Interview with Ruby Prater, July 1, 1987

Partial Transcript: Ruby, this is, uh, a sheet of a paper that I got from the Council of Southern Mountains' offices that has your description of your work that you gave to the organizers or to somebody at the time the trike-strike started. Do you remember that?

Segment Synopsis: Prater talks about her duties as a nurse's aide that started expanding beyond the typical duties of an aide, like training her superiors. She talks about other working conditions at the hospital, including wages and time off.

Keywords: Healthcare; Licensed practical nurses (LPNs); Nurse aides; Nurseries; Nurses aides; Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Registered nurses (RNs); Staffing; Training

Subjects: Hospital and community.; Hospital care--United States.; Medical care--Kentucky; Nursing.; Occupations.; Salaries

Partial Transcript: See, I've been working for years there.

Segment Synopsis: Prater discusses her difficulties with retirement paperwork after being laid off. She talks about the aides' duties, and about others who were laid off who are also having difficulty receiving their retirement funds.

Keywords: 1983; Causby Reynolds; Duties; Husbands; Jobs; Licensed practical nurses (LPNs); Mamie Ratliff; Nurse's aides; Nurses aides; Older; Pensions; Permission; Picket lines; Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Polly Justice; Registered nurses (RNs); Retirement; Social Security; Spouses; Strikers; Temporary lay-offs; Unemployment

Subjects: Hospital and community.; Hospital care--United States.; Medical care--Kentucky; Nursing.; Occupations.; Picketing.; Protest movements.; Salaries; Strikes and lockouts--Kentucky; Women political activists

Partial Transcript: How many years did you work?

Segment Synopsis: Prater talks about what it was like to work at Pikeville Methodist Hospital during World War II.

Keywords: Arthur Damron; Education; Employment; Husbands; Instructors; Louise Acker; Nurse's aides; Nurses aides; Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Schools; World War II

Subjects: Hospital and community.; Hospital care--United States.; Medical care--Kentucky; Nursing.; Occupations.; World War, 1939-1945

Partial Transcript: So, how come you went to work at Pikeville Hospital in the first place?

Segment Synopsis: Prater talks about her education, including earning her GED and going to classes to become a nurse aide. She talks about taking classes during the strike while her children were also in school.

Keywords: Children; Classes; Community colleges; Dr. E.R. Thompson; Dreams; Duties; General Educational Development (GED); Instructors; Mothers; Patients; Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Prestonsburg (Ky.); Registered nurses (RNs); Responsibilities; Ruby Joyce Dunn; Schools; Students; Surgery; Training

Subjects: Education--Kentucky; Hospital and community.; Hospital care--United States.; Medical care--Kentucky; Nursing.; Occupations.; Picketing.; Protest movements.; Strikes and lockouts--Kentucky; Women political activists

Partial Transcript: So where did you start working then?

Segment Synopsis: Prater talks about her first job at Pikeville Methodist Hospital and describes her duties and responsibilities. She talks more about her education.

Keywords: Bathing; Baths; Courses; Day shifts; Education; Jobs; Nurse's aides; Nurses aides; Patient care; Patients; Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Speech classes; Surgery; Surgical; Tracheostomy; Tracheotomy

Subjects: Hospital and community.; Hospital care--United States.; Medical care--Kentucky; Nursing.; Occupations.

Partial Transcript: Well what was it like, uh, when you moved over to the new hospital?

Segment Synopsis: Prater describes the transition from the "old hospital" to the new building, including transporting the patients.

Keywords: Moving; New hospital; Old hospital; Patients; Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Training; Transferring; Transfers; Transporting; Working conditions

Subjects: Hospital and community.; Hospital care--United States.; Medical care--Kentucky; Nursing.; Occupations.

Partial Transcript: What was it like when you went back?

Segment Synopsis: Prater talks about how she was treated when she returned to her job after the strike. She says the returning workers were required to go through training and orientation again, as if they were new employees. She talks about the working conditions and wages before and after the strike. She talks about whether there was talk of striking again.

