April 22, 2020

A Grand National BMX Racer and Auto Gypsy

Dennis Ybarra is a General Motors auto gypsy and a Grand National BMX Race Champion. Dennis, who has been laid off and transferred an amazing number of times. During his career he has learned to accept more layoffs than he can count. He shares his personal story about the anxiety that is caused when the economic winds of change result in his having to accept transfers to far away auto plants just to maintain his position with the company. He describes his life growing up in a General Motors factory town and living in a house with a General Motors factory on the other side of a fence in his backyard. He lived with grandparents who immigrated to America from Mexico. Dennis is a third generation factory worker in Flint, Michigan. Yet in spite of the problems with economic instability he manages to still serve his community and the children who live there. It is an amazing picture of the resilience of the American autoworker and their desire to help kids find a path to the American Dream. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/radiofreeflint/message

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Transcript

WEBVTT

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You're listening to Arthur Bush.

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This is Radio Free Flint.

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Today's episode includes an interview with Dennis Yabera, who's a BMX racer as well as a volunteer for the Jesse County Parks Commission.

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More importantly, he discusses his work with General Motors and his life as an auto gypsy.

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I think you'll enjoy what he has to say.

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I'd like to remind you if you like this episode, please like or subscribe at your favorite uh podcast app.

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If you'd like, you can leave a message here on anchor.com or leave a voicemail for me.

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We'd like to hear from you.

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Thank you.

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Okay, here we are again.

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This is Radio Free Flint Arthur Bush, your host.

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We have Dennis Yabero of Flint, who's telling us all about BMX bicycling in the Genesee County Park system.

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Dennis, you're still looking for more riders to compete in the county park.

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Yeah, that's that's true.

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Um, I think a little bit of the reason that um the ridership's dwindled was you know the economics of the area.

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It was pretty stark for quite some time, and people have their priorities and one is to eat uh rather than come out and and pay to race, uh they're taking care of their business.

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Experiences what would it cost for somebody to get into BMX riding that's just a beginner?

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Just a ship, you know.

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If they don't have a bike, we have uh rentals.

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Um they want to just try it out.

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The first time is is free, they just sign a waiver.

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After that, they have an opportunity to buy a license to compete.

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Uh, one's a 30-day trial that they can upgrade to an annual uh license, or they can just jump in the fire and buy uh an annual license.

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What's that cost?

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30-day license is 30 bucks.

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Full membership is 60.

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Uh, along with that, after they pay that that initial license fee, it's$15 each time they come out to race.

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Uh, usually out there for like two, three hours.

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Practice is free on the day that they race.

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Uh, we usually start around one.

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People start showing up around 10 and riding the track about that time.

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If somebody wanted to get into this sport, what would the bike itself cost?

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You can use uh depending on how you um choose to uh get into it and buy one.

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Uh you can buy a used bike where kids have uh say like parents have bought one and the kids don't um don't interest them.

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You probably pick one up for like$150.

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Or if if you've got deep pockets, you can buy them all up like$2,000.

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It's just okay.

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Uh Dennis, you've gotten into this uh BMX bike uh thing, and and trail bike riding is still popular in Michigan as you you see lots of people riding bicycles these days.

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The state parks have uh places to ride over at the Rifle River Recreation Area.

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There's a very complex trail for BMX uh type riding.

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Uh it's not racing, but it's what we call, I guess, trail riding, right?

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What do you call that?

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There's a vernacular that you use.

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Uh some call it mountain biking, others call it downhill.

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So at the Flint facility there, or the the county facility, that is run by the county parks and recreation commission, correct?

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Uh the land is owned by the county and parks recreation.

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Volunteers actually we run the program.

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And you have a board of directors?

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Yes, there's uh right now there's five of us.

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Are you the president of that board?

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I'm the track operator.

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I oversee you know the president is Austin Kelly, he's out of La Pier.

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Our vice president is Paul Remington, he lives in the Flint area, I think Burton or Flint.

