Rivethead; Social Issues Of Work Essay, Research Paper
Introduction
Ben Hampers book Rivethead; Tales From The Assembly
Line is a gritty in your face account of a factory workers
struggles against his factory, his co-workers, and the time
clock. Hamper makes no apologies for any of his actions,
many of which were unorthodox or illegal. Instead he
justifies them in a way that makes the factory workers
strife apparent to those who have never set foot on an
assembly line and wouldn?t have the vaguest idea how much
blood, sweat and tears go into the products we take for
granted everyday.
Rivethead is an account of the entire life of Author
Ben Hamper, from his long family lineage of ?shoprats? and
his catholic school upbringing to his numerous different
positions on the General Motors assembly line and his
equally numerous lay-offs from the GM Truck & Bus Division.
Unfortunately the many years of back breaking labor combined
with Hampers own personal demons led him to check into an
outpatient mental facility (at the time of the completion of
this book) where he learns daily to cope with his many years
of mental anguish.
Rivethead is a social commentary on industrial America,
assembly line work , and the auto industry. This essay,
however, will focus on the more specific aspects
Hamper considers, such as the monotony required on a (then)
modern assembly line, the relationship and hierarchy among
workers and their interaction with management as well as
both collective and individual responses to work and job
satisfaction (or lack there of).
Analysis
When Henry Ford first developed the idea of the
assembly line he was heralded as one of the most forward
thinking men of his time, and without the assembly line we
would no doubt not be as powerful a nation as we are today.
The assembly line principle as it matured in industrial
society however, proved to destroy workers creativity and
stifle the very essence of human life. Growth and change.
On an assembly line workers are degraded to automatons,
performing the same tasks over and over and over. Day in day
out, without ever having any knowledge or input into any of
the other tasks related to completion of the project. This
monotony in the workplace spills over into the daily life of
many factory workers and affects how they live their life
outside of the factory after the whistle blows as much as it
does while they?re on the assembly line. This spillover was
observed by Hamper of his Grandfather. ?Straight home from
work, dinner, the evening news and immediately into bed at
7:00 p.m. He arose each weekday at 3:30 a.m., fixed himself
some black coffee, turned on the kitchen radio, smoked a
handful of Lucky Strikes and waited to leave for work at a
quarter to five. This regimen never varied one iota in the
forty years he worked for GM? (Hamper pg.6). It is fairly
clear that the monotony of the assembly line has a way of
setting personal routines for it?s workers that eventually
work their way out of the factory and into the home. One
interesting question that is raised, is whether people who
like their life to be routinized eventually find their way
to an assembly line or if the assembly line monotony brings
the propensity to routinize out in people who previously did
not live by many routines.
The relationships Hamper discusses between the workers
on the assembly line are unique to say the least and
sometimes comical or dangerous. After reading this book I
would surmise that most factory workers build friendships
with other factory workers almost exclusively. This could be
due to their similarity of interests, similarity of jobs,
the fact that they are in contact daily, or just by virtue
of the timing of their shifts (as was Hampers case). I think
one thing that helped to bind the workers together was the
fact that they saw it as workers against management and by
their solidarity they could turn the balance of power in
their favor. This solidarity was visible when a new
supervisor was hired who wasn?t cutting the workers any
slack, so the workers resorted to sabotage. ?We simply had
no other recourse. Sometimes these power-gods had to be
reminded that it was we, the workers, who kept this place
runnin?? (Hamper pg.206). Relationships between workers were
generally very good, although there was a hierarchy among
the workers between the new guys and the experienced guys.
?Franklin…made a career out of intimidating rookies?
(Hamper pg.51) because until a worker had put in 90 days he
could be fired for any reason. Not all of Hamper?s
co-workers saw eye to eye with him when it came to his
column in the Flint Voice. After one column in which he
poked fun at someone down the line he nearly was strangled
to death.
The interactions between Management and the line
workers was quite different than that among the line
workers. The same solidarity that created bonds between the
line workers creates rifts between workers and management.
