Rivethead: Tales from the Assembly Line

Rivethead: Tales from the Assembly Line (1991), a memoir by activist writer Ben Hamper, tells the story of the years Hamper spent working on the General Motors assembly line in Flint, Michigan before he lost his job as part of mass layoffs at the factory.

Ben begins the book by talking about workers on the assembly line smuggling radios in so they can listen to music at work. Their favorite musicians tend to be classic rock artists that Hamper refers to as Dead Rock Stars, including Lynyrd Skynyrd, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, and Janis Joplin. Radios are not allowed on the assembly line, since management believes they use electricity belonging to the company. However, as long as the workers make an attempt to conceal the radios, line managers tend to not care if they listen to them.

After this introduction, Ben jumps back in time to his first visit inside the GM factory. His father works at the factory on the second shift and brings Ben to visit on Family Night. Ben is struck by the noise, heat, terrible smell, and drudgery of the work. He vows never to end up working the same job as his father and grandfather before him. Ben’s father is an alcoholic who lacks ambition, which Ben blames in part on his stressful and unfulfilling job.



When Ben graduates from high school, he is unsure of what he wants to do. He does poorly in school though family and administrators alike tell him he is capable of more. In middle school, he is a talented writer, but by the time he is in high school, he has stopped writing in favor of partying and doing drugs. He gets his girlfriend, Joanie, pregnant, and after graduation, the two work to support their child without resorting to factory work. However, Ben soon begins using drugs and neglecting his family. Eventually, he realizes he has to get a job at GM.

Flint is in the middle of a recession, and it takes Ben a long time to get a job. Eventually, he is hired on the bus factory floor, one of the worst places to work according to GM employees. The thing Ben dislikes the most about his new job is the repetition. However, he soon gets used to his coworkers and things seem to be looking up when the recession in Flint starts to lift. This means overtime for the factory workers, who appreciate the money but not the grueling shifts. Many of the men start to drink heavily, even at work.

Ben becomes close friends with his neighbor on the assembly line, Janice. One of the few female workers in the factory, she has to put up with sexual harassment and unwanted advances from the men. However, she and Ben quickly become friends, and he mentions that she often served as a pre-reader for his book as it was being written.



The workers at GM are excited whenever something happens to break the monotony, such as an announcement that a famous musician has ordered a custom vehicle from their factory. Though they don’t know which car will be the custom, it briefly makes them take more pride in their work. Practical jokes are common as well, and Ben enjoys them until they start to become tiresome.

In 1979, a round of layoffs hits the factory. Ben is laid off, but then called back to work after a few months. He is assigned to the rivet line, which is even more fast-paced than his old position. After he is laid off again, Ben begins writing again and starts work on Riverthead. He is rehired after almost a year, and his stories make the rounds in the GM plant. He also starts to write a regular column for Harper’s about his work life.

Ben’s column becomes popular, and Michael Moor offers him a paid writing job at Mother Jones. Offers also start to come in for Rivethead. Ben’s notoriety grows, a factor that might contribute to his firing in 1988.



One day while working, Ben suffers a panic attack on the line. He takes all his available sick leave time to recover. He tries several different medications, but he refuses to go to a mental health facility. He returns to work temporarily, but soon his panic issues return and he is let go from his job at GM.

In the epilogue, Ben talks about attending group therapy since leaving the factory. Though the group participates in relaxing activities such as mini-golf, Ben often thinks of the factory and how things remind him of life on the assembly line.