WeCo Promo for 1956…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAebA_z_7rk&t=289s
(I was in Jr HS, no idea what WeCo was until finding Installation in 1963, stayed nearly 40 years))
(I was in Jr HS, no idea what WeCo was until finding Installation in 1963, stayed nearly 40 years))
I suspect my uncle imprinted on WeCo at a younger age. His dad was a projectionist at a theater. Dale, born in 1929, talked about hanging with his dad in the projection booth in the late 30s/early 40s, and noticing all the Western Electric sound equipment. He worked for Michigan Bell a bit in the late 40s. Moved to Cleveland because his wife found a job there. Worked at EMD for a few years, then went to WeCo.
Steve
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Those old theater sound systems are sought after bit of early technology, as are the tubes they used, all of it…
Seeing the transistor arrive out in the field on the early days, then the need to learn more about solid site and logic circuitry grabbed me and took me on an interesting ride, large scale integrated cities were magical, as was the electronic switching systems… The above video came from not of several Bell System, telecom Groups in Facebook, where some of us have managed to gather maybe share war stories, a lot of folks were in the shops, but now those are gone, replaced in the end by our digital, magical tech of today…
Used to know everyone in the area, where they lived, worked… Now scattered to the winds, or the ashes left behind… Sad to see the old gear be scrapped, but, it’s happening… Unused, empty microwave towers, huts… Poof…
… replaced in the end by our digital, magical tech of today…
My uncle’s last gig was in Dublin, Ohio, training people on working with optical fiber. They offered Dale a buyout in the early 80s, so he retired.
Steve
Ahh, Dublin, may classes there in Ess, cellular, also WesT Chicago, Orlando, one year half the year in training courses for what we worked on… Lots of great instructors over my years, here in Sunnyvale, Los Angeles, Portland OR, Atlanta, GE, lots of flight time… Offers for early out helped many make decisions, I thought they hd stopped, so when one came in '02 I jumped on it, took it as an annuity that added to my pension. Later on they, the pension managers offered a full buyout, but I couldn’t find a way to not only match the pension but also cover the medical package, so we declined, and today, Nokia manages it, so far so good… A couple of my supervisors took the buyout, in one case, good he did as he passed a year or so later… Managers were stripped of spousal benefits, life insurance, so already ticked off… \Crazy times…
Managers were stripped of spousal benefits, life insurance, so already ticked off… \Crazy times…
Non-union, so, according to the McDonnell-Douglas court, benefits are a revocable “gift” of management, rather than a contractual obligation, regardless of what the employee handbook says about “if you work here for thirty years, and retire, you receive these benefits”.
Lucent cut, but, apparently, not eliminated, Dale’s medical coverage. Remember how that went down? They had Schacht go around to cities with concentrations of Lucent retirees to tell them “don’t even think about suing for restoration of your benefits, because the company will declare BK and you will get nothing”. So, after they took about $20M away from the retirees, the Board handed Pat Russo a $20M bonus.
Steve
A sickening betrayal of managers, some who had totally toed the company line, made the company millions of dollars over their lifetime…
Zero respect for the top management, Russo, McGinn, etc…