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Story
March 30, 1956
Toledo Union Journal
Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio
What is this article about?
Retired Willys worker Albert 'Pat' Oberly reflects on his 43-year career starting in 1913, contrasting pre-union hardships like low pay and no benefits with post-union improvements in wages, pensions, and sick pay from the UAW, enabling his comfortable retirement at age 65.
Merged-components note: Merged image (likely photo of subject Pat Oberly) with story due to spatial overlap and contextual relevance.
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OCR Quality
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Full Text
The Good Old Days'--You Can Have Them Says Pat Oberly, Retired Willys Worker
By BERNARD STERN
Union. But the time you appreciate it most is when you're retired. Only the Lord knows what I'd be doing now if it weren't for the UAW."
Albert (Pat) Oberly was talking. Earlier this month he retired after 43 years at Willys. Now he is puttering around on his acre of land at 1012 South Lallendorf Rd., enjoying the first real rest in his life.
"I can remember when I first started working. We got 25 cents an hour. We put in 10 hours a day and there was no overtime. There were no vacations, no pensions, no seniority.
"If work slowed up, the foreman could lay anyone off. It didn't matter how long you had been working. If he didn't like you, you could bet you'd be the first to get hit. We sure didn't do anything to get the foreman mad at us. And we did a lot to be on good terms with him.
"Saturday and Sunday? If we were told to work we got straight time. It sure was rough."
THE MEMORY of how things were in the old days made Pat shake his head.
"The union was the best thing that ever happened to us," he repeated. "Once it organized the plant, things started getting better. Make no mistake about it.
"The young fellows coming into a plant nowadays don't have any idea what things were like. Right off the bat they start getting seniority, paid holidays, vacations, overtime, hospitalization.
"They get pensions, too, but some of them kick that they'd rather have the extra money in their envelopes. They'll learn. When they start getting up in the years they'll be glad they have it.
His Union Made
"The good old days. That's a joke. In the good old days you hardly saw a fellow drive to work in his own car. He couldn't afford it. You either took a street car or walked. And either way you had better start early because if you were late, likely as not they might send you home.
"Take another thing the union won for us. Sick benefits. Five years ago I got sick. If there was no union that would have finished me. Instead, what happened was I got $30 a week, and it sure came in handy. If it wasn't for that I would have lost this place.
"Naw, you can have the good old days. Who would have thought a fellow could retire without going on relief or in the poor house."
Don't think Pat is going to live in luxury. But he'll be fairly well off with his pension and social security which will enable him to keep his property up.
He started working for Willys back on Feb. 3, 1913. Aside from some time he spent soldiering in World War I, he's worked practically all the time in Dept. 262 of the Assembly Division.
AN EXCEPTION was during World War II when he was put in the breech housing and big 155 mm shell division. Then he went back to his old department when the war ended.
In the 1950 when the UAW went after pensions, Pat was for it all the way. He was getting a little more frail. It was a little harder getting up every day to come in to work.
But one thing cheered him up. As the years went by pension benefits went up. So did social security.
That didn't just happen either, Pat knows. His union was in there fighting for higher benefits. Last March 13 Pat turned 65. That was when he appreciated his union the most. Just 12 days before that he had retired. Now with his pension and social security he knew he was fairly well set.
Pat Oberly puttering ar
By BERNARD STERN
Union. But the time you appreciate it most is when you're retired. Only the Lord knows what I'd be doing now if it weren't for the UAW."
Albert (Pat) Oberly was talking. Earlier this month he retired after 43 years at Willys. Now he is puttering around on his acre of land at 1012 South Lallendorf Rd., enjoying the first real rest in his life.
"I can remember when I first started working. We got 25 cents an hour. We put in 10 hours a day and there was no overtime. There were no vacations, no pensions, no seniority.
"If work slowed up, the foreman could lay anyone off. It didn't matter how long you had been working. If he didn't like you, you could bet you'd be the first to get hit. We sure didn't do anything to get the foreman mad at us. And we did a lot to be on good terms with him.
"Saturday and Sunday? If we were told to work we got straight time. It sure was rough."
THE MEMORY of how things were in the old days made Pat shake his head.
"The union was the best thing that ever happened to us," he repeated. "Once it organized the plant, things started getting better. Make no mistake about it.
"The young fellows coming into a plant nowadays don't have any idea what things were like. Right off the bat they start getting seniority, paid holidays, vacations, overtime, hospitalization.
"They get pensions, too, but some of them kick that they'd rather have the extra money in their envelopes. They'll learn. When they start getting up in the years they'll be glad they have it.
His Union Made
"The good old days. That's a joke. In the good old days you hardly saw a fellow drive to work in his own car. He couldn't afford it. You either took a street car or walked. And either way you had better start early because if you were late, likely as not they might send you home.
"Take another thing the union won for us. Sick benefits. Five years ago I got sick. If there was no union that would have finished me. Instead, what happened was I got $30 a week, and it sure came in handy. If it wasn't for that I would have lost this place.
"Naw, you can have the good old days. Who would have thought a fellow could retire without going on relief or in the poor house."
Don't think Pat is going to live in luxury. But he'll be fairly well off with his pension and social security which will enable him to keep his property up.
He started working for Willys back on Feb. 3, 1913. Aside from some time he spent soldiering in World War I, he's worked practically all the time in Dept. 262 of the Assembly Division.
AN EXCEPTION was during World War II when he was put in the breech housing and big 155 mm shell division. Then he went back to his old department when the war ended.
In the 1950 when the UAW went after pensions, Pat was for it all the way. He was getting a little more frail. It was a little harder getting up every day to come in to work.
But one thing cheered him up. As the years went by pension benefits went up. So did social security.
That didn't just happen either, Pat knows. His union was in there fighting for higher benefits. Last March 13 Pat turned 65. That was when he appreciated his union the most. Just 12 days before that he had retired. Now with his pension and social security he knew he was fairly well set.
Pat Oberly puttering ar
What sub-type of article is it?
Biography
What themes does it cover?
Fortune Reversal
Triumph
Moral Virtue
What keywords are associated?
Retirement
Union Benefits
Willys Worker
Uaw Pension
Labor History
What entities or persons were involved?
Pat Oberly
Albert (Pat) Oberly
Where did it happen?
1012 South Lallendorf Rd.
Story Details
Key Persons
Pat Oberly
Albert (Pat) Oberly
Location
1012 South Lallendorf Rd.
Event Date
Feb. 3, 1913 To March 195?
Story Details
Pat Oberly retires after 43 years at Willys, started in 1913 with harsh conditions of low pay, long hours, no benefits; union brings improvements like seniority, pensions, sick pay; he benefits from pension and social security at 65.