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Monday, June 04, 2007

The Wild Wheel. Again...

For Julian who knows the history and can skip the rest - typed by Alice...

The Wild Wheel.

Five dollars a day, working for five dollars a day
sell body and soul for five dollars a day


Never had a reason to leave my family
No desire to ever leave my home
But the evening paper mentions, that old Henry's lost his senses
So I'll catch the train that leaves to Motortown

The doubters always said that there'd be riots
As the workers came to claim their double pay
'Twas a cold and jan'ry winter, as the hungry men grew thinner
Turned the hoses on to drive us all away

Five dollars a day, working for five dollars a day
sell body and soul for five dollars a day


Some of us we went to work for Henry
For eight long hours no second could we steal
Well the line kept going past us, and the next night ever faster
Wilder ran the wheels of industry

Five dollars a day, working for five dollars a day
sell body and soul for five dollars a day


Here I stand for now i'm a part of Henry
Extension of his arm is all I am
Each inch I move is costed, and no motion ever wasted
He raised the wage to fuel a bigger plan

Five dollars a day, working for five dollars a day
sell body and soul for five dollars a day
Five dollars a day, working for five dollars a day
Sell body and soul for five dollars a day
Sell body and soul for five dollars a day
Sell body and soul for five .....dollars a day


Henry didn't invent the assembly line. Borrowed it from Oldsmobile. But in January 1914, the sensational $5 dollars a day headlines drew crowds of eager workers to the gates of the Ford Plant.
$5 was double what other manufacturers paid. A weeks wages for someone working in the field. Plus it was a flat rate across the board from machinist to the man on a broom. And he reduced the working day from 9 to 8 hours! Had he really gone insane?!

No.

First - the $5 had conditions. A team of inspectors came to make sure your housing and lifestyle were "suitable". No drunks living rough were going to see Henry's dollars. You may have had to attend language or literacy classes until these social workers were satisfied.

The 8 hours? Ah, simple maths. Henry had worked out it'd be cheaper not to shut the line each day. Keep the furnaces running all the time. A third shift at night meant endless Model T's rolling into the night.

He already had the workforce he needed - there were no thousands of vacancies, and the hungry, waiting, men were literally hosed away with cold water. In a Detroit winter. Those that stayed, and those that had work, soon discovered what assembly line work was like. Many left again, to work for less at rival plants, unable to stand the pace as the speed of the line was steadily increased. The price of the T went down. The nation bought more. The line sped up again. And the price of a Model T kept dropping.

Henry's soul destroying master plan.

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