned what they did, that, you know, if you asked questions, they would tell you. If you didn’t ask any questions, you didn’t care what was going on with [thumping] the next person to you, you didn’t learn nothing. Well I had a lotta questions. Marilyn Coulter: [36:58] So who would you z-, how m-, who would you say was [clanking] probably your most interesting person that you met here? Rudolph Reyes: [Wilbur Weller 27:03]. Marilyn Coulter: [27:05] [Wilbur Weller 27:05]? Rudolph Reyes: Yes. He was a pig farmer. Marilyn Coulter: [27:08] And what made him interesting? Rudolph Reyes: Because he was like me. We were both – we knew how to get things. We both knew how to get things and it was management [tapping] and the union [tapping] and then there was us two. [tapping] Okay? And sometimes we had to take’m both on because sometimes the union didn’t wanna give us what we wanted and sometimes management [knocking] didn’t [inaudible 27:27] and w-, when he quit, I still to this very day, I tell his brothers, tell’m I need somebody to help me fight. Marilyn Coulter: [Inaudible 27:34]. Rudolph Reyes: ‘Cause he quit to go into farming, pig farming fulltime, so he quit and that was a big day because he had like 17 years [thumping] seniority. Marilyn Coulter: [27:45] He quit after 17 years seniority? Rudolph Reyes: Yes. Uh, it was [knocking] a hard one and, and it was like, you know, that’s a question people ask when people quit here [tapping] to go on to another fulltime job [crinkling] or something they like doing, is how can you give up this job for another job. It's like leaving the security, like leaving the nest for the first time. I mean you get paid [thumping] ever single week. [crinkling] You're either – if you're laid off, [thumping] you get paid. You get SUB-Pay, you know? Why [throat clearing] would you ever give up this [thumping] job? Can't you do it on the side or can't you do this but still do this job? And he left. Marilyn Coulter: Now you just said you get laid off and you get SUB-Pay. [28:18] Can you tell me what SUB-Pay is, please? Rudolph Reyes: Okay. When you get laid off, you get unemployment and they [tapping] give you so much money, maybe $397 or $300 and some and the SUB-Pay makes up the difference abo-, of up to 85 percent, I say 85 percent pay. So it makes up the difference because it's not our fault we're laid off. [tapping] So somewhere in the agreement with the UAW management, they’ve come to that agreement saying it's not our employees. We're willing and able to work. It's something – you don’t have work available for us to do. Marilyn Coulter: [28:49] So this is a negotiated benefit? Rudolph Reyes: Negotiated, yes. Marilyn Coulter: [28:52] It's [tapping] ano-, it's another union benefit? Rudolph Reyes: Yes. Marilyn Coulter: [28:56] Um, [clanking] [papers rustling] [sighing] now do you have any other jobs outside of working here [clanking] in the plant? Rudolph Reyes: No. ‘Cause I was taught a long time ago that if you – you should put your budget where your work – where you, um – 40 hours pay. Anything above that, you just stick in the bank. Marilyn Coulter: Okay. Rudolph Reyes: ‘Cause if you can't – to live on 40 hours pay and you can't afford what you have, so I've always made the budget 40 hours and that’s it. Matter a fact, I had my wife ask me one time to go get another job and I told her no for the same logical reason. If I can't live on 40 hours pay, then I can't afford what I have. Marilyn Coulter: Okay. [29:44] So, uh, would you say that [thumping] most people just work at Fisher Body or [was – had 29:49] – by virtue of what you’ve done has never allowed you to expand on other avenues for you privately? Rudolph Reyes: No. I've gone to school and now that I'm getting ready to retire, I've taken up a printing business. Eh, somebody called me one day and said did I want to start a printing business and they – told’m give me a price and it was a good price. I said yes. But then I went to a tradeshow and found out I could buy brand new equipment for half price and couldn’t get the equ-, contacts that the printing people had, so I had the woman that had the most contract-, the most contacts and [tapping] here I am. I have a union printshop… Marilyn Coulter: [Hm 30:24]. Rudolph Reyes: …and some people kid me when they fir-, when I first tell them I have a printshop. I had a management person say oh, yeah, and is it union, and I said yes, it is and he was shocked. It was a union printshop but I'm a union person, [inaudible 30:37] [clanking] it has to be a union printshop. Marilyn Coulter: [30:40] So you're gonna continue to be union? Rudolph Reyes: Yes. The union has paid me well. The union has taken care of me and hopefully I can give somebody else that same benefit. Marilyn Coulter: Okay. [Inaudible 30:50]. [background noises] [clanking] [That’s it] [inaudible] [hit 30:54] this. Rudolph Reyes: [Inaudible 30:57]. Marilyn Coulter: [Inaudible 30:57]. [Let me stop this 33:00]. [recorder clicking] /lo