Page 80 - A Visit with Ray "Mac" MacDonald: In Honour of the 50th Year of CJFX Radio

ISSUE : Issue 64

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1993/8/1

system. You see, I was on the night shift and the Dominion network was also operat? ing then so, in a sense, they were laying me off because there wasn't any work. So I hung around for three or four months, then I just moved on. I went to Bathurst. (So they didn't fire you because you formed a union?) they could get a little more money, that didn't hurt either. And the paid holidays and everything on a piece of paper, not just word of mouth. But I have no animosi? ty against the Nathanson family. There was no great struggle in that. In fact, 8 or 9 years later they contacted me and they wondered if I was interested in coming back. At the time I wasn't interested.... Well, that was the story they would have used to protect themselves, and I'm not saying forty years later that that was in? timidation. But the union was already formed and maybe they wanted to show some? body. I don't know. Of course the union would take the case and follow through, but technically there was nothing they could do because I wasn't fired. I was laid off. They were within their right as management to do that. The union was formed because people were get? ting the sense of craft and guild and so on and they wanted job security and if Discover Richmond County From Johnstown to Arichat, Lx)uisdale to Loch Lomond, an extraordinary mixture of Acadian and Irish, Micmac and Scottish traditions welcomes the visitor. The setting is the quiet beauty of Richmond County. The culture and heritage are centuries old. We invite you to take Route 4, the road that leads through Richmond County. It is the road less travelled, and it will make all the difference in your Cape Breton Vacation. MUNICIPALITY OF THE COUNTY OF RICHMOND When I mentioned the union at CJCB, it wasn't that it was such a big thing, but it is just the turning that it made in my life, that was all. It was how I got to Bathurst. I would have stayed in Sydney if they had let me--ha ha! I arrived in Ba? thurst because I organized a union in Syd? ney. There were three of us released after that. Bob Banbury, Bill Jessome and my? self. I guess I was out of work between September and February. That would have been '56 going into '57. (What sent you to Bathurst?) I knew someone who knew someone. Frankie LeGatto who ran a convenience store in Sydney Mines saw an ad in the paper and he told me about it and I tried for it and it so happened that Donnie Maclsaac (from CJCB) knew Ray Bourque who was from Monc? ton and he was working in Bathurst and so, as it turned out, he was able to recommend me. So Ray Bourque hired me on that recommendation. That's where the Ray "Mac" came from. Ray Bourque was the other guy. He was the news editor and I was the sports editor there in ROUTE 4 The road less travelledl Qtad'dings Xmas & Crafts "sHoppe" >3> ?? f Monday - Wednesday, & Saturday: 10 AM - 4 PM ' i'Thursday & Friday: 10 AM - 9 PM ?? Sunday: 1 PM - 7 PM J 9711 GRENVILLE ST. • #4 HIGHWAY • ST. PETERS Phone 535-2248 L'AUBERGE ACADIENNE OPEN ALL YEAR! Acadian Cuisine in a traditional setting Newly Renovated. Luxury accommodations in a 19th Century period setting. At Arichat on Isle Madame Call: (902) 226-2200 Discover Cape Breton Dlfferentlyl KAYAK TOURS INSTRUCTION • RENTALS • KAYAKS • CANOES • BIKES • • OUTDOOR EQUIPMENT- LOG CABINS on the Bras d'Or Lake Ask for brochure: KAYAK CAPE BRETON R. R. 2, West Bay, N. 8. BOE 3K0 OR PHONE (902) 535-3060

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