In Charles Ferguson's 60 years at Chrysler, he's had a lot of good days and his fair share of bad – on Wednesday, Sept. 9, though, Ferguson said he had the best day of his entire career.
Ferguson, 82, has worked for Chrysler in Kokomo, Indiana, since July 1, 1966, (the year "Star Trek" debuted, if you were wondering). He and two other long-time Chrysler employees were honored at Stellantis' North American headquarters, the Chrysler Technology Center in Auburn Hills on Wednesday. The long-timers met with Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa, toured the HQ, were honored at a company-wide town hall and made time to talk with the news media.
Ferguson, wearing a tweed jacket and black leather boots, had been on a tour of Stellantis' massive campus as the company
celebrated his six decades of service before stopping to share some stories. In those 60 years, Ferguson lived through the company's many transitions and earned his right to tell tales of his time at Chrysler.
There was the time a coworker of his ran an automated line of materials toward a furnace when a pilot light was out, leading to a massive explosion — "Boom!" he said. Nobody was hurt, Ferguson said, though the man responsible for the mistake did lose his hairpiece in the blast, unveiling his bald head.
Then there was the time, early in his career, when he hitchhiked home after his ride left him stranded because he worked four hours of overtime back in the '60s (enough labor to net him an extra 20 bucks, he said).
And after 60 years running the furnace at the Kokomo Transmission Plant in Indiana, he said he's not ready to be done. The routine, his friends and the paycheck keep him coming back.
"I hate to think about (retirement)," Ferguson said. "I love going to work so much. I'd be alone."
His wife, 35 years younger than him, can keep him busy should he retire. So, too, could his two Corvettes and his big Diesel Ram pickup. But he's not ready to quit working. Ever since he was young, he said he wanted a good-paying job making cars.
Neither is Raymond Washington, 79, who has also done 60 years for Chrysler in and around Detroit. For the last nine years, Washington has been working as a millwright at Stellantis' Sterling Heights Assembly Plant. Before that, he worked for the now-closed Lynch Road Assembly Plant in Detroit building Plymouths. He worked at Dodge Main in Hamtramck before that closed, too. Washington also worked at Warren Truck Assembly Plant and Jefferson North Assembly Plant.
At Chrysler Headquarters, Washington reflected on his career and thought about what's next.
Spoiler: He's going back to work.
"Where do you go after that? A rocking chair?" Washington said after mapping out his whole career, a tour of Chrysler's Metro Detroit footprint. "I ain't ready for that because my mind is still active, my physical attributes are still intact and I can still do what I need to do."
Indeed, both Washington and Ferguson appeared hale and sharp. They were joined in Auburn Hills by another Chrysler 60-year employee, William Kendrick, who did not feel like sharing his stories with the news media. But the two who chose to spin a couple of yarns had excellent stories from their time on the line and reveled in the size of the headquarters of what used to be the Chrysler Corporation, which has cut them both checks since the 1960s.
Washington said he's seen the world of automotive production change dramatically in his time. Years ago, Washington said, his job was much harder on his body. In part because he was on the line (he's now a skilled tradesman), but also because of one very important change in the plants: ergonomic design.
"The older guys used to tell me, you don't want to do 30 years on this line because they were all broken down and tired," Washington recalled. "But that was all ergonomics, and nowadays you get a lot of relief from things that make your job easier."
Unlike Ferguson, who wanted to work for Chrysler, Washington said this long career began when he waited in the wrong line at an employment office in Detroit.
"I got hired at Chrysler by mistake," Washington said with a laugh. "This is true: I was on the bus, going to a job. It was called the Detroit Steel, and I saw a line of people outside the building, like, 100 people standing outside."
So he got in line and waited. Then he waited some more.
Two hours later, Washington said, "I got inside the building. The marquis says, 'Welcome to Chrysler Corporation.' And I'm saying, 'Aw, I done stood in line for two hours for nothing.' "
Before turning to leave, the man behind him in line convinced him to put in an application. Chrysler paid better than the steel job, anyway.
So he applied, was hired on the spot and was offered the second shift the same day – with just an hour of notice.
"And I'm saying, 'Can I come back Monday?' " Ferguson recalled. But the man behind the counter told him: "If you want the job, you have to take it now."
He thought about it and made a choice that would define the rest of his life.
"So I did," Ferguson said. "And the rest is history."
Liam Rappleye covers Stellantis and the UAW for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him: LRappleye@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: They've worked at Chrysler for 60 years – and they refuse to retire