Conseque
for the workers and to re-affirm their own dominance. ?Henry
Jackson, [was] always in a mad quest to break up the
chemistry of the Rivet Line by importing snitches and
milksops…? (Hamper pg.188). One example of a cruel
personal vendetta was when during a layoff a supervisor
forced one worker to stay on when he didn?t want to and
there were many workers who would rather work than be laid
off, strictly as a personal attack. The line workers spite
for management was demonstrated during a slow down when
Hamper and one of his friends were discussing a fantasy
docudrama they would make that ?…would be a collection of
short pieces that chronicled the systematic executions of
[their] least favorite shoplords? (Hamper pg.125). Beyond
just friction with their direct management the workers had
quite a few complaints with the higher up corporate
management. After an elderly woman was hurt on the assembly
line attempting to do a job she was unqualified for, Hamper
noted ?GM?s total aimless approach in evaluating the
capabilities and limitations of a given worker? (Hamper
pg.110) and regarding GM policy in general Hamper stated,
?There was just no figurin? General Motors. When it came
time to make a move, I think they just threw darts at a
board or yanked on straws? (Hamper pg.105). These situations
only perpetuated the growing contempt of management by the
line workers and mistrust of line workers my management.
Hamper and his line mates did whatever they could to
help pass the time and break up the monotony of their
workday. ?Doubling-up? was a common behavioral response to
the monotony of the assembly line. ?Doubling-up jobs,
whenever and wherever possible, made the utmost sense. This
arrangement totally destroyed the monotony of waiting for
that next cab to arrive? (Hamper pg.39). In this doubling-up
arrangement two workers would privately organize and devise
a means of having one man complete both jobs at the same
time, while each took turns relaxing for half the time.
?…The summit of the double-up system [was] a half day on ,
a half day off…? (Hamper pg.61), which Hamper took
advantage of whenever possible. Doubling-up was a rather
drastic behavioral response because, technically it was a
theft of time and wages. (Although one could argue that if
all the assigned work was being completed it was not theft.)
Hamper and his fellow line workers embraced any and
every diversion they could conceive of in order to bring a
little excitement or emotion to their daily grind. Most of
these diversions were passive in nature and didn?t interfere
with their ability to meet their quotas or performance
standards. Hamper would often pretend that his riveting job
was an Olympic event and he was competing for the honor of
his country, just to pass a few minutes. These mental
diversions soon turned into full fledged sports and games of
skill, such as Rivet Hockey and Dumpster Ball. Co-worker Roy
showed Hamper a particularly dangerous method of work
avoidance. ?[He] approached me with a box-cutter knife
sticking out of his glove and requested that I give him a
slice across the back of his hand. He felt sure this ploy
would land him a few days off? (Hamper pg.43).
Conclusion
It is clear that the industrial assembly line is a
manufacturing process that requires the complete servitude
of the workers to the machine. ?The whole arrangement equals
nothing more than lousy prostitution? (Hamper pg.233). None
of the workers were the least bit happy to be working in the
GM factory because they viewed it as their only option, a
family legacy passed down from generation to generation.
By being involved in only one very small aspect of the
completed vehicle the workers felt disconnected from the job
because they had no sense of who they were making the trucks
for or where they would go. ?Never had I encountered one
human soul who had either purchased, ordered, leased, or
even hot-wired a General Motors Suburban? (Hamper pg.158).
Beyond feeling disconnected to the completed vehicle, the
workers felt (rightfully so sometimes) that GM was so huge
and that they, as workers, were such an insignificant part
of the organization that they couldn?t affect any change.
?[It] went along with being just another cog in such a
mammoth flywheel? (Hamper pg.72).
Ironically the Saturn car company, a division of
General Motors, was one of the first auto makers to try to
solve the inherent problems of the assembly line. Instead of
each worker doing the same thing all day long, Saturn
created a system where lineworkers are organized into
workgroups which combine to complete a major, visible
portion of the car. Saturn also informs the lineworkers
specifically who they are making each individual car for and
where it will be sent whenever possible. These small changes
along with many other recent advances have proven to make a
tremendous difference in worker satisfaction and loyalty and
continue to help humanize an inhuman job.