[DaveE]

My assembly line experience was like this. It was in the '70s and I'm sure alot of the anti-union gripers on the board weren't even born yet but I don't think things have changed too much, maybe a little more automation. Anyway, at the Wilmington plant at the time we produced a car a minute. One job I had for a short time was hanging left front doors. every minute I would lift a bare door from a moving conveyor that it hung from and place it on a jig that another guy had placed in the opening on the car and a third guy would tighten the hinge bolts. We did this once a minute for eight hours. Not exactly rocket science for sure. In 1974 this was paying me around $6.40 per hour. It was decent for an unskilled worker but I wasn't getting rich and didn't feel like I was bankrupting GM. The line doesn't stop and you don't walk away from it. The doors have to go on the freakin' car after all.

Another station I worked at required me to simply bolt on the front door hinges loosely on one side. A car a minute, 8 hours per day. It's alot of walking but no thought really. It's the kind of stuff these guys do. You develop a vivid imagination on these jobs. It gets you through the day. I don't know that things have changed a whole lot over the years.