Women in the Plant
When I hired in at GM in 1973, I was entering a man's world. There were not many women back then coming on to the line workforce. Some of the men were quite resentful, and didn't appreciate women being on the line. It changed their lives in ways they found difficult to deal with. It also changed my life, since I had never worked assembly and had not been exposed to things that went on in the factory. I had never heard or said any of the four letter words that were commonplace, and was shocked at first. After awhile, you just get used to it and learn to tune it out and ignore some of the comments.
Men could no longer change into their jumpsuits on the line, and in front of their buddies. They would go behind the lockers or get in a crate box to do so. I got mooned several times and had ugly remarks made to me, but looking back, it seems funny. And at the time, I had to remind myself that I had invaded their space and they were just letting off steam. One guy came up to me the first week and was very angry. He was cussing me and said I had no business being there. I asked him why he felt that way, and he said, "You are taking the food out of some family's mouth. You are taking a job some man could be feeding his family with." I told him, "If I had a husband that was feeding me, I wouldn't be here. He couldn't handle the responsibility and took off leaving me to support my son by myself." I never heard another word about it again.
I worked in the Arlington, Texas division, and found the guys to be very down to earth and would go out of their way to help, once they got to know you and accept you. I had come from Boulder, Colorado and had always thought of Texans as cowboys who drove Cadillacs with big horns on the hood---hahahahaha--like a lot of people still think. I was overwhelmed with their sincerity and friendliness, after the initial shock of women being hired in. I was in the first handful of women in the plant.
Back then, there were only 3 bathrooms for women, and you had to hike all the way to the front offices on your break, which took your whole 23 minutes. It was years before they added restrooms on the floor. They took the men's rooms and split them in half and made them more accessible to all. This was a Big relief.
There were no discrimination laws at the time, and I wouldn't have filed one anyhow because I did realize it was all part of the culture of the plant. Sometimes someone would go too far, and I would cry, but learned that if I just ignored the guys who did these things, they would leave me alone if they found they couldn't get a reaction out of me. After awhile, I had a lot of guys who watched out for me and took me under wing. And a year later, I was considered just one of the guys and earned their respect.
I worked hard and did jobs that a lot of people wouldn't do. My supervisor would come and get me and put me on a job some guy wouldn't do, and tell them "Look --this little girl can do the job---why can't you?" I was 5' tall and weighed 105 lbs. After a few years, a lot more women were hired, and it was no big deal for the guys. They were used to it by then. Then came discrimination laws, which often made things difficult for a lot of us. A lot of women were filing complaints for things they shouldn't have, causing hard feelings. They didn't stop to think about anyone but themselves. I enjoyed most of the jokes (some were a bit out there), and didn't care if the guys had Playboy pics hanging in their lockers. Other women found them offensive and complained. It is my opinion we were in a man’s workforce and shouldn't be raising hell over it. No one made you look at them, and it was not that hard to ignore them.
It was an interesting part of my life looking back at all of it. I met so many different kinds of people, and learned how to be tolerant of others and listen to their points of view. It enriched my life, and I made friends with so many of them. They came to be my extended family and treated me like their little sister, which meant a lot to me. We worked as a team and helped each other out when someone got in the hole.
One of the most difficult times for me was when my newborn son got ill, and the doctor told me to watch him for the next three days, since it was possible he might contract pneumonia, so I didn't go to work. I called in to state why I wasn't going to be there. When I went back to work, Mr. Geihart, the General Supervisor, gave me a 3 day DLO. I asked him if it were his son, would he go to work or stay at home as I did, and he said "I'd stay at home, but I’m the boss and you're getting the DLO to serve as an example that women can't do this. You get paid enough to hire a nurse so you can come to work." To me, this was true discrimination, and I fought it and had it dropped from my record. I had worked there for 5 years at the time, and had gotten married to someone in the plant the year before. We had Chad almost one year to the day. That was thrown up to me at the time also, because Ron had just gone into salary as a supervisor, and Geihart told me it made Ron look bad for his wife to not be at work. I told him to judge Ron by his performance, and me by mine. Being married to Ron made my life and job tougher in a lot of ways because he was in salary. They didn't know how to separate the two of us as far as association was concerned. So many times I was not given jobs or days off because my boss would think it would look like I was getting it due to Ron. This was not fair, but I learned to live with it. I didn't like it, but there wasn't much I could do about it.
I worked in trim, paint, and the chassis departments over the years. I think my favorite job was IP (instrument panel) installation, and the 4 guys I worked with were the best. I had to jump on the front of every car and hook up the wires and vacuum lines, and then shoot down the IP to the windshield area. It kept me fit and busy and had a great team. I also enjoyed windshield set, which was further down the line. It took a couple times to get the hang on setting them in place without getting the pookie smeared everywhere!!! I have heard it is all done robotically now.
I have not been in the plant for 14 years now and I often wonder how the guys are now. I know they are all gone now. Most retired, but some have died already. I was forced out on medical due to a neck injury, but think of them all the time. I moved to New Mexico after a divorce, but still have people who keep me up to date on what is going on. I wouldn't trade most of my experiences while working there with anyone, and am grateful for all the great people I had the privilege to know. Some were a pain in the butt, but I loved them anyhow. That's the way life is. I hope some of them remember me once in awhile, too. I miss making cakes and cookies to take in and share and show them they were special. I want to thank each and everyone I knew out there for enriching my life and giving me so many memories to sit back in my rocker with and put a smile on my face thinking of them. Just wish I could talk to them one more time before we're gone. Pumkin, Frankie, Cunningham, Lundo, Bozo, Bruce, Barb, Big Boy, Mattie, Cobie, Bono, Gilmartin, and all the rest of you. I miss you all. Wish I knew how to find you all. My best to each and every person I ever knew out there.
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