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I think he's Burton.

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Okay.

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So they've taken on this responsibility to bring some order to the trail, so to speak, right?

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They there's not a park ranger standing out there supervising your activity.

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No, they you know, drive in and out.

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If we call them because there might be an injury on the track, they respond really well.

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You know, they you know, we don't have that many injuries as um that are serious, you know, the usual scrapes and uh road rash, you might call it, you know, from taking a fall on the track.

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But um the Rangers aren't around, they come around to enjoy and watch once in a while the races, but uh for the most part, I think the only time they really do anything out the track is if they they see a motorcycle or a uh motorized vehicle on the track, which are not supposed to be on there.

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Your activities out there, they're they don't make a lot of noise or cause the neighbors any issues.

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No, well, we have an announcing system that we use during uh the races, but not so loud that you can hear it up the road uh like a concert.

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When I was uh Tennessee County Parks Commissioner way back when this started, uh we had some concern by the neighbors because they you know they didn't understand it.

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Since then it maintained its popularity out there and it's been a good part of uh the offerings of the park system.

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Now you got interested in it and started racing yourself.

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My eldest daughter at the time she was seven, and uh like I said, I I watched your race for for a couple years and I just got tired of her having all the fun.

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So I I got in and I needed to lose a little weight too at the time, so I thought it was a good way to uh you know, I say kill two birds with one stone.

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Did she beat you most of the time?

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Yeah, she kicked my butt for the most part.

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Uh these bikes they can also be used on to do mountain biking or trail riding and wherever you can find a trail, right?

00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:39.839
I mean, we we have them all over.

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Yeah, it depends on the I guess the topography of uh the mountain bike trails because uh uh BMX bikes are just single-speed bikes.

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You can um change your gears out on a mountain bike and you know make it easier to get up these real steep inclines to go down the next uh part of the trail.

00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:08.639
The milder mountain biking trails are uh downhillers, you know, the ones that are mostly downhill BMX bike would probably work.

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They don't have the um pension made for downhill mountain bike, they're just a solid frame.

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So the BMX is a little bit more forgiving when you're hitting bumps and so on.

00:07:21.519 --> 00:07:22.399
The other way around.

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Yeah, mountain biking.

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Yeah, yeah, right, exactly.

00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:32.879
So, Dennis, uh now the people that participate in this sport are they mostly from the Flint area, Genesee County area?

00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:50.959
For our local races, yes, but we have other riders come from the other local tracks across the state because there's uh what they call district points, just say they're points chasing, but they also come to you know enjoy a different layout for a track other than the ones they normally ride on.

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They come from uh Waterford.

00:07:54.079 --> 00:08:02.160
You indicated before we got started here that you actually do racing and actually participate in some national events.

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Yeah, that's that's true.

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Uh I've raced at least 10 national events a year for the past 10 years.

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If I can, I head to the grands seven, eight years ago.

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They used to be held in Louisville, Kentucky, until combined the two sanctions, and they're held in Tulsa, Oklahoma now.

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So it's a little farther drive going to the Grand Nationals.

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They've had national races close by.

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They have one this year in Toledo.

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They've held them in Rockford, Illinois.

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That's that's not too far away.

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Your experience in racing do they have age groups?

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Is that how they divide it up?

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Yeah, otherwise I'd I'd be just a speck of dirt on a track.

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There's not a lot of guys in my age class that race.

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I race in 61 and over cruiser class.

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Enough in our class to race.

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Sometimes it's only three three other guys.

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Sometimes there's six or seven other guys in my age class that I raced against.

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Uh now the other younger classes, they could have up to 60 kids waiting to race, and it all comes down to the final eight to make their main.

00:09:12.480 --> 00:09:14.879
So, Dennis, let me switch uh bases here.

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You uh were born and raised in Flint, Michigan.

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Uh spent most of your early life on the south end of Flint, right?

00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:23.440
Yeah, it's true.

