Cape Breton's Magazine

three. Put the books out and prove that I'm wrong." And he was crazy. Should have come and showed us the shape that he'd got in. We weren't that intelligent and that smart.... (To do anything with those books.) No, no, no, no, no, no. I used to do it deliberately. Then I'd come to the newspapers and I'd say, "He wouldn't even show us his books. He's got something to hide! He's hiding something. He's offering us a dollar, and we know that there's three there!" Laughs.... But (the company) wasn't making any money. And we weren't only looking for money. We were trying to wake up the next day and not have a thousand-man pit closed. Under? stand? They'd say to you, "We'll give you money. We'll close that pit." See. Throw that on the table in front of you, make you throw up. (Actually, I have a hard time seeing what you did have to negotiate with. They could say, "Well, we don't have the money," and they could say, "We're going to close the pit." And those are pretty powerful things. What could you threaten them with? Especially if they came to know you as a non-striker.) It was known, that I was non-strike. (So, what could you threaten them with?) Oh, Jesus, we used to kick the (stuffing) out of them, politically and publicly and religiously, and every way imaginable! Laughs. (Seriously. What strength did you have against a fellow like Gordon--really?) What we generally did was--we used to (get) them politically. With the politi? cians. They all wanted the votes. (What did Gordon care about votes?) Gordon had to get subventions, from the government. Understand? He'd get his coal into Ontario in competition with American coal. And if the government didn't pay him the subven? tions, he didn't sell any coal there. He'd find himself out of business. And then, he was getting other types of help from the government, in the mechanization... (Can you remember once, ever, that Gordon got the better of you in those negotia? tions?) Oh, lots of times. Lots of times he did. Gordon was no fool. A good man. From Gordon--I'11 tell you what I wanted. S & M Trucking Ltd. • General Trucking • Local & Long Distance Loader & Trailer Rentals ' Float, Flatbed, Drop Deck Service r- OFFICE • -1 567-2260 FAX 564-1443 • ' SYDPORT INDUSTRIAL PARK LGfi IF Operating in: NS,NB,NFLD, PEI, ONT, PQ, and the U.S. A. Donald Sives Manager GARAGE & DISPATCH • i 564-2011 BUSY CALL 564-0204 ' SYDNEY. NOVA SCOTIA NOVA scoha So MUCH. So CLOSE. So what are you waiting for? ' ' Call me today and I'll ' help plan your best summer ever. I've got all the details about the special guests playing at the Canso Stan Rogcrs Foikfest/va July 4-6. It's just one of our hundreds of Celebrate our Music festivals! Need accommodations? I can help there, too. Just tell me your price range, I'll find you a room. This year is the 150th Anniversary of Longfellow's poem 'Evangeline'. Join us for Acn'imi 'li1'J, July 5-6, in Grand Pre. And for foot-stomping fun there's the Yarmouth Bluegrass Jamboree June 27 - 29. Call me to find out how to get tickets. In fact, you can call me any time, from anywhere for any reason. I'm your source for information about restaurants, golf courses, kids' activities, museums, theatre performances and more. So call me today with your hoUday questions. I'll get you an answer, and a fr00 copy of our 350+page Nova Scotia Doer's and Dreamer's Guide! " 1-800-565-0000 Ask for operator #675 http://explore.gov. ns. ca/virtualns 87