This paper examines language in a factory setting and focuses on: (1) language workers use to express attitudes toward work areas, jobs and workers associated with them (Hymes, 1974); (2) behavior workers exhibit in relation to their socially defined status (Fishman 1970; Tyler 1971); and (3) speech forms workers use for particular situations and styles (Gumperz, Hymes 1972). The paper shows that: (1) workers socially stratify their work environment with the labels they use for other workers and jobs; (2) there is a correlation between the social stratification the workers recognize and the social and linguistic behavior they exhibit; and (3) the preferred linguistic forms for careful and casual speech of workers may be correlated with the social categories they represent. The results discussed in this paper illustrate that studying language in a work setting provides an opportunity to examine the relationship between socio-economic factors and communicative behavior because different generational, occupational and social groups may be observed within a common environment. (Author)