00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:24.000
Yeah.

00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:26.480
Well, tell us a little bit about your family.

00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:30.720
Um my dad uh he worked for General Motors.

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I think he was uh a welder.

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And my mom, she uh was kind of like part tangler.

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She worked for a store called Arle's.

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It was up on um Dort Highway across from the AC plant.

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We had three brothers and two sisters, so we had a pretty big family, probably normal for about back then, but uh you're always bumping shoulders and elbows in the house, getting around, getting out.

00:09:54.080 --> 00:09:59.440
Good parents, you know, they allowed us to stay out all night long without getting our butts whipped too bad when we got home.

00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:02.159
Your dad worked in an auto factory, correct?

00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:03.039
Yes, he did.

00:10:03.279 --> 00:10:03.840
Which one?

00:10:04.080 --> 00:10:07.039
Uh the last one he worked in was uh Fisher Body One.

00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:10.000
I can recall uh the whistle going off.

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You could hear that thing.

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Here I'm out on Dorra Highway and Fisher Body's on Saginaw Street.

00:10:14.720 --> 00:10:19.200
You could hear that when it was time for their ship to start uh when the plant went down.

00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:24.559
Your grandfather, uh, you know, at one point your family lived with your grandfather, right?

00:10:24.799 --> 00:10:25.360
Yeah, that's true.

00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:27.360
Uh my parents uh were real young.

00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:32.399
Your family uh lived with your grandfather there in the south end of Flint.

00:10:32.639 --> 00:10:33.360
Tell us about that.

00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:40.720
Yeah, it was um it was a small house we lived in uh behind my uh my dad's brother and his his wife.

00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:47.279
We lived there until I was like I think six years old, then we moved to another part of the south side.

00:10:47.440 --> 00:10:48.960
But uh it was a really small house.

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Like the house is probably about the size of some big garages right now.

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Talk about the neighborhood there if you can.

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It was an easy-going neighborhood, you know.

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It wasn't too far from uh a little store down the street from us.

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Kids go down there and get candy and and and drinks and uh play with all the other kids on the street.

00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:11.840
It was on Cuthbertson in the south end, right?

00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:16.240
Cuthbert's Cuthbert between um Atston and Hemphill Road.

00:11:16.399 --> 00:11:22.240
And then in the backyard of that, in the backyard of that house, there would have been Fisher Body No.

00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:26.399
Where the great sit-down strike occurred in 1936.

00:11:27.120 --> 00:11:28.559
Yep, yep, it was.

00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:39.039
I I remember um going up to the fence that separated us from the railroad that was uh would transport parts and cars in and out of there and watch the trains go come and go.

00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:41.919
Your family worked in that factory, correct?

00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:44.159
Yeah, my dad worked there for quite some time.

00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:46.639
Uh I think his brother did too.

00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:57.039
And then eventually when you were growing up, then you would play in the streets and go down to Nelson's Market, which was at the uh on Atherton Road, right?

00:11:57.440 --> 00:11:57.840
Yep.

00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:01.200
I was always told stay away from the train tracks.

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Yeah, it was right next to the train track.

00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:05.279
Nelson's Market was.

00:12:05.600 --> 00:12:10.480
You were talking earlier uh before we started our podcast about your grandfather.

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Where did he come from and how did he end up in Flint?

00:12:14.879 --> 00:12:31.600
I think he immigrated from Spain to Mexico, Spaniard, and while he was there, he met his wife, who's actually uh Aztec Indian blood, and after he'd been down there for a while, they chose to immigrate to the United States and they ended up in Michigan.

00:12:31.919 --> 00:12:35.279
Flint being their their final home.

00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:44.000
And he worked for I think uh a place called Cotton Standard, just off of Grand Travers, or in between Grand Travers and Fenton Road.

00:12:44.240 --> 00:12:51.039
And that was an auto supplier that made supplies for making seating and so forth in the in the factory?

