Josh Schreiber

Bus 1050
12/1/2014
Mike LeFevre, Steel Worker
Stud Terkel (1972)
Mike LeFevre is given a stage to present the attitude and life of a working class laborer in
America during the 1970s in Stud Terkels the Steel Worker interview. Stud was highly educated, having
received a law degree from the University of Chicago. But his life story took a turn when he decided he
didnt want to practice law and ended up becoming a radio broadcaster. In this interview Stud brought
into view the stories of folks who were less likely to be noticed in society, because they werent famous
and had made no achievements that would be rewarded with public acknowledgement.
Mike LeFevre didnt feel like he was a nobody, although he feels the younger college educated
kids he works for feel like that. One of his younger college graduate managers even tells Mike the guys
he works with, theyre dummies, reading only sports articles. Mike takes offense to this. He tries to
make the point that these laborers, as Mike calls himself, arent to be treated like mules, but to be
respected for the work they do that allows the companies to grow and profit. Mike reflects on the
famous Pyramids and the Empire State building as great social artifacts, who only the Pharaohs and the
building owners receive credit for the architectural feat. He calls them the Somebodies who actually
built these buildings and would like to see credit given to them.
They should have some recognition on the structure that names the laborers and somebodies
who actually worked on them. The names could be listed on a strip along the wall, where that guy put
in those bricks or that guy who molded the steel beam at the factory that holds the roof overhead. Its
Mikes theory that every guy who has worked on a structure can take a friend or his family and point to
something his labor played a part in building. Just as the building owners can point out the building they
built that often has their name or business name held high above it, so should the laborer be able to
point out his own name and his accomplishments.
These laborers deserve respect from those they work for, even if that respect is simply to be left
alone to work without being lorded over. Mike talks about how he had a free spirit attitude when he
was single and would go so far as to assault his superiors when they wouldnt let him be. As he matured
into his marriage and fatherhood, he realized he had to be more responsible in how he handled these
boss and employee situations. Once he had kids he says he quit being physically responsive to his
superiors, to being verbally responsive, which would allow him usually to keep his job. When he was
single he would act out in violence and punch his managers. Now he acts more subtle, using his tongue
instead. Him and his laborer cohorts, when they go to bars theyre often looking for a way to vent, to
relieve their anger and the stress from such mundane work and from being micromanaged all week. A
the bars they get in fights. The younger guys get into physical fights and the older guys get into verbal
altercations instead. They learn to take no offence from the other guy, but to recognize he has the same
anger built up, that is really directed at their bosses.

These types want a better future for their kids. They dont want their kids working in the same
industry or occupation they do. Mike says they have a duty to make sure if they cant improve their own
lives with the work they do, they need to make sure they improve their posterity. He used the
example of a caveman who for the first time hikes up and over the hill from the cave. He claims the
caveman didnt do that for himself, he did it to make sure his kid could get as far away from the cave as
he could. And Mike sees himself as a Caveman and in this case he just wants to get his kid into college.
He wants his kid to be one of the snobby managers he works for. He doesnt like the managers, but of
course he wants his children to be like them so they arent stuck in the job that they cant stand because
it is the same thing day in and out. He wants his kids to be educated and
If the laborer could be offered a twenty hour work week, hed take it. With that extra time the
laborer could do things that mattered to society. Theyd have time just as in the days of the Romans, to
use their minds to build things, write things or in the case of art, to create things. He works with all
kinds of races and argues that the next Einstein or Picasso could be any one of them, it doesnt have to
be a white guy. But without that extra time off, theyll never have the time to explore those hidden
talents.
The life to be lived is the one youve created and when you cant create more of your life, youd
better help create a better life for your children. Mike speaks to what many laborers and skilled service
professionals have echoed for years. They want to make sure theyre not lost in history as folks who
didnt contribute, just as Pharaohs laborers have no names and no signatures on their handy work. If
they cant get that recognition in todays industry, they want to express how they would do things
different. They would focus more on community within the business and less on profits. They would
ensure their children have great educations and their employees children have the same abilities. Mike
doesnt want to reflect on his life and the thousands of hours that were spent doing the same routine
movements over and over in order to pay his bills. He wants to reflect on where his steel beams were
used on bridges or buildings and he wants others to see the value that the laborers provided to get that
steel there. These folks need more recognition, not just with fare pay, but with verbal recognition of the
importance of what they do. They wouldnt have to go to bars after work to unwind in a lawless kind of
way. Mike expects nothing will change, but if he had his way, he would ensure fair wages, ample time
away from work and recognition for a job well done.