Cape Breton's Magazine

(Try to tell me about your last day.) We went in, and on our last day, we only worked till about 12 o'clock. We finished up the last of it. And the general manag? ers, they all came out. And we all went down to Line 8. And we had sort of a lit? tle farewell party. We all sat around. I got my picture in the newspaper, singing-- we sang songs. There was quite a bit of crying. Everybody was crying, you know, saying goodbye. Because a lot of people lived in North Sydney. Like, the girl friend I had--close to, there--she was from North Sydney. And then they were from Glace Bay. I was single; I didn't drive then. I knew I'd probably see them once in a blue moon, you know. It seems funny, now, to think--there were a lot of girls that I was really, really close to. And I haven't seen them in 10 years. Probably wouldn't even know them if I saw them now. You made friends, real good friends, there. 'Cause you were there 40, sometimes 50 hours a week with these girls. And a lot of times we would meet in town, or we would meet somewhere and go out. Then we also had our bowling. We were all in a bowling league. We bowled on Fri? day nights at 7. So we were also bowling with these girls. And the union used to put on dances for us, about 4 a year. Christmas party. Then we had our bowling banquet. So we were socializing, also, be? sides working together. And, it was sad. We all cried, the last day, saying goodbye to everybody, and thinking, you know. All I kept thinking was, "What am I going to do on Monday morning when I wake up? I've got nowhere to go." Roy Burchell [ii)-ir(6)WKi BUILDING SUPPLIES 21 McKeen Street, Glace Bay Our Carpet & Paint Displays are all set up... Waiting For You! Our Hardware and Building Supplies are arriving daily. Confie and visit us in our bright new surroundings. HARDWARE, BUILDING SUPPLIES, CARPETS & VINYL FLOORING BENJAMIN MOORE PAINT, BONNEVILLE WINDOWS '?i?':tlU 849-0047 849-1100 (So when they closed here, what did they do--hire you to go to Mexico?) Yeah. Well, they laid me off with a severance pay--a beautiful severance pay--I think it was around $8,000 I got. And then they hired me, under the same wages--$50 a day while I'm down there--well, that was equivalent to 200 down there, a day. To go down and train these people. And I could have stayed. I could have had a job. They want? ed me to stay. My buddy's still down there. So that's why I know the informa? tion. He's still with them. And I went down and--Number One, it's too hot for me, I couldn't stand the heat. And, same man? agement from the States running it. So, to me there'd be no change. I'm more the type to help the people. And down in the States--they have an attitude, if you make a mistake, you're stupid. That's American style, anyway. I'd say that on national TV. If you make a mistake, they think you're stupid, and they beat you down. (You went down to Mexico, and what did you find when you got there?) Cramped facili? ties. They were disorganized as far as setting up a line. The lines were set up, but--noise on both sides of them. Differ? ent machineries going. Heat. Oh, it was tremendous. But they have what they call a bog air conditioner. It was just water CO-OP ' Burner Service (Contracts Available- Automatic Delivery Budget Plan Available Lube-Oil-Greases 562-3163 503 PRINCE ST. - SYDNEY, N. S. CO-OP FUELS Stove and Furnace Oil Furnace Maintenance Contracts Available BenTax Quality Tax Preparation • Fast and courteous service • Special rates for seniors • Year round tax service 350 Charlotte Street Sydney, Nova Scotia 564-8800