Bob Ourlian

11 years at the News

This feeling of anger has been here now for 21 months. It has grown so
familiar. For a single emotion, it has many dimensions. In morning,
though low-grade, anger propels me out of bed, keeps me from falling
back asleep and forces me to begin picking up the telephone before my
first cup of coffee is gone. Sometimes the anger flashes to pink, then
to red. Sometimes it allows me to remain cool and confident and focused,
to keep a clear head in the face of confrontation and potential
violence. 
This weekend I was on an airliner, going to see my fiancee, who had to
move away to keep working, earn money and continue her career. On the
plane was a scab, evidently on her way home to visit somebody. Last week
a man - no, not a man, a scab - threatened to murder me. Last month I
heard the story again about my grandfather coming home from the Ford
plant, his face broken and bloodied by the Pinkerton goons. Last year my
uncle told me how he was fired in the early days of the UAW for asking
for a raise. 
Sometimes, like those times, this anger becomes a fury. They really
believe they can do this in our town, in our lives? Sometimes this anger
feels good. Really, really good.





Patricia Montemurri
14 years at the Free Press

My parents came here from Italy, and many in their generation found work and
prosperity in the auto industry. Unions helped shape their lives and
livelihoods, and paved the way for a better future for their children.
Compared to my parents' hard work and sacrifice, I've had it easy. Because of
what my parents endured, because of my husband's unwavering support, and for
my little girl's future, the decision to support the strike - and what's
right - was easy.
It has not been easy to watch friendships dissolve and people I once
respected become warm, fuzzy mouthpieces for corporate thuggery. I started at
the Free Press as an intern in 1978, and I want to go back now - in part,
because they don't want another union member back in and because I'll be a
better reporter for all I've seen and learned in the strike.
The newspapers betrayed this community's trust and heritage. I'm too good a
reporter not to have figured out what the company's intentions and deceptions
were all about - union busting to "enhance shareholder value." I don't
understand how alienating more than one-third of your customers and losing
hundreds of millions of dollars makes good business sense. 
But my bosses seem to think this strike has made them better businessmen. It
sure hasn't made them better journalists, or better people.

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