Diamonds And Dust: 7 - Settling In: The Early Days
...What was great about the building was that there was a platform right at the very top which one could get onto and relax. I would often go up and sit there for a while looking out over the desert and surroundings, relaxing in the sun. The views were superb, with a great perspective of the desert to the north, south and east, with the sea to the west, only 500 meters away...
Malcolm Bertoni starts work in a processing plant at a diamond mine.
To read earlier chapters of Malcolm's vivid autobiography please click on Diamonds And Dust in the menu on this page.
I started work at No 4 Plant as a process plant operator working on the heavy media separation section. I soon settled into a routine.
There was a small minibus that we took to the plant, which was only about a 15 minutes drive northwards. I was on dayshift for the first two weeks, getting training and generally learning the ropes about how process plants operated. Most of the other guys were in their early 20s and seemed reasonable blokes.
The plant was a big and noisy five or six storey building which shook and trembled from the vibration of the machinery within. There was a lift but it was so slow that it was easier to take the stairs. Within a month I was fit enough to run at top speed up the stairs from the ground floor to the 5th floor.
What was great about the building was that there was a platform right at the very top which one could get onto and relax. I would often go up and sit there for a while looking out over the desert and surroundings, relaxing in the sun. The views were superb, with a great perspective of the desert to the north, south and east, with the sea to the west, only 500 meters away. I never saw anyone else go up onto the platform and I wondered if they ever bothered. But for me it was my little bit of seclusion where I could escape to.
The No 4 plant superintendent, John M_, took an instant disliking to me. Why do I always get the ones with a huge chip on their shoulder? Was it my face?
When we were introduced to one another, he sarcastically said:
“Another one who can’t make it in the city. I wonder how long you will last.”
He also said something else that I didn’t catch. I didn’t take the bait and kept quiet. But I knew that he was trouble.
After that whenever he did his plant inspections he always found something wrong. A conveyor was running off. There was ore spilled at the loading bin. The plant was dirty; get it cleaned, and so on. He also had a habit of coming to the plant during lunch time and then we had to leave our lunch and do whatever he requested. We had hot meals delivered to us at lunch time and dinner time, but by the time we had finished whatever he wanted done, our food was a cold and congealed mess.
I was getting fed up with his behaviour and after about three months, when he came around one day while I was on day shift and we were having lunch, I told him where to go as it was lunch time and could he please p--- off and let us finish it in peace without his bulls---. I said this in front of the foreman, who looked incredulously at me as if he couldn’t believe his ears.
John M_ got red in the face and started shouting at me, whereupon I walked away. This just made him angrier, while I felt quite calm.
The next day he called me into his office and gave me a written warning – one of many I received on the mine. I tore it up and threw the pieces of paper on his deck.
“Why the hell are you such a rebel?”
I just looked at him.
“So I’m a rebel because I won’t take your s---?”
I really didn’t understand him, or what his problem was. He seemed to have a similar attitude to many of the plant superintendents and foremen at the mine. They loved giving the operators a hard time and were basically bullies. I had a few run-ins with some of them and decided that I would not take their crap.
I was never afraid of saying my piece. Even at school I was always known as a troublemaker. Being brought up by my mother, who was a determined person with strong views, meant I would not bow down to anyone, no matter who they were. I refused to keep quiet and always spoke my mind.
This was a trait that got me into my share of trouble even as an adult and resulted in me getting asked politely to leave three jobs – one in South Africa and two in Australia. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. I was taught that we were all equal and as long as we had good manners, had respect for others and treated everyone fairly, then the rest would look after itself.
I could see that I was going to get into too much trouble at No 4 plant. I was not alone in my judgment of John M_. One or two operators had already requested transfer to other areas. So when an opportunity came near the end of 1967 to get a transfer to 66M process plant, I grabbed it.
