Rivethead: Tales from the Assembly Line, authored by a GM “shoprat”, Ben Hamper, is testimony of the aches and distress of an auto worker on the rivet line in the 1970’s and 80’s. This book describes and gives a picture of the reality of working class life and the impact the United Auto Workers (UAW) had on Hamper and his colleagues’ working conditions. Hamper’s recollection of his and hundreds of other American workers experiences on the assembly line is simultaneously hilarious and tragic.
The UAW not only impacted working conditions for the GM workers of the time but affected working conditions for future generations across the U.S. The GM sit down strike in Flint, Michigan in 1936 changed American labor history and world labor history. The young Auto United Workers took a stand by sitting down and protesting in the factory. They were sick of the way they were being mistreated and underpaid. The employers fought back by turning down the heat in the winter and by......
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Approximate Word Count: 707
Approximate Pages: 3 (260 words per double-spaced page) |