00:12:51.360 --> 00:12:52.559
Yeah, I believe it was.

00:12:52.639 --> 00:12:55.919
Um a lot of seats back then had cotton in them.

00:12:56.159 --> 00:12:56.960
He worked there.

00:12:57.039 --> 00:12:58.960
Um I'm not exactly sure what he did.

00:12:59.039 --> 00:13:03.279
He might have been uh somebody working with sewing machines.

00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:08.480
I just I remember it was called Cotton Standard, and uh every once in a while we'd go meet him.

00:13:08.799 --> 00:13:17.759
And then your family moved to uh another neighborhood further to the uh to the east over in the Freeman School neighborhood.

00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:19.360
We moved over there.

00:13:19.600 --> 00:13:26.559
Um it was kind of strange because I got used to going to school at McGool for probably about six or seven months, and then we moved.

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Great big open field at the time.

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There was nothing there, like all the businesses that are there right now.

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It's a great big open field.

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All the homes were newly built.

00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:45.360
Uh, I don't recall having any grass on the surrounding areas of the houses until like after maybe a year and a half, two years being there.

00:13:45.759 --> 00:13:47.440
What street did you live on?

00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:49.600
Uh, we lived on Cheyenne Avenue.

00:13:49.919 --> 00:13:54.720
You went to a different school, you say Yeah, we went to Freeman once we moved over there.

00:13:54.879 --> 00:13:55.759
I like that school.

00:13:55.840 --> 00:13:58.080
I was and what did you like best about it?

00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:01.679
Reminiscing and thinking back about the neighborhood and the school.

00:14:01.759 --> 00:14:03.120
What was the best part of it?

00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:08.240
Oh, there were so many other kids my own age, more friends.

00:14:08.480 --> 00:14:16.879
I was able to um walk directly to the school without having to worry about traffic on main roads, a nice environment.

00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:19.200
Sidewalks all the way to the school.

00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:20.240
There was playgrounds.

00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:25.360
School had what they call community school activities there.

00:14:25.679 --> 00:14:27.039
Do you recall any of that?

00:14:27.120 --> 00:14:29.360
You know, where you could go to the gym and so on.

00:14:29.679 --> 00:14:33.600
Yeah, they were uh some some fun times.

00:14:33.679 --> 00:14:38.399
Uh, we would go there and you know, we beg the parents to go because we had a lot of fun.

00:14:38.559 --> 00:14:42.960
But uh we'd go inside a gym, we'd play um what's those big rubber balls?

00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:44.480
You know, we dodgeball.

00:14:44.639 --> 00:14:46.639
Yeah, we'd we'd throw them at each other, yeah.

00:14:46.799 --> 00:14:51.600
Um, and they would leave some nice red marks on you when you got hit by them, you know.

00:14:52.320 --> 00:14:54.320
Yeah, we'd have fun doing that.

00:14:54.720 --> 00:14:58.879
Uh there was baseball activities that you could be a part of.

00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:00.559
So it came later.

00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:02.080
You did play baseball, right?

00:15:02.159 --> 00:15:05.360
You played in the summer and so forth on a baseball team.

00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:06.960
Yeah, I did.

00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:08.320
Uh wasn't for very long.

00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:14.000
I was just a little guy, um probably smaller in stature than most of my other friends.

00:15:14.159 --> 00:15:16.960
And I played catcher when I first started.

00:15:17.200 --> 00:15:21.200
Got my head up once too often, get my get my hat knocked off.

00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:25.360
So I eventually got stuck out in right field so I wouldn't get hurt.

00:15:26.159 --> 00:15:35.679
Let's uh shift gears for just a minute and talk a little bit about how it came that you you stayed in Flint after you eventually went on to high school.

00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:38.720
You went to Flint Southwestern living there.

00:15:39.039 --> 00:15:39.679
Yep.

00:15:39.919 --> 00:15:44.879
Okay, and then and then after Southwestern high school, uh, what happened?

