Cape Breton's Magazine

of one material into it. And we'd have to get a girl to sit on a grindstone with a mask on--you know. They'd have to take a little bit off each one of them, eh? Now this guy up in Joliet, they tell me he had a garage in his back yard, making these cores. Well, he might have put a little too much mixture in the pot, and they came out too heavy--not in weight--but too heavy of a mixture, to suit us. So we'd be tied up. And I've seen us flying guys--Americans that were working here with us--flying them home on Friday, just for the weekend, to pick up this bag of cores to take back to Sydney with them Monday. You know. And this is where it cost a lot of money. (Everyone that talks to me, it's "Best job I ever had. Best treatment.") That's true. I agree with them. I'm going to tell you, we were the best supervisors, too--the Ca? nadians. We treated them as people. If their chair wasn't comfortable, we got them a new chair. If the bench wasn't comforta? ble, we got a new bench for them. They could go to the washroom, you know, some of fT OWEN FITZGERALD PHOTOGRAPHY LTD. Since opening his studio in 1978, Owen has received wide acclaim with the publication of three books and awards in Portraiture, Industrial and Press Photography. 423 Charlotte St., Sydney, N. S., 562-2321 OQEDQ FBDB SERVICES HELP SMALL BUSINESS PROSPER Small business is the backbone of this country's economy. It accounts for one third of our Gross National Product and three million Canadian jobs. So if you run a small or medium-sized business, or if you're about to start one, we'd like to help you succeed. For information on our wide range of Financial Services (loans, loan guarantees and financial planning), Venture Capital and Management Services such as counselling, training and information, please call: 564-7700 48 Dorchester St., Sydney, N. S. B1P 5Z1 La Banque off re ses services dans les deux langues officielles. BACKING INDEPENDENT BUSINESS ? Federal Business Development Bank Banque federale de developpement Canada them 5 times a day. Have another 10-minute break with a smoke. Nobody said anything. And still have their breaks. Oh, well, we said something, you know, but what the hell--it didn't do any good. They had a first aid room there. There was a nurse on 8 hours a day. If we had two shifts, we had two nurses on. And 3 beds there. Any girl got weak, or didn't feel good at that time of the month, they just went in and they rested for 2 or 3 hours, came back out and worked. Nobody said a word to them. They got paid while they were in there. I was often told in the conference room, "Go out and fire a girl--make an example," by an American. I won't mention any names. "Go out and fire her. Put an example on your line. They'll come up with the production." I said, "Look, there's a way.of getting production--it's not by firing a girl. You want to fire a girl, you go out and fire them." I fired a girl, mostly for badness. She was on two weeks later. She drove me crazy. She drove me--and if she ever heard this con? versation, she'd know who I'm talking about! At the same time, she was a good worker, and I hired her on. I just fired her to show her that I was boss, that's all! But she knew I was only fooling. She didn't care if she worked, anyway. Didn't even care if she worked. But a good worker. So. If you had of asked those people 15 years ago, or 10 years ago, when they were work? ing at General Instruments--"Was this a good place to work?"--they'd say, "No." It's hot. It's irritable to be sitting there listening to a machine go clink, clink, clunk, clunk. And the heat was fero? cious, some days. But you ask them today. Today the girls are working at the fast- "Call us and compare" TENANTS • HOME • LIFE • R.R.S.P CAR • BOAT • BUSINESS BLAINE NEWCX)MBE LLOYD MOORE 539-1105 • IN WELTON PLAZA 288 Welton Street, Sydney, N. 8. BIP 5S2 /lllstate buVe in good hands.