Periodically we are told that if only we returned to our post-World War II manufacturing roots, prosperity and happiness will follow. Fantasies of owning a three-bedroom house and a car on a single factory worker salary are touted as fact.
Funnily enough, the politicians and millionaires claiming these truths never lived on factory workers salaries. May I inject some reality into this scenario? When my father immigrated to Pittsburgh in the fifties, he was a forklift driver in a steel factory. Initially his earnings were good because he was working overtime. Once the Korean War ended, he never worked full-time again, and thirty hours a week, plus my aunts’ salaries, was not sufficient to keep the family solvent. Also, many of those steelworkers in Duquesne and McKeesport rented their houses, bought things on layaway, and tried to weather the ups and downs of the steel industry as best they could. My father saw the writing on the wall, moved to Chicago, and eventually learned a trade which proved more stable than manufacturing.
However, his next foray into labor was hardly the happy ending of a fairy tale. When he attempted to get a factory job in Chicago, he had to bribe foremen or union supervisors. At one factory, all workers had fingers or arms missing from on-the-job injuries.
Instead of the mythical three-bedroom house, factory work led to hardship and illegal activities. So, if when we discuss manufacturing, let’s stop looking at the past though rose-colored glasses.
I’m Frances Jaeger, and that is my Perspective
