Tag: Labor organizing

Factory Girl, Chapter 3: Fighting Sexual Harassment—No Lawyers Required

September 29, 2017

Note: This series is about a cultural immersion experience in the late 70’s and early 80’s. It was cultural immersion because I was new to factory work and for three of the five years that I worked for Control Data Corporation, I worked alongside primarily African-Americans.  I am white (whatever the hell that means; actually … More Factory Girl, Chapter 3: Fighting Sexual Harassment—No Lawyers Required

Factory Girl, Chapter 2: the Inner City plant

August 20, 2017

Factory Girl: Prologue gives a rundown on this novel social/business experiment by William Norris, founder of Control Data Corporation. If you haven’t read it, the Magnetic Peripherals Inner City computer manufacturing plant brought together folks from various backgrounds with spotty work and education histories. Control Data’s goal was to make money by using these folks to … More Factory Girl, Chapter 2: the Inner City plant

Factory Girl, Chapter 1: Where push comes to shove

July 14, 2017

In 1980 I put in a transfer request to move from the Arden Hills Control Data Corporation plant in the northern suburbs of the Twin Cities to the Normandale Inner City plant (NIC), in downtown Minneapolis. (For more context, see my first post: Factory Girl: Prologue). My one year at Arden Hills was enough for me. … More Factory Girl, Chapter 1: Where push comes to shove