Focus Story Structure Exercise

Jennifer Bilek

MCOM 100W

October 22, 2008

Focus story structure exercise

Chrysler Workers Face Desperation

Bill Klisch has been laid off from his job at Chrysler, leaving him and his wife struggling to make it threw the upcoming months. “My wife is handicapped and she’s supposed to have an operation,” Bill stated. “Our medical coverage is running out. Tell me what I’m supposed to do.”

Unfortunately Bill is only one of the over 44,000 workers who were laid off from Chrysler. These workers have been unemployed for five months and next week they will receive their last supplemental unemployment check. They will be receiving 95 percent of their take-home pay, however, after next week, they will have to live on state unemployment benefits.

Despite the hardship these workers are facing, they decide to put on a mock funeral on April 1 to draw attention to their misfortune. Fifty workers, along with their spouses and children attended the mock service, including Henry Westoff, a 44 year old man who is one of the many people faced with this tragedy. Westoff states, “They’ll give us our jobs back after we’ve lost everything. They don’t care.”