Walkabout
Chapter 6

Copyright© 2013 by Anthony Concept

I gave Jane a call and brought her up to date, "At the moment Jane, they have walked off the job, there has not been any demands to reinstate Stark, so they're absent without leave. The first thing we need to address is the apprentice's absence, can you come in now?"

"OK Tony, Mrs Grieve has just arrived, give me half an hour."

When she arrived, the three of us got into a huddle. Tom was a bit worried about them going out the gate but when I explained my strategy he could see where I was coming from. "I'm hoping they stay out for a full week, if they haven't made any demands by then, it cannot be considered a strike so we can dismiss them for abandoning their jobs. I don't think anyone around here can employ that amount of men so the only place they can go is here. The first thing we need to do is send a letter to each of the apprentices, here's a copy I've drafted Jane, it just needs a bit of polish. We'll send it by secure mail to make sure they get it."

Date.

Apprentice Name

ID number

Your apprenticeship is a contract between R&J Hartley, The Apprenticeship Commission and Yourself.

Clause 3, Paragraph B of your indenture papers prohibits you from entering into a strike action against your employer.

The penalty for any breach of your contract is cancellation of your apprenticeship. You are hereby instructed to resume work by the start of the next working day. Failure to comply will result in termination of your employment. R&J Hartley will not employ you again.

Anthony Watson

Manager.

"I want it to be as harsh as possible Jane, the idea is to let them know we mean business."

"I'm quite happy with that Tony, it doesn't need any polishing, I get to and print them out. They should receive them tomorrow if I catch today's post."

"Good, next thing on the agenda is to talk to Joe Wilkins and try to mend a few fences, have you got his phone number handy?" I rang Wilkins and made an appointment to meet Jane and I that afternoon.

Wilkins was a heavy set, no nonsense sort of a man; Jane made the introductions and I brought him up to date with the situation at the workshop. "I can just about guarantee a return to production within two weeks Joe. The men need employment and apart from the mine, there's not much else around if what I'm told is right."

"OK, you're right about other employment opportunities, the mine won't take any of them, so what's the next move?"

"Once they have been on the grass for a week, I'll terminate their employment for abandoning their jobs; they will be offered their jobs back but under different terms, I think most of them don't have any option but to accept." We talked for a while, Joe was concerned about the quality of work he'd been receiving of late.

"To be quite honest with you Tony, I've been looking further afield, I prefer to keep the work in our own back yard but I've also got a mine to run."

"That's a fair comment Joe, but like I said, give me two weeks and I think we will be on top of the problem."

On the way back to the factory, Jane voiced her concerns, "If we can't get the men back to work Tony, I'm sure Wilkins will be looking elsewhere, if that happens we will definitely be out of business."

"Jane, have a little faith, how long do you think these guys are going to last with no money coming in, most of them have young families and no doubt debts to pay. Support for Stark will soon turn sour, believe me, family will always come first."

All of the apprentices bar one fronted for work the day after they received their warning letters. Some of them were a bit pissed off about having to leave their comrades outside they gate. I asked about the one absent lad. it appeared he thought that coming back to work made him a strike breaker. Giving that comment a bit of thought, I asked one of the lads to ask the kid to come and talk with me, if he still felt the same way then nothing lost.

Gerry Parker, the absent lad had the sense to come in and talk with me. I made us a cup of coffee and we sat down to talk. "Gerry, I've no argument about your loyalty to your workmates, what concerns me is your future, when the dust settles and the men return to work, you will be out of a job. As my letter explained, you are in breach of your apprenticeship contract, it's doubtful that there's anyone around here that would employ you, so to put it bluntly mate your loyalty will cost you dearly.

What I suggest you do, is to go back to the time before Mr Hartley had his stroke and consider all the events that lead up to the mess we have today, then ask yourself do you honestly think that those guys out there are in the right. Will you do that for me?" He thought for a while and then looking me in the eye.

"I think most of the guys out there realise Starkey was wrong to hit you but they have to support him. I have to, as you say, think about my future, I know that you're right but it still goes against the grain to come back while they are still out there. OK, I'll come back."

"Good lad, now just to put your mind at ease, none of you will be working on jobs that you weren't working on before, you OK with that Gerry?"

"OK Boss, I'm alright with that."

I called all of the apprentices into the crib room for a talk.

"OK lads, let's talk about Gerry's concern that you are being used as strike breakers. First and foremost is the fact that it's illegal for an apprentice to go out on strike. I know you feel you should be supporting your workmates and I don't have any problem with that. While the men are out the gate, you will not be doing anything that they would normally be doing, in fact, the first thing I want all of you to do is tidy up the workshop, it's a bloody disgrace. Tom will direct you, when there is some semblance of order, we'll service all of the machines, that's something that seems to have been neglected. OK, any questions? ... Right, let's at it then."

The boys did a great job of getting everything ship shape; I hade two of them building a portable barbecue, come Friday at three o'clock I called for knock off and we lit it up and had a cook up. I had supplied the snags and the bits and pieces and also an esky full of Coke. I think that concession went a long way to accepting me.

The men had been out the gate for a week, there had been no contact with demands for Starks reinstatement so I put phase two of the plan into motion.

Employee:

Number:

You are hereby advise that your employment has been terminated. Under the Metal Trades Award, any absence of seven consecutive days without prior approval by management will be deemed as abandonment of employment. Enclosed is a cheque for all outstanding monies due to you and a taxation statement to that fact.

 
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