Alex and I visited my parents in Detroit this past weekend. When we were there, we took a ride by Ford’s Van Dyke Plant on Van Dyke Road and 18 Mile Road in Sterling Heights. The place is pretty interesting as a micro-study of industrial labor.

I think I’ve always been aware of the divisions or “caste system” of union vs. non-union laborers. I’ve seen the construction gates at Pittsburgh job sites that say “union entrance only” or heard automobile company employees talk about the “salaried workers” (usually in derogatory ways, of course–they don’t know how the plant “really works”).

The rift between the two is also apparent in the parking lot of the Ford plant, as you can see below (there is labeled “salaried” parking, but no similar “hourly” parking). It’s interesting how the way in which one gets paid can become such a defining factor of ones identity in an industrial environment such as this. I guess it also represents how the company values your work.