00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:51.600
I didn't do too much for a couple years, kind of like um got out of uh the mode of um the learning mode.

00:15:51.679 --> 00:15:52.960
I just wanted to have fun.

00:15:53.279 --> 00:15:56.159
After that, I got tired of not having any money.

00:15:56.240 --> 00:15:59.679
I found a job that I could support myself with.

00:15:59.840 --> 00:16:07.279
I worked at Kroger's for a while, and while I was working at the Kroger stores, I decided to go to uh Mock College.

00:16:07.440 --> 00:16:12.720
I ended up um quitting Kroger's because I couldn't I couldn't do two full-time things at one time.

00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:22.879
I just then I went for a while without any um any work and I ended up I ended up at the General Motors Fisher Body Coal Water Road Plant.

00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:32.000
Okay, that's known as Turnstead in the day, and then later it was spun off by General Motors and taken over by another company.

00:16:32.320 --> 00:16:38.000
Yeah, it got uh I say uh pushed under the ground, it got torn down.

00:16:38.159 --> 00:16:40.080
But uh I worked there for a while.

00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:44.639
I was um hard pressed like a lot of other people in uh the mid-70s.

00:16:45.039 --> 00:16:57.679
Come on, too good, but I got picked up by um organization called the Spanish Speaking Information Center, and they got me referral into General Motors and they picked me up, and I worked there for a couple years, uh, and then I got laid off.

00:16:57.759 --> 00:17:00.720
It's like he's like uh most other GM employees.

00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:07.759
I was a um GM gypsy I bounced from plant to plant from uh quite dumb of dog over here.

00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:09.039
You probably hear that.

00:17:09.279 --> 00:17:20.640
Well, anyway, we're talking to Dennis Yabera, who is uh an auto worker in Flint, Michigan, and he's telling us a little bit about he just began the story about how he started working for General Motors.

00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:22.400
What year was that, Dennis?

00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:24.799
Uh 1977.

00:17:25.119 --> 00:17:42.720
From there, you got some help by a community organization associated with the Spanish-speaking information center, and then you began to work at the Co-Water Road General Motors Facility, which is an auto parts plant, and they have a plating operation there, right?

00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:47.279
They did it at the time they plated and made chrome and so forth.

00:17:47.599 --> 00:18:00.079
From there, you just mentioned the word auto gypsy, and that has some special meaning to auto workers throughout the Midwest, which has been not very well reported by the news media.

00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:07.039
And I think people would understand, you know, listening to this ought to know what that word means in reality.

00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:10.319
So why don't you explain to us a little bit about what you mean by that?

00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:16.480
Being an auto worker, I don't think it really matters which major company you work for.

00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:20.319
There's always be downturns in car buying industry.

00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:31.279
So when that happened, you'd get laid off, and if there's another type of car and selling better, uh you could end up um ending up being transferred to those other plants.

00:18:31.599 --> 00:18:40.160
Best example I can give you is the last facility I worked at prior to going to the Lansing Grand River plant was the Lake Orient Assembly Center.

00:18:40.480 --> 00:18:43.039
Okay, well let's go back in sequence so everybody can understand.

00:18:43.119 --> 00:18:54.000
So you worked at at the General Motors Coal Water Road, and then something happened, and they called you one day and said, Hey, yo, if you want to stay with General Motors, you've got to go work someplace else.

00:18:54.319 --> 00:18:55.039
Yes, correct.

00:18:55.119 --> 00:19:00.319
I got laid off and was off for a little bit, and then I got picked up at the Buick plant.

00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:01.920
That would be in Flint.

00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:03.039
Yes.

00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:10.720
And then I was there for about maybe seven months, and I got laid off there, and I got called back to the Coldwater Road Plant.

00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:15.519
So they sent you back where you started, and then what was your job classification?

00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:17.680
I was Coldwater Road Plant.

00:19:17.759 --> 00:19:20.640
I was um what they call an equipment cleaner.