Keywords: Abilities; Assignments; Attitudes; Better; Causby Reynolds; Coworkers; Days off; Employees; Expectations; Hours; Improvements; Merit pay; Nurse's aides; Nurses aides; Organizing; Orientation; Overtime; Payment; Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Raises; Reputations; Returning; Shifts; Strikers; Union elections; Unpaid time; Wages; Watched; Watching; Working conditions

Subjects: Hospital and community.; Hospital care--United States.; Medical care--Kentucky; Nursing.; Occupations.; Picketing.; Protest movements.; Salaries; Strikes and lockouts--Kentucky; Women political activists

Partial Transcript: Well, tell me about--let's--back in time now, this is before the strike.

Segment Synopsis: Prater talks more about what it was like to work at the "old hospital" before the strike. She talks about the efforts to unionize at the old hospital and their expectations for the strike.

Keywords: 1940s; Administration; Administrators; Attitudes; Expectations; Layoffs; Licensed practical nurses (LPNs); Old hospital; Organizing; Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Retirement; Reverend Ashley; Signing; Union cards; Watched; Watching

Subjects: Hospital and community.; Hospital care--United States.; Medical care--Kentucky; Nursing.; Occupations.; Picketing.; Protest movements.; Salaries; Strikes and lockouts--Kentucky; Women political activists

Partial Transcript: Well how did you find out that you were on strike?

Segment Synopsis: Prater describes her shifts on the picket line. She talks about they entertained themselves, names some of the people with her on the picket line, talks about fundraising and rallies, and talks about her interactions with those who opposed the strike.

Keywords: Ardena Wheeler; Arnold Miller; Asthma; Audrey Justice; Bell Telephone; Causby Reynolds; Communications Workers of America (CWA); Conversations; Coworkers; Donations; Finding out; Friends; Fun; Honking; Judy Maynard; Money; Opposition; Peggy Robinette; Picket lines; Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Rallies; Rotations; Shifts; Strikers; Suntans; Supporters; United Mine Workers of America (UMWA); Vacations; Yelling

Subjects: Hospital and community.; Hospital care--United States.; Medical care--Kentucky; Nursing.; Occupations.; Picketing.; Protest movements.; Salaries; Strikes and lockouts--Kentucky; Women political activists

Partial Transcript: Well, what'd you do to pass the time?

Segment Synopsis: Prater talks about her interactions with the people crossing the picket line. She talks about how she and her husband felt about her step-daughter crossing the picket line to work at the hospital. She says that the scabs the hospital hired were untrained. She talks about people re-applying for their jobs when the picket line was finally taken down.

Keywords: Applying; Guard dogs; Guards; Jobs; Medical procedures; Picket duty; Picket lines; Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Police; Quitting; Reactions; Scabs; Security; Shifts; Step-daughters; Strikebreakers; Taken down; Training; Untrained

Subjects: Hospital and community.; Hospital care--United States.; Medical care--Kentucky; Nursing.; Occupations.; Picketing.; Protest movements.; Salaries; Strikes and lockouts--Kentucky; Women political activists

Partial Transcript: Well, Ruby, you were--the picket line was up for two years and you all were doing a lot of things that were strike-related.

Segment Synopsis: Prater talks about some of the other activities related to the strike, including union meetings where they discussed tactics, court hearings, and boycotting and picketing other businesses related to the hospital. She talks about getting inside information about the hospital.

Keywords: Accusations; Bed pans; Board members; Boycotting; Boycotts; Bruce Walters; Committees; Court hearings; Destructive; Dynamite; Gibson's; Hopkins Building; Hospitals; Information; Mines; Picket lines; Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Progress; Registered nurses (RNs); Rumors; Tactics; Travel; Trials; Trips; Union meetings; Union offices; Updates; Workers

Subjects: Hospital and community.; Hospital care--United States.; Medical care--Kentucky; Nursing.; Occupations.; Picketing.; Protest movements.; Salaries; Strikes and lockouts--Kentucky; Women political activists

Partial Transcript: Well, when you think about the picket line now, what do you remember the most?

