Smoking Gun (Adam Cartwright Trilogy Book 1) (5 page)

It was clear to me that their proposal would take more time, cost more and unnecessarily interrupt production. I held my ground and a number of changes were agreed to, albeit with what I thought was rather bad grace. But their attitude was of little concern to me. I saw a real chance of completing the project significantly under budget and well within the targeted completion date and I was not going to agree with them just because they got the sulks.

That evening, after our meal in the dining room, I shared a couple of beers with the design team members at the semi-outdoor workers bar. Having had a couple of hours to get used to their plans being rejected they seemed more accepting of the new reality. The clincher came when I explained that the changes were not about personal point scoring. We now had a better chance to succeed with the expansion project and that all of us would share the credit. It was not in our best interests for us to be divided. We had to be a united team.

The next morning I checked out the accommodation facilities available for the construction workers and, by arrangement with the site manager, I spoke to a gathering of the senior management staff. Accompanied by the design team members I outlined the proposed work and fielded a number of questions. I was encouraged that the queries were constructive and not negative.

During the return flight to Townsville that afternoon I silently reviewed the site visit. I had completed what I had set out to do and was comfortable that we would obtain good co-operation from the mine staff.

I was relaxed and pleased with myself. The expansion project would be challenging and interesting. I was looking forward to commencing the site work.

***

Two weeks later I was back at the Mount Godwin mine site together with around fifty construction workers and a squad of foremen. A portable concrete batching plant and two concrete mixer trucks had also arrived. Stockpiles of sand and aggregate had been either trucked in or crushed on site. Reinforcing steel for the foundations had been delivered together with stocks of cement. The project went well from day one, the only hiccup being related to welders and the Construction Workers Union.

Part of my strategy to expedite the project was to strengthen some existing steel columns and beams in the Mill in-situ rather than replace them as had been provided for in the original plans. Not only did this significantly reduce costs and save time but it also avoided any interruption to production. It was a win-win-win situation.

Unfortunately the first team of welders employed on the job were not sufficiently skilled. John Hall, the subcontractor who employed them had perpetrated a fraud. He had provided assurances that all his tradesmen had current welder test certification but it soon became clear that that was not the case. I had been making a casual inspection of the project when I noticed some truly atrocious welding work being done. I had no option but to instruct the welder to stop work immediately and asked him to go and fetch his employer, the welding subcontractor, John Hall.

A few minutes later I was confronted by John Hall and his team of welders. They were incensed. Hall declared that he was a representative of the Construction Workers Union and threatened to go on strike if I continued to question the ability of his employees. It was clear that he was attempting to intimidate me by escalating the situation and I saw it for what it was. A bluff. Clearly there were no grounds for such action. So I ignored his threat and told him that none of his men were to return to work until I had seen and approved welding certification test results for each of them. This provoked Hall who shouted an obscenity and lunged at me with his fist. I was not concerned that he might injure me. Even though he was a big, strong man in his fifties, he was overweight and not well co-ordinated. Also I sensed that he was pretending to be out of control and more enraged than he actually was. He was probably still trying to bluff me.

Even so I was not going to risk him landing a blow. If that happened then police would have to be involved. Then, especially if he really was a Union official, the industrial peace on the site could be disrupted. Even though I suspected that he was still grandstanding, and intended to stop the punch before he hit me, I reached out and grasped his wrist. Then, pulling him off balance towards me, I spun him around, twisting his arm behind his back. Hall was taken by surprise and squawked unbecomingly. Talking quietly into his ear I told him that his contract was cancelled. That he and his men were no longer permitted to remain on site.

Giving his arm a final tweak I released him and pushed him stumbling towards his men. Nursing the arm that I had twisted with his other hand he turned back to face me. For a moment I thought that he was going to attack me for real when he stopped in his tracks, staring at something behind me. Turning around I saw a line of about twenty construction workers about fifteen metres behind me, facing the welders. One of them, a foreman named Tony Payne, was wagging an index finger at John Hall and shaking his head. The message was clear. Don’t take it any further. Scowling blackly Hall cursed me, threatened to deal with me later and walked away with his men.

That evening I was just finishing my evening meal when John Hall and four of his team of would-be welders burst into the dining room. They had clearly been drinking and were the worse for wear. Seeing me sitting alone at a table in the corner Hall gave a shout and lurched towards me with his companions in tow. But, before I had time to decide on a course of action, a large group of construction workers hustled into the dining room behind the welders and seized them. The welders were greatly outnumbered and, drunk as they were, decided that resistance was futile. Without a word to me the construction workers, most of whom I knew by name, hustled the welders roughly out of the dining room.

I had been fairly late for my dinner and the dining room was almost empty. Those that were there had taken little notice of sudden arrival and departure of the welders. Since there appeared to be little point in me attempting to get involved I remained seated, eating the remainder of my meal. A few minutes later Tony Payne, who had been with the group of construction workers, returned and walked across to stand by my table. “Excuse me Boss, is it okay if I sit down and talk to you for a minute.”

I gestured to a chair across the table from me. “Sure. Take a seat. By the way, thanks for defusing that situation.”

“You’re welcome. Well, I guess that you are wondering what was going on.” Seeing me nodding he continued. “For the past two hours John Hall and his rabble have been drinking in the bar and whining about your treatment of him. Finally they declared that they would come over here and give you some of the same treatment. We heard you tell them that they were all sacked and no longer permitted on the site. So we decided, in the interest of industrial harmony, that we should remove them from the site. They won’t return in a hurry.”