00:19:20.799 --> 00:19:21.680
An equipment.

00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:23.119
Oh, okay.

00:19:23.599 --> 00:19:27.519
And then you went back to Coldwater Road, and then what happened to you?

00:19:27.759 --> 00:19:30.640
I worked there for about another year and a half, two years.

00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:33.440
In the 80s, things weren't all that great.

00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:34.880
I got laid off there.

00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:36.799
I went to Buick again.

00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:39.759
That's the second time you went back to Buick City?

00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:40.480
Yep.

00:19:40.799 --> 00:19:44.640
Then I worked there until like might have been like eighty two.

00:19:45.200 --> 00:19:46.559
I was laid off for quite a while.

00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:48.640
I almost went what they call it time for time.

00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:51.599
I mean, you were laid off as long as you'd worked.

00:19:51.839 --> 00:19:52.079
Yeah.

00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:58.720
Ever worked for General Motors, and then at that point it cashes out and you you you don't have a job anymore, right?

00:19:58.960 --> 00:19:59.680
Yeah, and let you know.

00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:03.440
They hire you back, you start all over like your day one employee.

00:20:03.599 --> 00:20:05.039
So I was I was lucky.

00:20:05.119 --> 00:20:13.839
Um, I'd had some friends that worked with me at VIC got called to the Lake Orion Assembly when they first built that plant, and uh they'd asked me how come I wasn't down there.

00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:15.519
I said, I don't know, you know.

00:20:15.599 --> 00:20:33.680
So I inquired with the local union and uh they got me down to Lake Orion, started working there in '84, and I worked there for quite some time um in production for probably 15 years, and then I moved into skilled trades and became a millwright.

00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:34.559
Millwright.

00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:38.000
So you're a skilled trades, and you of course you got paid more.

00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:39.119
Yeah.

00:20:39.359 --> 00:20:41.599
And you had a little more job security.

00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:44.640
Oh, I yeah, I'd hoped at the time that I would.

00:20:44.799 --> 00:20:48.079
It's uh better security than being a production worker.

00:20:48.400 --> 00:20:55.759
So once you went to Lake Orion and and you got a you know, you had to get educated and take an apprenticeship to get that job.

00:20:56.240 --> 00:20:57.599
What happened after that?

00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:00.079
I just got my journeyman's card.

00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:08.880
All the skilled tradesmen always told me they always since they'd been there, uh since that plant had been open, they'd they'd work seven days, 12 hours if they would.

00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:11.920
I got my journeyman's card about two weeks afterward.

00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:15.279
They they had cut back on all the overtime for the skilled trades.

00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:18.480
And it was uh a transition.

00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:25.119
Once again, um had to do with what we were selling or what we were building, and our plant wasn't selling so well.

00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:30.000
So, like you know, any business, they cut back when they're not selling as much product.

00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:35.200
Uh after a time, did you switch where you worked from Lake Orion to some other place?

00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:37.599
Yeah, there was a couple times.

00:21:37.839 --> 00:21:39.920
I think it was 2011.

00:21:40.480 --> 00:21:44.160
I got laid off and it was laid off for like three weeks.

00:21:44.400 --> 00:21:46.960
The Flint truck and bus plant called me up.

00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:56.319
In fact, they called all the skilled trades that were laid off from Lake Orion up, and uh they called them and to work at the truck plant, but it was in production.

00:21:56.640 --> 00:21:57.920
We all went, you know.

00:21:58.079 --> 00:22:03.680
I would think I was there for two years, almost two years, till Lake Orion called back.

00:22:04.079 --> 00:22:10.640
Might have been a little longer, but got called back to Lake Orion and was there for about another year and maybe two.

00:22:11.359 --> 00:22:16.319
Once again, uh got laid off because uh they were down to one shift.

00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:28.079
And they were just building um what's known as the Sonic, and they were transitioning from building the Sonic to the car that's out there now called the Bolt, an all-electric car.

