Rivethead, by Ben Hamper, is Hamper's description of his career as a General Motors factory worker in Flint, Michigan. A fourth generation "shoprat", Hamper explains how an irresponsible father, numerous siblings, and his own tendency for laziness, drugs, and drinking pointed directly to a future in the factory, despite his inclinations toward poetry and music. This book is a glimpse into the life on the General Motors car and truck assembly line, showing the lived experiences of people that have now become transparent voices in mainstream American society.

In Rivethead, the issue of job satisfaction as depicted by Hamper is seen through the effects if shiftwork on the factory workers families and social lives. Plagued by constant exhaustion and obsessed with not getting enough sleep, factory workers suffer from high levels of irritability, mood swings, and stress. All of these create complications in family relationships. Factory workers often work long hours and either conform to their family's routine, or follow a routine of their own, otherwise they are forced to live to some extent, independent of their families as in Rivethead. The working conditions in factories play a large role in the lack of job satisfaction, "...when someone works hard all day in a smoky chamber full of sludge, noise, armpits, beer breath, cigar butts, psychos, manic depressives, grease pits, banana stickers, venom and gigantic stalking kitty cats....", (Hamper:116). These work conditions are quite disturbing and inhumane to the welfare of the worker. The constant need for job satisfaction and feelings of accomplishment and autonomy is quite evident throughout the book. "There were so many of us shoprats that we were all just part of some faceless heard.", (Hamper:40). Because job satisfaction differs between levels of work and responsibility, other contributing factors, such as work and family conflict, can affect job satisfaction.

The Time Bind: When Work Becomes Home & Home becomes Work by Arile Russell Hochschild investigates the work/family conflict. Hochschild spent three summers doing field research at a company identified only as a Fortune 500 firm that Hochschild renames Amerco, which had also been credited on several different surveys as being one of America's 10 most "family-friendly" corporations. Hochschild research consists of interviewing all employees in the company from the top executives to factory workers by observed working parents and their children throughout their hectic days. She followed six families through a whole day and much of a night, and sat on the edge of Amerco's parking lot to see when people started work and when they left. This study raises disturbing questions about the impact of time on contemporary lives. The excessive demands of work create stresses at home because there is insufficient time to do everything. This is especially hard on women who bear the brunt of housekeeping chores, and on children, whose emotional needs require time with parents. Except for some older men, the people Hochschild interviews are aware of and concerned about the implications of this 'time bind'. What is surprising, consequently, is their failure to take on reduced workloads, flex time, and other components of the company's effort to help employees balance the demands of work and home. While supporting the existence of these policies, only a few employees take advantage of them. Fears about job security and career advancements are p

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Approximate Word count = 2346
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)