Good Work Toolbox

Introduction from text: In November and December, 1974, six American auto workers from Detroit spent four weeks in jobs at the Saab-Scania plant in Soedertaelje, Sweden, where part of the gasoline assembly process has been reorganized to provide more variety in the tasks each worker performs. The Americans were selected from candidates recommended by United Automobile Workers Union local presidents in the Detroit area, and their participation was agreed to by their employers: Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors. No social science study was intended. The purpose of the work-visit was to get workers’ reactions to the effect of modern team production practices (“group assembly”) on greater job satisfaction. 

 

GWT analyst summary: The Ford Foundation launched an exploration into what they called “working –class problems”: concerns over worker dissatisfaction and alienation. Grants were made to improve occupational health and the quality of working life. Simultaneously, US automakers’ European counterparts had been investing in the same objectives. The workers’ reflections on working in the Swedish plant reflect as much of the cultural differences as much as differences in working conditions.