Roger & Me Page #2

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The best thing Michigan and GM can do

is get rid of Roger Smith...

and them other sons of b*tches.

That seemed to be

the general consensus...

as I talked to many GM workers

about their chairman, Roger Smith.

- What would you like to tell Roger Smith?

- 'd tell him to retire.

He can't look an auto worker

in the eye, because...

- He should be feeling guilty.

- Most people are hungry. He's not.

I'd tell him to get off his big bucks...

and start giving some of it

back to its workers.

I'm sick and tired of these damn fat cats.

I could say a few choice words,

but I'm a lady and I was raised a lady...

so I won't say what I really feel...

but I could use some unsavory language

as far as the fat cats.

Fire Roger Smith!

There were those

who had a different opinion in Flint...

like Tom Kay,

a spokesman and lobbyist for GM.

I'm sure that Roger Smith...

has a social conscience

as strong as anybody else in the country.

Because a guy is an automobile executive

does not make him inhuman.

I've talked to enough of them.

I know what their concerns are.

He has as much concern

about these people as you or I do...

and nobody likes to see anybody laid off

or put in a hardship situation.

- Have you ever talked to Roger Smith?

- Sure.

What kind of man do you find him to be?

A very warm man. I have...

A warm man?

Did I have Roger Smith judged all wrong...

simply because he was eliminating

30,000 jobs from my hometown?

I decided to find out.

I wrote. I phoned. I faxed. I tried

every means of communication available...

but nothing got me any closer to Roger.

I was left with no choice.

I got in the car and drove

about an hour south of Flint to Detroit...

to the world headquarters

of General Motors.

My mission was a simple one:

To convince Roger Smith

to spend a day with me in Flint...

and meet some of the people

who were losing their jobs.

Everybody in?

- Can I help you gentlemen and ladies?

- Yes, we're going to the 14th floor.

- Do you have an appointment?

- No, we don't.

- think you need an appointment.

- To go up there?

- How can we make one?

- You want to step out...

- First of all, anything above...

- We came down from Flint.

Anything above the first level here

is private property. That's off-limits.

- This is all off-limits. It's a security area.

- This is? All right.

Listen, who did you want to talk to?

- want to talk to Roger Smith.

- 'll get a PR man and we'll see.

- What kind of movie are you making?

- t's a documentary on Flint.

On the labor problems?

The whole situation,

the plant shutdowns, the layoffs.

We'll try to have someone contact you

as soon as someone's available.

- All right, I'd appreciate it.

- Have you got some kind of credentials?

- Where they can contact you?

- What's your name?

Herb Slaughter.

I'll give you a business card.

Let's see, I've got a frequent-flier card...

Visa...

I was having a hard time finding my

business card, because I don't have any.

So I gave Mr. Slaughter my discount pass

to Chuck E. Cheese...

but he said that wouldn't get me in

to see Mr. Smith.

So I headed back to Flint for further

guidance from GM lobbyist Tom Kay.

General Motors wouldn't be doing

anybody any service if it goes bankrupt.

It has to do what it has to do...

in order to stay competitive

in today's economic climate.

Even if it means eliminating 18,000 jobs?

Even if it means eliminating 20,000 jobs.

- Or 30,000?

- Whatever.

How about all the jobs here in Flint?

It could feasibly happen.

Good evening, I'm Sue Zelenko.

Bill Harris has the night off.

It was where the UAW was born.

Tonight 3,000 people are trying to decide

what to do with their lives.

Nobody was ready for the announced

plant shutdowns today...

least of all, the 1,350 workers.

The last truck chassis headed

down the line this morning.

Virtually all the 3,400 people are on layoff.

Larry Elliot was at the plant today...

as that last car was making its way

down the assembly line.

Will this plant build engines again

if the rush back to small cars occurs?

The answer is no.

In Flint, Joe Weaver,

Channel 2 Eyewitness News.

More factories had closed...

and I began to see the effect

this was having on my friends.

Ben was the worker I'd put on the cover

of that magazine in San Francisco.

He'd been laid off

five times in five years from GM.

Expecting to be laid off again, he cracked

one night working on the assembly line.

He was now shooting hoop

at the local mental health center.

I couldn't take it. I told the guy next to me:

"Tell the foreman I'm sick.

I don't give a sh*t what you tell him."

I grabbed my coat, flew out the door,

passed the guards...

jumped into my car,

got onto Bristol Road...

and was flying toward my apartment.

I turned on the radio,

hoping that might cheer me up...

I had tears coming out of my eyes...

and I strike right into the middle

of Wouldn't It Be Nice by The Beach Boys.

And I'm thinking, "What a horrible song...

"to have to hear

in the midst of this panic attack."

A song that I'd usually

get a groove going with.

I'm trying to sing the lyrics,

and I've got an apple in my throat.

I'm trying to rationalize with those lyrics...

trying to think, "Wouldn't it be nice?"

And it just wasn't working.

Some disturbing news today from

the Genesee County Health Department.

It announced the rat population in Flint...

has now surpassed

the human population by 50,000.

Health officials say it's due

to massive numbers of people leaving...

and the city cutting back

to twice-monthly garbage collection...

due to budget constraints.

Just when things were looking bleak,

Ronald Reagan arrived in Flint...

and took a dozen unemployed workers

out for a pizza.

He told them he had a great idea.

If they tried it, they'd all be working again.

He suggested that maybe some of us...

could find better jobs elsewhere...

like in Texas, or in the southern states.

That's when I spoke up...

because I have a son, a home.

I'm trying to do it by myself. I can't just

pull up stakes and take off by myself.

We don't hold public office,

we're nobody special...

but he wanted our opinions and views.

It was at a level I could understand,

and I liked his ideas...

that he voiced to us.

None of Reagan's luncheon guests

got back into the factory in later years.

The only bright spot of the whole affair...

was the individual who borrowed

the restaurant's cash register...

on the way out the door.

Meanwhile, Flint's more fortunate were

holding their annual Great Gatsby Party...

at the home

of one of GM's founding families.

To show they weren't totally insensitive

to the plight of others...

they hired local people

to be human statues at the party.

What's it like in Flint these days?

Things are tough here

for the people that are laid off.

There's still people working.

I don't think it's as bad

as people may believe.

We started something,

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