My Father worked at the Cumberland plant for 46 Years, It was the only job he ever had. I myself am working on my 17th. job now. This strike in 1947 kind of ended the plant in Cumberland. In 1947 about 13,000 people worked there. Soon the Celanese started to look elsewhere to build a new plant. Rock Hill,SC.
@@gkk2001I am late getting back to you. So what happened in 1947 was the company was planning an expansion of the plant but the union wanted too much during this strike so the expansion never happened. Soon after the company moved its main offices to Rock hill, SC. This plant stayed open but over the years keep downsizing. My Father retired in 1974 and at that time only about 5000 remained.
My grandparents and their siblings all worked the Celanese in the 40s. Going to get my aunt to watch this and see if she recognizes anyone. :) I'd recognize my grandparents, but perhaps not my great aunts and uncles.
My grandfather worked at there . he said it wasn't bad, just alot of racial issues (he was native American) he said it wasn't terrible though, just his coworkers were unpleasant lol.
Sorry to hear about the racial issues, but of course it doesn't surprise me. As a white boy born in Cumberland in 1963, I don't need to imagine; I can remember the ignorance. My grandmother and my great aunt worked here during the Depression and WWII. I moved to NYC and then Montreal. This is an amazing clip. God bless us everyone.
