Cape Breton's Magazine

appointed.) With General Instruments? I would love it. I guess I'm too old to start all over again, but I'd give it a hook for another year. It was the people. Oh, the people were just fantastic. The people you'd meet. Even yet till today, they're all--fellow workers, yeah. You get a few bad apples in every bunch. (This is in spite of the fact that they didn't come to union meetings. To work with them....) Was beautiful. (So I shouldn't go under the impression that they were apathetic altogether, or that they did not care altogether. They just didn't care about union.) They just didn't care about union. All they cared is that they had a job there, and if they could find the heat to complain about, or in the winter if there was a draft coming in, they could complain about that. Petty things. Good, logical disagreements, I don't think they had. (As people to work with, though, and to be around....) They were wonderful. You could never find any better. Never. Roy Burchell (Was it kept a secret from you, that Gen? eral Instruments was leaving?) Oh, no, it wasn't. We knew a year before. Two years before, really. (Two years before!) Yeah. Supervisors. Not all the supervisors. Like, we were up there at the top ten. And we knew it was going, because we had-- we got word to ship such-and-such ,a part to Mexico--to Juarez. And we knew we need? ed those parts ourselves, like scopes, spare scopes--even benches. So, we had a meeting with them, and they told us that they were sending a part of General In? struments- -just a part was going--down to Mexico. So they could have a part of the plant here, and a part in Mexico. And then we'd have no trouble in the States with lines closing down, with things like this. Now, that's what we were told. So, we knew it was in trouble. So we went after--Paul MacEwan. That's the truth. "Paul, the plant is closing." He took it up "Enjoy superb dining in a re[a?(ing & iwKurious atmospdere SPECIALIZING IN CHINESE CUISINE Canadian Dishes also available FULLY LICENSED TAKE OUT & DELIVERY ORDERS Major Credit Cards Accepted I I I II I g m 'king He'taurani 355 Charlotte Street Downtown Sydney Tel: 539-7775 Open daily] 1:00 am ' ONE OF } CAPE BRETON'S FINEST i in the House and everything. "No, General Instruments is not leaving." We knew it. They (the government) wouldn't believe us. So we went to the union--Isobel (Cooper) • was there then, and we told, "You know, this is between ourselves. We're Cape Bre- toners. We have to fight for our rights." So we told Isobel about it. Isobel went to management, and management denied it. "Where'd you get that information?" Well, she couldn't exactly tell them. She said, "We just got it through"--truck drivers coming in and things like this, eh. They were Americans, we didn't care. So, after about a year, they started shipping whole lines down. They were still guaranteeing us there was part of it stay? ing (in Sydney). Maybe a hundred employ? ees, or possibly two hundred if production went up. But then the union started, fight? ing. "If you're closing it in a year, close it now--we don't want to work here." You know, that was the attitude then. "We don't want to work here. Close it now." So the union put up quite a stink about it. A Proud Cape Breton Company Congratulates CAPE BRETON'S MAGAZINE on its 50t[ Cape Breton's MAGAZINE h Issue Management, Staff, & Distributors SYDCO FUEIS E3. 38 Lewis Drive, Sydney River 539-6444 Serving Industrial Cape Breton with Quality Fuel Products