Sporck had studied engineering at Cornell before being hired by GE in the mid-1950s at the firm’s factory in Hudson Falls, New York. He was tasked with improving GE’s process for manufacturing capacitors and proposed changing the factory’s assembly line process. He believed his new technique would improve productivity, but the labor union that controlled GE’s assembly line workers saw him as threatening their control over the production process. The union revolted, staging a rally against Sporck and burning him in effigy. The factory’s management timidly backed down, promising the union that
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