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-g PAGE 12, WEDNESDAY, JULY 23. 1980. WHJTBY FREE PRESS Our hiostorc'i0hib man remembers early G.M. r L - - - w neritage By EUGENE HENRY, Whitby's foremost historian Charlie Bottomley is a G.M. pensioner who lives happily witb bis wife, Clara in the old Camerson homestead at 1601 Brock Street South, in tbe Port Whitby section 0f town. The fine old house is just a stone's throw fromn where Clara's father farmed his land nortb 0f Whitby Har- bor, more than 70 years ago. The Camersons were early settiers in these parts, coming bere as United Em- pire Loyalists, from the Mohawk Valley in~ 1839. They took up their land where Iroquois Park and the Whitby Psychiatrie Hospital are now located. I make mention of these historical facts as background for this Bot- temley story because Clara has played an important role in Charlie's life since their marriage in 1941 and they share a fondxiess for not only the Camneron land but the memories of raising their two children around Whitby Harbor in the past. Charlie Bottomely has lived a full and active life, 36 years with General Motors, in a wide variety of jobs as well as spending over four years in the Royal Canadian SBounce into u nt r >À summer with plenty of time on your hands and flair in your oeTk hair! See us right now for a special APe styling session that wiII give you an easy summertime! Make an appoint-TH ment today! LA CONTESSA 1LF BEAUTY LOUNGE 17Smo LS Ir,4.1- I'-'P* u Every man on the per- manent work force got over- time for a while, new hands would be- hired for short term work, and the annuil feast and famine ritual was underway. In-those eary days G.M. workers could look forward to, not much more than six montbs work and take :iome pay of $3,500 to $4,000 per annurn. It was against these production and work i IF 4SPECIA L 1 ALL TV ~ 0 SERVICE5 CALL WITH f LTHISAD ONLY 1 FALCON TV 426 Simcoe St. S. 723-001.1 ARE um0/ BAKING? SAVINOS We are tiere for your complete baking needs. Corne in and see our assortment of Baking Supplies Raisins, dates,glazed fruit, baking nuts, dried fruit,, spices, teas, cand les. R iverside cheese. NA TURA L FOODS NO WV A VAILABLE HEALTH FOOD MIXES Tropical Mix Swoet & Salty mix Delux Mlx Tahitian gold mlx Sesame crunch clearcello mix Honey coated peanuts Calîfornla mlx CARMEN DISCOUNT BAKING PRODUCTS 320 Marwood Ave., Unit 3, Oshawa 579-2948 HOURS: MON. - SAT. 10Oa.m. - 5 p.m. 1.99 lb 1.99 lb 1.99 lb 1.99 lb 1.99 lb 1.99 lb 1.99 lb Take Wilson Rd. South oïl Wentworth fo Ma rwood Were in the leibiUsrïal Mai, important strike of 1937 had the desired effect. The U.A.W. became a per- manent part into G.M. operations in Canada along with its American affiliate, even thougb the provincial government and the work contract suggested lits not tiiere." In this particular connec- ion Charlie Bottomley and his friends would argue thr t the U.A.W. did nothing more than General Motors did it- Navy witb the North Atlan- tic Command. Charlie bas been a U.A.W. man ever since Milard, the organizer, signed hlm Up. near the four corners of Oshawa in the spring 0f 1937. His dues were 50 cents a month then. Today he is a retired charter member of U.A.W. Local 22. Big and handsome at 68, he looks 10Oyears younger. Ris career at G.M.C. began in 1930 soon after he graduated witb a certificate in mechanical drafting, from the Osbawa Collegiate and Vocational Institute. Ris first job was in the G.M. office, but he soon moved in- to the plant where the take home pay was bettes. He found his future there. It was good. Charlie started at "the Motores" before there was a south plant and before ah 0of the G.M. production lines were completed. In those early days he worked witb a closely knit production team, a group of 12-14 men around a work station, the vehicles were pusbed to the job site and then moved on, when their work was finisbed. Tbeir pay for this primitive assembly work, ran from 35 cents to $1.00 per hour depending. upon the group's productivity. In those pre-union days, G.M. production managers tried to get the maximum production from the work force of 5000 early in the model year. The domestie market for cars was relativel½/y small and competition was inten- se. G.M. sales -managers tried therefore, to provide their dealers with as many cars as possible, soon after new models were introduced in the faîl of each year. CHARLES realities that 1_ A. W. organizers like Millara star- ted tosign up G.M. workers early in 1937. Th.*y insisti. 1 that the company stretch out production over a longer period of the year, that G M. pay higher wages to iLs work force and that fringe benefts like pension schernes be developed.' Notwithstanding the inter- vention of Premier Mitchell, Hepburn and the evasive wording of the contract agreement, the historically ILEY DIAL- N-INSPIRATION~, Diol 668-1331 and hear a three minute inspirational message by Pastor Emmo Oltmanns of the Emmanuelchurch at 401 Rossland- RoadW. in Whitby. self, who worked closely and co-operatively with its parent, in Detroit and Flint, Michigan. l3ottomley points out that it takes plant facilities, management, money and labor to make automobiles and that the U.A.W. merely organized tbe labor element 0f the mix. It would be quite wrong to assume tbat Obarlie Bot- tomely became antagonistic to management as the U.A.W. move aggressively into a oosition of power in Oshawa - not so. Charlie is one of those. eary G.M. employees wbo remembers well when Col. Sain McLaughin, stili walked through the Division Street plant, calling many of the men by their first naines, pressing the flesh and really liking it, making suggestions and taking some. Charlie cautions the cynic, not to forget, tbat "Sam McLaugblin was a mechanie before be was a millionaire. " Charlie is certainly no radical and be has probably bad few anti - G.M. thoughts in his long career with the Oshawa car maker. His tour of duty in the canadian automotive industry is over and I doubt tbat there was a day of class struggle in it, from beginning to end. Charlie Bottomely and Clara are now living and en- joying, the good life arou 1 Whitby Harbor. He ket ps busy tending St. J,.î:ns Cementry grounds and works occasionally ft -the L.C.B.0. They art par- ticularly proud of their two children, John, wbo aLLen- ded both York and Watierloo Universities and May who went to Trent in Peter- borough. The Bottemleys- ave beexi respected mem» ers of St. John's Anglican Church in Port Whitby for .any years. The Kingsti - .,imestone walls of the lit tIec hurch can be clearly se( across the field from ti _ Cameron Homestead. t ., part of their life. Few people in the ('-hawa/Whitby area, can look forward to retirement in security like the BoL- tomleys. 1 %M -