97
work in Wittenoom one day as he walked by the ABA Limited Office in Perth, which
advertised its employment opportunities. Those weary of timber cutting on the “Woodlines”
out of Kalgoorlie
or in Wundowie, Merredin and the southwest often decided to try
Wittenoom.
7
Young single men working as farm labourers tired of the life: up at sunrise —
planting and harvesting crops, milking cows, and mending fences kangaroos had damaged
— and in bed at dusk, with little hope of getting ahead on their meagre wages. One
participant spoke of his days felling timber in Merredin. He was separated from his family for
many days on end. Timber felling provided him with a good income,
but it was no life for a
man with a family.
The news of well-paid work and the availability of family housing if a man wanted to
bring his wife and children made Wittenoom appealing to those unable to find work and/or
seeking to reunite their family. The other enticement was Australian Blue Asbestos Limited’s
offer to advance the air fare, which workers were required to repay in weekly instalments.
The company refunded it after workers had fulfilled their six month contract. The refund,
however, did not apply to the air fare of a family member or of those workers who had been
employed on a two year contract. Several participants reported being told
the work was dirty
and dangerous by others who had already been there. No one said the work could kill them,
because the men who had told them about Wittenoom did not know. The plan of those who
had decided to tolerate the conditions was to work hard and save enough money to resettle
in Western Australia or return to Italy. The bone of contention of the early recruits was that
the company’s description of the conditions did not tally with what they found.
The early recruits complained that the working and living conditions did not match
mine manager Paul Reagan’s description, given during his visits to northern
Italian towns in
early 1951. The contract the men signed contained references to the work and living
conditions.
8
In light of the Lombard miners from the Seriana Valley and the Vermiglio recruits’
version of what they had been told (outlined below) Reagan, most probably, skimmed over
7
See Bunbury, Op Cit for a discussion of life on the Woodlines.
8
National Archives of Australia, Perth: Department of Labour and National Service, Western Australia,
File no. 65/1163: Industrial Conditions Australian Blue Asbestos Pty. Ltd. Wittenoom contains a copy
of this Conditions of Employment document.
98
the terms of the contract and concentrated on the potential earnings. By signing the
“CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT” the recruits acknowledged that “This statement has
been read to me (or translated to me in my language) and I am prepared to accept
employment under these conditions”.
The working conditions were described as “in a confined space, in work areas
averaging 42 inches [106 centimetres]”. This is at odds with one Mines Inspector’s report, in
October 1950, which stated the stope height was 31 inches [79 centimetres].
9
A miner needed to have an elementary level of English. Those
without English were to be
employed in the mill. In July 1951, as required under the Mines Regulation Act, 13 Italian
miners were dismissed for failure to pass the language test.
10
Such dismissals, however,
cannot have been rigidly enforced. Of the group of nine contract workers who arrived in April
from Vermiglio in the Trentino Alto Adige, only Attilio
Slanzi spoke English, having learned it
as an English prisoner of war.
11
Yet the nine had to work in the mine despite their lack of
English and mining experience.
12
The other Italian workers, with their limited education,
would have been in a similar position.
13
The conditions of employment also made reference
to summer temperatures — on average over 100 degrees Fahrenheit [37º Celsius]. There
was no mention that Wittenoom was in a cyclone-prone area.
14
Only the most determined would abide the conditions they found on their arrival.
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