Segment Synopsis: Prater talks about enjoying her time on the picket line and how she misses working at the hospital, even if the conditions were bad.

Keywords: Attitudes; Birthdays; Enjoyment; Fun; Laid-off; Layoffs; Memories; Patients; Picket lines; Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Quitting; Shifts

Subjects: Hospital and community.; Hospital care--United States.; Medical care--Kentucky; Nursing.; Occupations.; Picketing.; Protest movements.; Salaries; Strikes and lockouts--Kentucky; Women political activists

Partial Transcript: Well, um, you stayed pretty active then through the strike, Ruby?

Segment Synopsis: Prater talks about what advice she would give her children if they went on strike. She talks more about how she felt about her step-daughter crossing the picket line. She talks about her father and mother's feelings about unions.

Keywords: Active; Advice; Arnold Miller; Attitudes; Children; Crossing picket lines; Different; Family; Fathers; Feelings; Husbands; Mines; Mothers; Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Rallies; Regrets; Scabs; Step-daughters; Strikebreakers; Union meetings

Subjects: Families.; Hospital and community.; Hospital care--United States.; Medical care--Kentucky; Nursing.; Occupations.; Picketing.; Protest movements.; Salaries; Strikes and lockouts--Kentucky; Women political activists

Partial Transcript: Um, I'm trying to get an idea from everybody about how their--how they managed to get by during the strike and how their households operated and stuff.

Segment Synopsis: Prater talks about who lived with her during the strike and talks about how her family managed financially during the strike.

Keywords: Air Force; Children; Daughters; Disabilities; Employment; Households; Husbands; Jobs; Pikeville Methodist Hospital

Subjects: Families.; Hospital and community.; Hospital care--United States.; Medical care--Kentucky; Nursing.; Occupations.; Picketing.; Protest movements.; Salaries; Strikes and lockouts--Kentucky; Women political activists

Partial Transcript: --we had, we had so many other...

Segment Synopsis: Prater talks about the remodel happening at the hospital around the time of the interview. She talks more about the working conditions at the hospital before the strike and at the time of the interview.

Keywords: Budgets; Chairs; Elevators; Hard work; Hiring; Jobs; Layoffs; Licensed practical nurses (LPNs); Nurse's aides; Nurses aides; Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Registered nurses (RNs); Remodeling; Rumors; Spending; Wallpaper; Working conditions

Subjects: Hospital and community.; Hospital care--United States.; Medical care--Kentucky; Nursing.; Occupations.

Partial Transcript: We were getting into--you were living at Hatcher Court, right across the street from the picket line.

Segment Synopsis: Prater talks about the strike benefits that helped her family financially during the strike. She talks about their other sources of income at that time. She talks more about her family's feelings about her being on strike. She talks about doing the housework and chores during the strike.

Keywords: Attitudes; Bills; Black lung; Checks; Chores; Communications Workers of America (CWA); Daughters; Disabilities; Division of labor; Family; Food; Hair; Households; Housekeepers; Housework; Husbands; Island Creek (Ky.); Jobs; Life events; Married; Organizing; Participation; Paul Patton; Payments; Pike County (Ky.); Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Rent; Routines; Social Security; Sons; Support; Treatment; Union offices; United Mine Workers of America (UMWA); Vouchers

Subjects: Families.; Hospital and community.; Hospital care--United States.; Labor unions--Strike benefits; Medical care--Kentucky; Nursing.; Occupations.; Picketing.; Protest movements.; Salaries; Strikes and lockouts--Kentucky; Women political activists

Partial Transcript: I want to get some personal, kind of biography stuff from everybody too so tell me where you were born.

Segment Synopsis: Prater talks about where she was born and where she spent her childhood. She talks about being raised by her grandmother after her mother's death. She talks about meeting, dating, and marrying her first husband, Arthur Damron. She talks more about her education.

