Job 8

September 1974 - June 1975

Sheet Metal Worker - S&S Sheet Metal

Once again, my father came to the rescue by negotiating my return to the sheet metal business. Again, I was involved in going to the job sites and either installing kitchen and bathroom exhaust systems on my own or helping the journeymen install ductwork and garbage chute.

The boss put me on piecework for a few jobs. It's amazing how motivated you can become when your pay is directly linked to your performance of the job. Once I was on piecework I started to actually think about what I was doing. I became extremely organized and efficient. I started making good money.

I even started hiring friends of mine to lay out the materials and help with the installations. I started making more money than the licensed journeymen working there. Looking back now, I suspect some of those journeymen became jealous of how much I was earning... at one job over $28 per hour... (I think the non-union journeymen at the time were making about $8.)

Then came the Olympia... 150 Charlton Avenue East. The boss, for some reason unknown to me, refused to allow me to do the job on a piecework basis. I was put back onto the $4 per hour regime and promptly lost all interest in doing the work quickly and efficiently.

I was so bored on that job the desire to sleep tormented me constantly. I even stole the odd catnap on a pile of drywall.

My piecework assignments started to dry up after that.

One Thursday night I stayed up late drinking with a friend. Around about 4 am, the two of us decided to take a long weekend and spend it in Pinery Provincial Park.

The only problem was, I had two Bosch hammers in my car and I knew the crew working at Bay 200 would need them the next day. So, the next morning I showed up at the job site with the hammers. My car also happened to be loaded with all of the necessities of camping... tent, sleeping bags, cooler, beer.

The crew laughed when I dropped off the hammers telling them I had to take the day off because of my ingrown toenails.

When I showed up for work the following Monday the boss gave me my final cheque and walking papers. Someone from the jobsite crew had told him about the camping gear.

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last modified:Monday,June 9, 2008 at 04:21