[A-List] Proletarian chronicles

[Suzanne de Kuyper]

winters may get warmer

On 3/23/07, Charles Brown <cbrown at michiganlegal.org> wrote:
>
> Ford workers relocate from Virginia plant to Michigan
>
>
> photo
> <
> http://cmsimg.freep.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C4&Date=20070323&Category
> =BUSINESS06&ArtNo=703230339&Ref=AR&Profile=1002>
>
> (AMY LEANG/DFP)
>
> Alton Hill, 37, performs a final electrical inspection on a Ford F-150
> pickup at Dearborn Truck Plant on Thursday. Hill is one of 346 workers who
> relocated from the Norfolk, Va., Ford assembly plant, which is closing
> soon.
> He came north to work and live in January.
>
>
>
>
>
> March 23, 2007
>
> BY SARAH A. WEBSTER
>
> FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
>
> Eating lunch in his blue jumpsuit and "Motown" baseball cap, John Spruill,
> 43, looks like any other autoworker in the gray cafeteria at the Dearborn
> Truck Plant.
>
> But when the new addition to the plant's paint shop starts talking, the
> Southern accent is unmistakable. Spruill quickly confesses he is homesick
> for his wife and three young children, who are still living in Virginia.
>
>
>
> "You got to do what you got to do," he said, explaining why he moved to
> Michigan from Norfolk to keep his job with Ford, along with hundreds of
> fellow autoworkers.
>
> While thousands of Michiganders have been leaving the state in search of
> employment -- largely as a result of a job crunch in the auto market here
> --
> several hundred like Spruill have been forced to move here in recent
> months
> to keep their jobs.
>
> Ford Motor Co.'s Way Forward restructuring plan, which is closing 16
> factories and eliminating 44,000 jobs, has hundreds of workers being
> shuffled around from plant to plant to fill in gaps created by departing
> workers and changes in production schedules.
>
> Recently, Dearborn Truck, which builds several pickups based on the
> F-Series
> line, welcomed 346 new autoworkers, courtesy of the Norfolk Assembly Plant
> in Virginia.
>
> That plant, which also built the F-150, will be closed in June as part of
> the goal of returning to profitability in 2009. The automaker posted a
> record $12.7-billion loss last year.
>
> The Norfolk workers who signed up for the move to Dearborn are taking the
> place of fellow UAW members who decided to take buyouts and leave the
> company.
>
> They're also needed as Ford prepares to add a third production crew at
> Dearborn Truck, the crown jewel of the $2-billion Rouge Complex. The
> environmentally friendly truck plant can build nine models off three
> platforms, but it has never been used to its full capability.
>
> The new shift will keep Dearborn Truck running on the weekends. In the
> past,
> weekend visitors to the plant, which is part of the Ford Rouge Factory
> Tour
> at the Henry Ford, rarely got to see F-150s being built there.
>
> "We're all excited about that," said Rob Webber, plant manager at Dearborn
> Truck.
>
> In a few more months, another 500 or so workers will be moved to Dearborn
> Truck from other Ford plants that will be idled, such as the Wixom
> Assembly
> Plant.
>
> The influx of new workers from Norfolk and other locales has made Dearborn
> Truck a sort of melting pot among Ford plants. Because the plant only
> opened
> in 2004, the workforce has been assembled over the years with workers from
> more than 30 current and former Ford factories.
>
> "All of us are here because a plant closed," Webber said.
>
> Despite the friendly plant culture there, the recent management moves have
> brought new life changes and challenges to hundreds of Ford workers, who
> are
> taking on new duties and being moved into different positions. Many say
> they
> are also dealing with the sadness of leaving behind longtime coworkers,
> plants and jobs.
>
> Spruill, who has 19 years with Ford, isn't sure whether he'll bring his
> family to Michigan.
>
> He sold his family's home and his wife and kids moved in with his
> mother-in-law. Meanwhile, his wife, who had 11 years at Ford, recently
> took
> Ford's educational buyout offer and will go to school to prepare for a new
> career.
>
> Like others whose lives are split between two states for the time being,
> Spruill spends considerable time pondering significant decisions about
> finances, living arrangements and lifestyle.
>
> "I'm not sure yet exactly what we're going to do," said Spruill, who has
> never lived away from his extended family in Virginia. "It's my first time
> away from home in 43 years. ... I'm going to try and go home once a
> month."
>
> He's currently living in an apartment in Van Buren Township with several
> Ford workers, including his 45-year-old brother Michael, who is also a
> displaced Ford worker from Norfolk. He's now working on the chassis line
> at
> Dearborn Truck.
>
> Despite the heavy decisions, Spruill said he has it easier than some
> displaced workers.
>
> "A lot of people still have their house on the market," he said.
>
> LaDonna Smith, 38, who worked at Ford's Norfolk plant for 14 years, bought
> a
> house in Livonia and has been trying to sell her home in Chesapeake, Va.,
> since November. She's a product specialist in Dearborn now, preparing for
> the launch of the new 2009 Ford F-150.
>
> "I might have to rent it," she said of her Virginia home.
>
> Smith has two children, ages 4 and 7, and said the biggest adjustment in
> moving to Michigan is the lack of child care. She and her husband miss the
> support system of nearby family.
>
> "That's probably the worst part," she said.
>
> For a long time, Smith thought about taking one of the generous buyouts
> Ford
> offered its hourly workers. Ultimately, though, she decided it wasn't time
> to go. Her father worked for Ford for 34 years, and she's committed to the
> company, even though she's only a few classes short of a master's degree
> in
> education.
>
> "I'm not quitting," she said. "I believe in the company or I wouldn't have
> moved up here."
>
> Contact SARAH A. WEBSTER at 313-222-5394 or swebster at freepress.com.
>
> .
> StoryChat
>
>
> ________________________________
>
> Dearbored
>
> Fools.
>
> Leaving Virginia and coming to Michigan is like leaving your wife of 20
> years for an 80 year old woman.
>
> Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 9:32 am
>
> ________________________________
>
> Nick-DeLeeuw
>
> Tough situation.
>
> Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 8:02 am
>
> ________________________________
>
> cabdriver
>
> Did I read that right, thirty [30] plant closings?
> So much for the "we're doing better" "everything is great" "homeownerships
> is at record levels" "NAFTA will be good for Americans" ect... for the
> last
> couple of decades!
> I wish my fellow rust-belters the best of luck. Crying or Very sad
> <http://forums.freep.com/images/smiles/icon_cry.gif>
>
> Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 7:58 am
>
> ________________________________
>
> rgood43
>
> Over 900 of us transferred from Lorain, Ohio to the Kentucky Truck Plant
> in
> Louisville, Kentucky in 1997 when they were getting ready to close the
> Lorain Assembly Plant. It's an adjustment, but at least I got to move in
> the
> right direction. We could have went to the Flat Rock Plant at the same
> time.
> For myself, Ohio winters were bad enough, I wasn't really looking forward
> to
> Michigan winters. Lake effect snow can really pile up. That will be the
> hardest thing for people from Virginia to get used to. They had better
> learn
> to drive in the snow!! Good luck and best wishes.
>
> Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 7:25 am
>
> ________________________________
>
> stevelaw
>
> You transfer guys are going to find that if you have a job, or an
> independent income source, aside from the super high taxes, Michigan is a
> great place to live. Just remember to register to vote.
>
> Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 5:13 am
>
> ________________________________
>
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