Keywords: 1921; 1940s; Accidents; Army; Arthur Damron; Ball games; Biography; Birthplace; Childrearing; Dating; Death; Dogs; Fathers; Foster Anderson; General Educational Development (GED); Grandmothers; High schools; Home; Hospitals; Husbands; Killed; Married; Miners; Mothers; North Carolina; Pike County (Ky.); Regina (Ky.); Registered nurses (RNs); Rockhouse (Ky.); Schools; Step-mothers; Trucks; Uncles; Wolfpit (Ky.); World War II; Yeager (Ky.)

Subjects: Childhood; Education--Kentucky; Families.; Marriage

Partial Transcript: Well, um, when did you have your first--when did you have Jimmy?

Segment Synopsis: Prater talks about her children and when they were born. She talks about living with her father-in-law until their house was ready. She talks about when her grandchildren were born.

Keywords: Army; Children; Coal stoves; Daughters; Death; Father-in-law; Grandchildren; Housekeeping; Houses; Measles; Military service; Sons

Subjects: Families.; Marriage

Partial Transcript: Ruby, what happened to Arthur?

Segment Synopsis: Prater talks about her first marriage and separating from her first husband before his death. She talks more about her education and work history.

Keywords: 1960s; 1975; Alcoholism; Army; Arthur Damron; Divorce; Drinking; Dropping out; Favorite places; Hatcher Court; Heart attacks; Hospitals; Husbands; Military service; Neighbors; Pikeville (Ky.); Schools; Separation; Strikes; Towns; Work

Subjects: Childhood; Education--Kentucky; Families.; Marriage

Partial Transcript: Ruby, have you ever done any kind of work besides your nurses work?

Segment Synopsis: Prater describes her work history, beginning with her first job on a sewing project. She describes the places she worked, her responsibilities at these jobs, and why she left.

Keywords: 1940s; Birthday parties; Burger Queen; Cleaning; Dormitories; Grandmothers; Half-sisters; Hostesses; Husbands; Jobs; Laid-off; Layoffs; Magic Mart; Managers; Money; Nurse's aides; Nurses aides; Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Positions; Registered nurses (RNs); Schools; Sewing projects; Social Security; Store clerks; Strikes; Typing classes; Wages; Work

Subjects: Employment--Kentucky; Hospital and community.; Hospital care--United States.; Medical care--Kentucky; Nursing.; Occupations.; Salaries

Partial Transcript: Well, let me roll back to the strike a little bit.

Segment Synopsis: Prater talks about whether she has regrets about the strike and whether it was worth it. She talks more about having difficulty receiving her retirement benefits due to her participation in the strike.

Keywords: Aetna; Avoidance; Board members; Committees; Community hospitals; Contracts; Different; Employees; Hospitals; Jobs; Labor boards; Lawsuits; Layoffs; Lee D. Keene; Money; Mr. Elliott; Officials; Opposition; Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Punishments; Raises; Regrets; Retirement; Scabs; Spending; Strikebreakers; Strikers; Supreme Court; Worth it

Subjects: Hospital and community.; Hospital care--United States.; Medical care--Kentucky; Nursing.; Occupations.; Picketing.; Protest movements.; Salaries; Strikes and lockouts--Kentucky; Women political activists

Partial Transcript: Well Ruby, you want to leave any parting shots at the hospital board or add any other stories you wanna--can think of?

Segment Synopsis: Prater talks more about enjoying her time on the picket line and says she's not ashamed of her actions.

Keywords: Enjoyment; Fired; Hospitals; Non-union; Organizing; Payment; Picket lines; Picnics; Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Politics; Reunions; Sticking together; Support; Unashamed; United Mine Workers of America (UMWA); Wages

Subjects: Hospital and community.; Hospital care--United States.; Medical care--Kentucky; Nursing.; Occupations.; Picketing.; Protest movements.; Salaries; Strikes and lockouts--Kentucky; Women political activists