End of the Line: Autoworkers and the American Dream

Feldman, who has worked for 16 years at Ford's Michigan Truck Plant, interviewed 30 of his fellow-workers to gather material for this book, written with Detroit Free Press reporter Betzold. The subjects talk about their lives, their jobs, their families, their futuresand the tone is profoundly pessimistic. They judge assembly-line work to be boring and demeaning but find compensation in their wages, which run between $30,000 and $70,000 a year. They see the dominance of the American automobile ending and hope they reach retirement before their plant closes. Many have little regard for their union and almost all believe that the job outlook for their children is grim. The authors conclude with a rousing chapter on what can be done to insure a brighter tomorrow for the working class. (Nov.)