oming onto the assembly line at the brand-new General Motors plant shocked Mel Brinsey.

OMING ONTO THE ASSEMbly line at the brand-new General Motors plant shocked Mel Brinsey.
"If I weren't married with kids, I wouldn't have been here two weeks," said Brinsey, who was among a group of workers reflecting recently on the plant's anniversary.
The plant's first car -- a Chevrolet Impala -- rolled off the line 40 years ago this coming Friday.
Lots of workers did leave in the plant's first year because they couldn't take the constant pressure and repetitive nature of the job, said Brinsey, who was hired in November 1966 when the second shift was added.
"People weren't used to the assembly line, having to stand at attention for eight hours," he said.
Many people came to the plant from other jobs where they had control over the pace of the work.
"You don't control the assembly line. It controls you," said Brinsey, 64, of Burghill.
In many weeks, the number of workers who quit exceeded the number who were hired, he said.
Quitting wasn't hard for many workers because they had taken leaves of absence from area steel mills just so they could try out working at the new plant.
Brinsey, however, stuck it out because he needed the benefits. He had been a self-employed contractor, but he had recently been married, and his wife was pregnant. Within a few years, he was elected to a union position, a post he has held off and on ever since.
What's changed
Working on the assembly line making Chevrolet Cobalts is much different today, said Brinsey and the others who were interviewed.
First, union-management relations are much improved, they said. Years ago, the bosses just wanted to keep the line moving and didn't really care what problems the workers were having, they said.
The labor unrest and strikes in the plant's early years sprang from a variety of factors, they said. The plant had young workers who were frustrated by repetitive work and lack of input, and bosses who were more concerned with keeping the line running than improving the operation, they said.
And, Brinsey added, both sides had chips on their shoulders.
Chuck Phipps of Ellsworth, a toolmaker who's been at the plant 28 years, said GM realizes the value of input from its workers today.
The change started in the 1980s when GM instituted training programs to show people they could come up with better solutions as a group than they could individually, he said. Then in the 1990s, management created teams in the assembly plant and charged them with solving problems and improving operations. The teams also were established recently in the adjacent fabricating plant.
The change has been so dramatic for Phipps that he said he loves his job precisely because of the creativity he has to make tools to help workers on the line.
How technology helps
Technology also has helped improve life on the line, workers said.
Maurice Cousin of Youngstown, a millwright who's been at the plant 28 years, recalled an instance in the former van plant when a small woman was asked to insert screws into the front grille of a van from the same platform as the worker before her -- a 6-foot-5-inch man.
The man was shooting the screws from a gun at hip level, while the woman was reaching over head and trying to insert the screws into holes she couldn't see.
Today, workers have adjustable platforms, he said.
Phipps added that workers in certain areas are aided by machines with articulating arms that help hold the weight of an object being moved.
Jobs in the early years included much more of what Brinsey calls "bull work" -- lifting and moving heavy objects.
Also, robots are heavily used in the plant today -- welding, sanding and painting, which has allowed GM to drastically reduce the hourly work force at the plant.
"Automation helps the people who work here," Brinsey said. "But it hurts the community and the people who need jobs."
Greg Mason, a millwright from Girard who has 28 years at the plant, said GM also has changed how it cares for the plant.
When he first started, little work was done to maintain equipment, so maintenance workers stayed busy all day working on repairs, he said. Today, maintenance workers are usually working to prevent problems, he said.
"Back in the '70s, you didn't know what a grease gun was. Now they want it done, and it shows," he said.
Other improvements
The line used to go down twice a shift because of mechanical problems, he said. Now, it rarely happens, he said.
He added that GM is using better-quality materials today and designing the cars better.
"Everything fits now. Before, you threw everything together and what it was, it was," he said.
Looking back, all of the men said they are happy they came to Lordstown and called it the best job they've ever had.
Cousin came to Lordstown after being laid off from Youngstown Sheet & amp; Tube, while Phipps lost his job at Wean United in Youngstown. Mason left the McDonald Works of U.S. Steel to come to the car plant.
Sheet & amp; Tube and Wean went out of business, while the McDonald Works was closed and reopened as a much smaller McDonald Steel.
"I feel very fortunate that I'm working here," Phipps said.
He is concerned, however, about the future of the Lordstown operation.
As GM eliminates the plant's midnight shift, it is offering buyouts to encourage older workers to leave.
Phipps said the workers have built up a vast amount of experience and knowledge and yet there are few younger workers to pass it along to. Half of the complex's 5,300 hourly workers have at least 30 years of service, and many more have nearly 30.
How will the plant fare as experienced workers leave, he was asked.
"It's kind of scary, isn't it?" he said.
shilling@vindy.com