ABSTRACT
The first interview with Vitelli was in September, 1950, when he was a worker on the line. He was seen again in March, 1953, on his first day as a foreman, and again in May, 1953, after he had been a foreman for six weeks. Finally in June, 1954, he was observed for a full day, during which we recorded everything possible that he said and did as a foreman on the job. Most of Vitelli's six years at Plant X, both as worker and as foreman, have been spent in the "wet sanding" section in the Paint Department. After bodies are given their "prime and glaze" coat they go to wet sanding. As in the case of most Plant X workers, the nature of Vitelli's job on the line was in marked contrast to his previous work. Since boyhood he had worked at many different laboring jobs, but none of them had been in a mass-production plant.
