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Page 8 NORTHWEST HERALD S>cttonC Friday, September 27,1985 Wheels Heading home for jobs Transplanted Southerners look to new Saturn plant By Jan Zverina UPI auto writer Home folks think I'm big In Detroit City From the letters that I write They think I'm fine But by day I make the cars By night I make the bars If only they could read between the lines. 'cause you know I rode a freight train north to Detroit City. And after all these decision to locate its $3.5 billion Saturn small car manufacturing plant in Spring Hill, Tenn. has piqued the in­ terest of many Detroit autoworkers who left their southern home­ steads years ago to find work in the auto industry. Now some are inter­ ested in returning home as GM faces the prob­ lem of hiring more than 6,000 workers for its new $3.5 billion Saturn plant, which will start years I find, I've just turning out subcompact been wasting my time cars by the end of the So I just think I'll decade. take my foolish pride A good portion of the And put it on the workforce will come southbound freight and from outside Tennes­ see, mainly from the ranks of employed and unemployed UAW members, according to a novel labor contract signed between Saturn Corp. and the United Automobile Workers union. - One person interested in seeing what Saturn has to offer is Hayes, who has worked for GM in Detroit for 18 years. He is a Quality of Work Life Coordinator for the UAW at GM's new Detroit-Ham- tramck plant, which just started production of a new line of front- drive luxury cars. Although he is in­ volved in union activi­ ties and does not put in any time on the assem­ bly line, Hayes draws his paycheck from GM. He lives with his wife and children in the De- t r o i t s u b u r b o f Southgate. The soft-spoken Hayes said it took quite a while to get used to the Motor City after liv­ ing in Highhat, a com­ munity in the moun­ tains of eastern Kentucky, for the first ride And go on back to the loved ones, The ones that I left waiting so far behind. (Detroit City, written by Mel Tillis and Danny Dill,- copyright 1962 with Cedarwood Pub­ lishing Co.) Eighteen years ago Morris Hayes packed up his belongings and said so long to Highat, Ky., and the handful of jobs its farms and ser­ vice stations could muster. The road took him to Detroit, to the "Dee'- troit City" that earned singer Bobby Bare a Grammy back in 1964 for singing about all the migrants that sought work in the Motor City. "I came looking for work in radio, but got a job at Cadillac, settled down and got married," the soft-spoken Ken- tuckian said. Now, Hayes, 38, is looking back down the road. Opportunity is knocking below the Ma­ son-Dixon Line. General Motor Corp's Family-- (Continued from Page 1C) dealerships fell by the wayside. What I've done is buy them, put in some of our policies and proce­ dures and put good people in charge," Mike said. "Another thing we do well in is our facilities. For Elgin, and Elgin's not a ghetto but it's not a Schaumburg, our facilities are better in most cases than those in Schaumburg," Mike said. Mike is expanding his Heritage Village to in­ clude a Dodge dealership and more room for the Lincoln-Mercury store, where he's building a parts and service department. "When I'm done, which should be in about four months, we'll have 1,200 feet of frontage. Despite the way the McGrath family is improv­ ing its local car sales -- from Schaumburg and Arlington Heights to the east, to St. Charles to the south and to McHenry County in the north -- things won't be made too easy for future generations. "Well, dealerships end up being passed on through families. The reason for that is a tremen­ dous amount of capital is needed to open one today. In many cases, they're passed on through generations. "Most franchises have agreements where at the end you can name a successor. In most cases that's a son or relative. I do have sons, but they're younger -- the oldest is only 13. He's interested, but not qualified. "Basically, I was given an opportunity by my father. He didn't hand it to me. but co-signed loans and helped me get started. If someone gives you opportunities, you appreciate things more. Gary bought my father out, he wasn't handed the dealership," Mike said. "You wouldn't take an outsider off the street, but with family you do that," he added. Family. The word plays a key role in the McGrath/Hopkins car-selling tradition. But don't flare-ups occasionally occur when close relatives work together? "You have to look past all that and have to realize what we're trying to accomplish. There's a job to be done when it's all said and done." Jim said. "Cars are just about all we talk. We have a very competitive nature." he added. "It's really strange, but the automobile business has its own competitiveness, and then there's the McGrath competitiveness." The area's other car dealers know all about that. Japan three large circular dial displays. Some automakers are boosting size, such as several larger versions planned by Mitsubishi. And in a joint agree­ ment with British Ley- land. Honda will begin this year building a high-grade, executive sedan now dubbed the "XX." bigger than a comparable Jaguar and packing a 2-liter engine. But most carmakers are stressing aerodv- (Continued from Page 5C) namics and roominess. The archetype is Hon­ da's new. three-door Accord "Aerodeck." a mini-wagon the auto­ maker says is designed to "establish an identity distinct from other cars" in its class. It is low and wide, with a longer wheelbase. a dis­ tinctive aerodynami "bullet form" roof an a gull-wing tailgate. The four-door Accord sedan is also emphasiz­ ing air flow for better fuel use. part of his life. He has considered re­ turning south to a job at GM's new Satum Corp. manufacturing com­ plex, but is cautious be­ cause GM has not yet mentioned specific terms of any job trans­ fer to Saturn. "I would not want to lose seniority and start over again," said Hayes, alluding to GM's $2.5 billion acquisition of the Dallas computer giant, Electronic Data Systems Corp., which resulted in some GM workers losing seniority and benefits when they were transferred to EDS. "Based on what I've read, and after seeing a Saturn presentation, it seems exiting and the wave of the future," Hayes said that Ken- tuckians "have always had a kindred with peo­ ple from Tennessee." Calling the tentative Saturn-UAW agreement "palatable." Hayes said he could could ac­ cept some modifica­ tions from his present contract. "I would not demand wages equal to what I have now because there is a difference in the cost of living down there," he said. He added that while he feels he would be best qualified for a union coordinator posi­ tion. he would consider a job actually building the Saturn car, of which GM is hoping to pro­ duce between 400,000 and 500,000 yearly. Hayes has talked to a number of people Ten­ nessee and surrounding states who are working in Detroit,, and said there is a lot of interest in going down to the Saturn plant. "Just the other day I talked to one guy who has eight years left be­ fore his retirement, and he said he's ready to go to Tennessee right now." Hayes thinks that while the plant will be in Spring Hill, Detroit workers will benefit the most. "I would think Detroit will get the jobs," Hayes said, because most of the employed and unemployed UAW workers are in that area and according to the tentative Saturn- UAW contract, GM will give them first crack at jobs at Saturn. Hayes has mixed re­ views about his life up north, and feels he could adjust well if he moved back south. "The Detroit climate turns me off. although the sights and activities don't turn me off. but being a southerner al­ ready. I could get used to it again." Hayes has some rela­ tives in the area and keeps in touch with his roots and fellow south­ erners through a local church group. "A lot of southern folk belong to that group, and it has the slow pace of the south," he said. Hayes said he once attended a meeting in New York, which was really a fast pace, even compared to Detroit. "If New York is fast pace, the South is stop," he said. Euro pa Motors, Inc. 2414 W. 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