00:22:28.640 --> 00:22:30.240
The electric car, okay.

00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:31.440
That's a Chevrolet.

00:22:31.920 --> 00:22:38.559
Uh so you're back at Lake Orion, and then that ran out too, I take it again.

00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:47.599
Yeah, they they they dropped down, uh, like I said, to one shift, and with you know, I didn't have the seniority to hold, so they laid me off.

00:22:47.920 --> 00:22:49.680
Then where'd you go after that?

00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:53.920
They offered me to go to Ham Tramic or Lansing, and uh I went to Lansing.

00:22:54.160 --> 00:23:00.160
Ham Tramic being in in the Detroit area, and so you decided to go to Lansing and work?

00:23:00.400 --> 00:23:08.960
Yeah, the the drive to Ham Tramic would probably have been another 15 miles farther than going to Lansing from my you know home base.

00:23:09.279 --> 00:23:13.839
So how far was your commute to Lake Orion or to Lansing?

00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:15.039
Well, both, yeah.

00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:16.720
We didn't really talk about that.

00:23:16.799 --> 00:23:27.839
But one of the one of the characteristics of an auto gypsy is that they have to drive long distances to find work at their new place of employment, otherwise they have to sell their house and move close, right?

00:23:28.079 --> 00:23:28.799
Yeah, yeah.

00:23:28.880 --> 00:23:35.359
Um my drive to Lake Orion was about 50 miles, 55 miles a day, you know, one way.

00:23:35.599 --> 00:23:38.319
So you spent two hours on the road at least.

00:23:38.559 --> 00:23:40.480
Yep, no doubt.

00:23:40.720 --> 00:23:46.480
And then to Lansing, I assume it was about the same same length, or it's a little bit more.

00:23:46.559 --> 00:23:55.039
Um, from where I'm living, um, it's about uh depending on which route I take, um, it's anywhere from 65 to 70 miles to get there.

00:23:55.440 --> 00:24:05.279
So your your lifestyle there becomes as an auto worker gets caught up with the yo-yo economy of the area, and so you really have a hard time.

00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:10.400
You've been laid off so many times that probably gotten used to the anxiety of it already.

00:24:10.720 --> 00:24:17.200
Yeah, the stability um or instability doesn't really uh stress me out as much as it used to.

00:24:17.440 --> 00:24:18.640
Uh it's still there.

00:24:18.799 --> 00:24:28.160
Um tend to get out of debt, and as soon as you get out of debt and start making a little bit headway as far as savings go, you have another shockwave come at you.

00:24:28.400 --> 00:24:31.599
You can have a little bit saved up or you don't make it through it.

00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:40.240
So, Dennis, your your lifestyle then is greatly impacted, not just by the commute, but by the insecurity or duration of your job.

00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:42.640
Looking now in Lansing.

00:24:42.960 --> 00:24:45.839
Yeah, I think that's my uh place of employment right now.

00:24:45.920 --> 00:24:56.640
I'm I'm laid off like everybody else due to the COVID-19 issue, but the Lansing plant is where I go every day when I'm how many years in total have you worked with General Motors?

00:24:57.039 --> 00:25:00.960
Uh in 77, I'd probably be 40, 41 years now.

00:25:01.039 --> 00:25:05.440
Um 17, 2017 would have been 40 years, so it's 43.

00:25:05.680 --> 00:25:09.440
And have you had any children that wanted to work in their plants?

00:25:09.759 --> 00:25:14.079
They they have how you say tossed the idea around.

00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:20.319
They like the thought of uh financial wise well-being, I guess you might say, but it's not like it used to be.

00:25:20.480 --> 00:25:25.519
So um they really haven't been serious about working in the auto plants.

00:25:25.680 --> 00:25:28.079
They had other lifelong dreams.

00:25:28.400 --> 00:25:31.200
Dennis, uh, we're getting to the end of our time here.