I didn’t enquire whether John Hall and his men went willingly but instead asked, “John Hall said that he was a Union official. Is that true?”

Tony Payne shrugged. “Who knows for sure. Hall and his guys are all members of the Comancheros bikie gang. As you know a Royal Commission into Union corruption and the Governance of the Construction Workers Union recently decided that the Comancheros had gone from being Union enforcers to having senior management positions in the Union.”

“Will there be any fallout for you and your friends for taking sides like this.”

Payne snorted derisively. “Heck no. We are not Union members. We are pleased to have them off the site. They are a pack of lazy, thieving troublemakers. Anyway, we want to earn the early completion bonus that you have offered. It’s a fair deal all round and we appreciate it.”

I smiled and said, “Well, thanks again for your intervention.”

Payne stood up and extended his hand. “It’s the least that we could do.” As soon as we shook hands he exited the dining room.

After he left I sat reflecting on the day’s events. It had taken some arguing with senior management at Gibson Construction before I had been given approval to offer the early completion bonus to the construction workers. Basically I had worked out a formula that would ensure that the construction workers would receive the same amount of wages that they would have received if we had completed the project by the target date even if they finished early. I had thought that it was only fair as Gibson Construction would also receive an early completion bonus that exceeded the bonus paid to the construction workers.

***

There were no further problems during the project. From everyone’s point of view it was a huge success. The project was completed a month early and well under budget. Plus we did not interrupt production at any time. The construction workers had happily shared early completion bonuses of around $500,000. But Gibson Construction did not begrudge making those payments as they had picked up an early completion fee of just over $1 million. A fee that they would not have earned without the whole-hearted support of the construction workers.

There had been little, if any, of the traditional friction between the visiting construction workers and permanent mine staff. The level of co-operation between all parties had made it possible to plan work so as to avoid disrupting operations. Last, but not least, the mine owners were pleased with the early completion of the project and lack of interruption to production. There was satisfaction and goodwill all round.

On our last night on site the construction workers threw a party and mock-honoured me with a humorous presentation. They had fabricated two human-like figures, about a foot high, using five mm steel rod and a couple of nuts and bolts. One was painted white and the other black. The white painted figure appeared to be holding an arm that had been detached from the other. The figures were attached to a base that had an engraved plaque that was entitled. ‘Cartwright Weld Certification Test’ below the title were the words; “See, I told you that your welding was no bloody good!” It was obviously referring to my confrontation with John Hall and had triggered great hilarity when it was presented to me.

On the morning of my departure I walked around the plant and mine site for an hour just before I boarded the plane for Townsville. I took dozens of photographs to go with those that I had taken the evening before. Mostly I was ensuring that I had a complete record of the work that we had carried out. But I also included photos of all the mine site buildings and surroundings as I wanted a record of my time at the Mount Godwin mine.

***

Sitting on the plane during the flight to Townsville I settled back in my seat and reflected on the success of the project. I had been lucky to have been given such an interesting assignment and even luckier to have been able to make the most of it.

My stars seemed to be in alignment. Gibson Construction led a consortium that had just been awarded a contract to develop the Red Rock Mine. From out of the blue I had been offered the position as Construction Manager for the Red Rock Project. Needless to say I had accepted immediately.

The Red Rock site was located about two hours drive west of Cairns. It was a grass-roots turn-key project meaning that I would walk onto a bare site and be responsible until the project was handed over as an operating mine. The division of responsibilities between me and the Project Manager had not been clearly spelt out and there was some friction as I did not accept his assumption of seniority. As far as I was concerned I would be responsible for all construction site decisions and he would handle all the offsite matters.

I had a month off before I was to report to the office of the consulting engineer in Brisbane where I would be based for a month or so getting familiar with the design of the processing plant and mine facilities. After that I would return to Townsville to collect ‘Irish Mist’ from the marina where I had been living when not staying at the Mount Godwin Mine. Later I would sail ‘Irish Mist’ up to Cairns and live on board berthed in a marina there also. I was living my boyhood dream; building things and living on a yacht. Life just couldn’t get better than this.

The twelve seater plane was the last of a series of charter flights engaged to transport the construction workers back to Townsville. Friendly banter and talk about how the passengers would spend their upcoming leave filtered gently into my consciousness without disturbing my reverie.

But all good things have to come to an end eventually. The buzz of conversation died the moment that the plane came to a halt on the ground near the air terminal. We instantly saw that we had a reception committee. We were confronted by a dozen armed police clad in bullet proof vests. All were holding pistols in their hands. Their weapons were pointed towards the ground and not directly threatening us but all of the passengers got the message. We silently exited the plane as instructed and formed a line facing the police with our hands on our heads. More puzzled than annoyed I wondered what might have happened. One of the passengers asked what was going on but the police officer in charge, who had identified himself as Detective Inspector Hargreaves, refused to acknowledge his question. Instead he told us that our bags were going to be unloaded and searched, and advised us to submit willingly to a search of our person and back packs etc. If anyone objected and insisted on seeing a search warrant they would be detained and searched later when a search warrant had been obtained.

Before the searches commenced we were led into a nearby hangar out of the direct sun. It was an hour before the searches had been completed. By then the police were quite relaxed. Clearly they had not found what they had been looking for. One by one, as we had been searched we were told to sit in a line of chairs along the wall of the hangar but no explanations had been provided.