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H e 's been at Ford Oakville from Day One " - Onkvlllo Suave! _ ith a name like Gasse, Nil maybe he was destined to work for a car company. Paul Gasse was 18 and delivering groceries in the village of Greenfield Oust outside of Dundas) for $20 a week when opportunity knocked. It week when opportunity knocked. It was 1953. The Ford assembly plant had just opened in Oakville. "I've got the job by pure chance," he said in an interview last week. "A couple of friends of mine mentioned that they were coming over to put their names in at Ford." He chuck- led. "I didn't even know they were hiring but I figured I might as well go along. Nothing to lose." He got the job, though neither of his buddies did. Suddenly, he was a man of mean pulling in nearly $1.50/hour and counting himself one lucky fellow. "I started on a Friday and the fust car came off the line on Monday," he recalled. That was 40 years ago and a rather historic moment though it didn't seem so at the time." Could he remember that first car? He just laughed. (No," he said, "but Ibet it was a '53 Ford." Gasse became an instant celebrity in his village of Greenfield. Folks would meet him on the street and slap him on the back. 'Got a job at Ford, eh? Congratulations!' It was a plum job for a guy with a grade ll education. “Ford has certainly treated me well," the low-key working man admitted. He wouldn't say he'd exactly "enjoyed" his 40-year stint in the factory. there have been too many ups and downs, and the work has been hard. His feelings of loyal ty are mixed with past disappoint- ments Its a complex relationship between a man and his workplace. almost like a marriage, he said. Anyway he'd rather not "put his foot in his mouth," so he chose his Congatulations 19:9} A LOOK BACK ON FOUR DECADES OF AUTOMOTIVE "RorhlcT1orrmlf?/l.lf1(!llf, ONTARIO ABB Paint Finishing And Fluor Daniel Committed to helping you achieve A II II your gbalip. 'rm io YEARS OF QUALITY EEE ASEA BROWN B Alt W words carefully. He never actually worked on the Assembly Line; started out in Materials Handling and moved around within that department over the years. According to Gasse, train ing was pretty informal in the early days, yeu learned on the job. "In the beginning," he said, "less than a hundred cars a day came off the line. Things were slow and you had a chance to learn what you needed to know. Couldn't do that m now When he got the job he expected to go on the line. "But when I had my medical after being hired the doctor noticed I was a bit overweight. so he said, Trn going to recommend you get the heaviest job they got,'" the 40- year-Ford veteran said. "They put me on loading boxcars. I didn't mind. It worked out pretty well." He hasn't loaded boxcars for quite a few years, though. Gasse was a Stock Supplier for a while and for nearly a quarter century he was what was called a Cycle Checker, with responsibilities in inventory control. But when Ford moved to the 'just- in-tinte' delivery system, the vast inventory was no longer necessary. so that job disappeared. There was a time. he recalled. when the plant was turning out over 1000 cars a day and "it was nothing to have two or three months worth or stock on hand, an incredible amount." Now the stock comes in as needed. the day before or the day of assembly. He's in General Stores now. pro OAKVILLE . 1953 ~ 1993 viding parts and tools for service and maintenance. The truth is he always like the variety of moving around within the department. "lt wasn't exactly exciting," he said. "but it wasn't monotonous either, like being on the assembly line, I was grateful for that." The one thing the Ford worker could never quite come to terms with was shift-work. It was brutal though he knew it was a necessary evil. "Real rough on my social life, he said with a rueful laugh. Maybe that was why he didn't get married until 1967, in his thirties. Paul and wife live in Burlington now. They had twin daughters. There was a time when the Gasse family was notable for the four Fords sit- ting in their driveway each night. (So this is what O'Connor meant when he said, .. You are what you drive!") Paul said he always drove Fords (and always 'used'), except for his very ftrst car, a '38 Pontiac which he bought for $250 (borrowed from the bank), shortly after starting work in the Oakville plant. He's had quite a few vehicles over the years but his favorite was a '62 Mercury which had been driven by a Ford executive. "That was a gorgeous car," he said with obvious delight. “Probably the nicest car I'll ever have." Ford has been his bread and but- ter over the years. One of his daugh- ters even had a summer job in the plant when she was going to school. There have been plenty of changes over the 40 years, though he admit- ted, "things start to run together after a while." Theplantissobighesometimes gets lost, and the other day. the line went home early and he didn't even notice. Modem technology is every- whene. computers. fax machines. Fluor Daniel been robotics. He said he recalled a time when Ford in Oakville had over l0.000 workers; now there are 4.800. "Things could have been better." he said philosophically. "they could FORD MOTOR COMPANY OF CANADA FOR The Region of Halton recognizes and appreciates the economic wealth Ford of Canada has generated and its strong community involvement in this area. Fanny-your Ford worker Paul Gusto THE REGION OF HALTON my} (jeijj) 'l/ (liljly 4O Yealus of 00“!” have been worse. too. "I'm one of the old dinosaurs," he said, "it was an entirely different system when I first came in. There was a time when you did your job and you kept your mouth shut." 1fijfid d o,iiettefl,ti?ii!ii,, jil §@[§§§ 1jjiC(jr)) 1uiilcj"ljjE The Union made a big difference. he noted, when they came in with the first contact in 1955. Though it was not without a struggle, he added, a lengthy three-month strike in the fall of 1954. , In recent times, Gasse said, Union-Management relations have been much better. Everyone finally realized that an adversarial relation- ship was not helping anyone (in this country). And the company seemed to start listening to the workers. "I think management now is much more responsive to employ- ees' suggestions," the material han- dler confirmed. The training program for the new minivan Windstar, biog brother to Villager, is like nothing Ford has ever done before in preparing work- ers. The program called "Best In Class" involves a week of basic training offered to everyone in the plant in conjunction with Sheridan College. "Yes," Gasse said, "it is a good thing," In addition to the practical information it offers, he said, "lt give us a better feeling of ownership and belonging. Like we are an important part of the process." At 58. Mr. Gasse is about seven years away from mandatory retire- ment. Barring ill-health he plans to see it through to the end. He's hop- ing, along with everyone else the excitement over Windstar is justi- fied. The minivan will be prototyped this fall and the omcial launch will take place Jan. 31, I994. According to company omcials this could be the biggest, most exciting launch in Ford's illustrious history. "I sincerely hope Windstar is everything she 's cracked-up to be," the veteran said, "not for myself so much, " the younger people in the plant who really need a future." Much like he did in 1953. mil