00:25:31.519 --> 00:25:49.920
What I find remarkable about your story, first of all, is your family's roots were so common uh to many uh American stories, which is they came from other places and came to America, settled, and were productive citizens.

00:25:50.240 --> 00:25:52.559
And now you've you have a family.

00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:54.400
I forgot to ask you how many children you have.

00:25:54.960 --> 00:25:55.680
I got four.

00:25:55.920 --> 00:25:57.359
I got three daughters and a son.

00:25:58.160 --> 00:26:12.559
What's remarkable about it is that despite all of these challenges that you've had with the stability of the General Motors workplace, you find time and and actually give back to the community in such a significant way.

00:26:13.680 --> 00:26:25.759
Having gone through all this in Flint, having, I mean, hasn't dispirited you enough that you don't see the bigger picture, which is you live in a community that that needs your time and your help.

00:26:25.839 --> 00:26:30.160
Is that what what motivates this that you want to do so much to help young people?

00:26:30.480 --> 00:26:35.920
The community itself, through all these years, has always had something there for people to go to.

00:26:36.079 --> 00:26:47.359
The parks especially were a good outlet to uh go get exercise, to have fun, to enjoy your uh sport that you got into, anything from tennis and baseball.

00:26:47.599 --> 00:26:51.440
As far as uh the BMX goes, uh it's close by.

00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:53.920
I like the sport myself.

00:26:54.240 --> 00:26:56.319
It is a good sport for families.

00:26:56.480 --> 00:27:00.000
It's uh a lot of camaraderie, a lot of excitement.

00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:09.279
Everybody tends to help each other out rather than uh sit back and watch uh anybody that needs help, they'll step up and give a hand.

00:27:09.440 --> 00:27:13.920
That's always been a great thing about people in the city of Flint.

00:27:14.000 --> 00:27:23.359
For the most part, everyone that I've run into, whether they have a difference about something, we need some help, we're willing to lift the other person up.

00:27:23.519 --> 00:27:32.960
So, Dennis, do you have any uh any view of the future uh at this point about Flint and the Flint area and its people?

00:27:33.680 --> 00:27:36.319
I don't think it could get any worse than it ever has been.

00:27:36.480 --> 00:27:41.359
So I can only um head back up in a positive uh direction.

00:27:41.680 --> 00:27:49.759
There are some businesses, what I read, that are looking to locate in the Flint area or around it.

00:27:50.160 --> 00:27:52.240
The education aspect is there.

00:27:52.319 --> 00:27:59.759
You got U of M and MSU and Kettering, they stayed around, although our population has fallen some.

00:27:59.839 --> 00:28:05.440
They still, I guess I think they believe in us because they're still um building in the area.

00:28:05.759 --> 00:28:12.559
So, in your household, at least when you talk to your children or grandchildren, what do you tell them about the future?

00:28:14.319 --> 00:28:18.559
Uh, just to um I say uh have two plans.

00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:31.200
Keep your dreams in mind, but at the same time, have yourself another strategy to help yourself out, build a business, find an employer that y'all you can live your dream.

00:28:31.759 --> 00:28:36.480
Best example I can give is uh my eldest daughter I was talking about earlier on.

00:28:36.559 --> 00:28:43.200
Uh she wanted to be a um forensic scientist, but she loves animals.

00:28:43.359 --> 00:28:49.039
She ended up getting a job with uh parks and rec and she was there for three weeks.

00:28:49.200 --> 00:28:52.799
Instead of opening came up in uh Tennessee Animal Control.

00:28:53.119 --> 00:28:56.640
She applied for it, and she's loving where she's at right now.

00:28:57.200 --> 00:28:58.240
She wants to work with animals.

00:28:58.480 --> 00:29:06.240
Uh Dennis, we're out of time here, but I really appreciate the time you've taken to explain the life of an auto worker in Flint, Michigan.

00:29:06.559 --> 00:29:07.279
Thank you very much.

00:29:07.519 --> 00:29:08.000
Bye-bye.