Joseph Morrison, 1952-1979
In the decade after Sysco took over operations at the steel plant, there were fewer recorded deaths than in any other decade in the plant’s history, although this could also be linked to the declining number of workers employed at the plant. After the Parade of Concern, reinvigorated workers wished to prove that the plant was worth saving. Crawley writes: “the improved position of the Sydney steel industry in the immediate post-1967 period . . . [was] also made possible by a determined work force infused with young expectant workers.” [1] There were, nonetheless, nine fatalities during the course of the decade. The final death at the steel plant in the 1970s was that of 27-year-old Joseph Morrison. Morrison had been employed at the Sysco billet mill. On 15 April 1979, he became entangled in a piece of equipment and was killed. [2]
After the Sysco takeover of the steel plant, a long-term plan was needed to ensure that the plant remained viable. Capital investment was needed, and quickly, in order to modernize some of the outdated equipment and become a competitive steel producer. Unfortunately, soon after the acquisition of the steel plant the provincial government expressed reservations over competing with steel companies in the private sector. [3] Although investment in the Sydney steel plant arrived by 1973, in the form of nearly $96 million in modernization investment, it was overdue. This did not even include the construction of new blast furnaces. [4] While world steel markets were favorable during the early 1970s, Sysco management had neglected to make the necessary degree of repairs to the blast furnace and open hearth. Instead, they had spent modernization funds on a number of other projects, including a lime-burning plant, an oxygen plant, and vacuum-degassing equipment. [5] By the mid-1970s it had become clear that Sysco would be unable to fund its own modernization to any significant extent and had missed an opportunity to profit from favorable world markets. While further subsidies trickled in between 1978 and 1979, the modernization of the basic steel- making equipment remained elusive. [6] As Joan Bishop writes, “The years since 1967 brought growing disillusionment as output and employment declined. Some have interpreted this decline as proof that public ownership cannot succeed. In fact, public ownership was never seriously tried.” [7]
Footnotes
[1] Crawley, “Conflict Within the Union,” 330.
[2] Chronicle-Herald, 16 April 1979.
[3] Joan Bishop, “Sydney Steel: Public Ownership and the Welfare State, 1967 to 1975,” The Island: New Perspectives on Cape Breton history, ed. Kenneth Donovan (Fredericton: Acadiensis Press, 1990).
[4] Steel Research Group, “Report on Sydney Steel,” 45.
[5] Bishop, “Sydney Steel,” 180-181.
[6] Steel Research Group, “Report on Sydney Steel,” 45.
[7] Bishop, “Sydney Steel,” 167.
After the Sysco takeover of the steel plant, a long-term plan was needed to ensure that the plant remained viable. Capital investment was needed, and quickly, in order to modernize some of the outdated equipment and become a competitive steel producer. Unfortunately, soon after the acquisition of the steel plant the provincial government expressed reservations over competing with steel companies in the private sector. [3] Although investment in the Sydney steel plant arrived by 1973, in the form of nearly $96 million in modernization investment, it was overdue. This did not even include the construction of new blast furnaces. [4] While world steel markets were favorable during the early 1970s, Sysco management had neglected to make the necessary degree of repairs to the blast furnace and open hearth. Instead, they had spent modernization funds on a number of other projects, including a lime-burning plant, an oxygen plant, and vacuum-degassing equipment. [5] By the mid-1970s it had become clear that Sysco would be unable to fund its own modernization to any significant extent and had missed an opportunity to profit from favorable world markets. While further subsidies trickled in between 1978 and 1979, the modernization of the basic steel- making equipment remained elusive. [6] As Joan Bishop writes, “The years since 1967 brought growing disillusionment as output and employment declined. Some have interpreted this decline as proof that public ownership cannot succeed. In fact, public ownership was never seriously tried.” [7]
Footnotes
[1] Crawley, “Conflict Within the Union,” 330.
[2] Chronicle-Herald, 16 April 1979.
[3] Joan Bishop, “Sydney Steel: Public Ownership and the Welfare State, 1967 to 1975,” The Island: New Perspectives on Cape Breton history, ed. Kenneth Donovan (Fredericton: Acadiensis Press, 1990).
[4] Steel Research Group, “Report on Sydney Steel,” 45.
[5] Bishop, “Sydney Steel,” 180-181.
[6] Steel Research Group, “Report on Sydney Steel,” 45.
[7] Bishop, “Sydney Steel,” 167.