It is no small feat to reach 50 years with the same employer. It is even more remarkable when your brothers are right there beside you.
That is life for Mark, Jeff and Neil South, who have collectively amassed 140 years of service at what is now Alliance Group Nelson.
Neil, better known to most as ‘Skippy’, will retire on 4 September after 50 years, with Mark, ‘Southy’, planning to follow in March, also after 50 years.
Skippy, 66, was the first to join what was Nelson Freezing Company in 1977, a place where at the time you only got a job by invitation.
And what drew him to work, at the age of 16?
“All I know is about that is my mother woke me up in the morning and said ‘get up and have breakfast, you're going to work’, and that was the end of it. I went to work, and I've been here ever since.”
The trio's father and uncle also worked at the freezing works, helping pave the way for careers that would span a lifetime.
Skippy started as the floorman, cleaning up “all the muck” around workers’ feet.
Mark, 67, was next to put his name down to work at the plant after seeing his brother’s pay packet.
“I said to Dad, ‘hey, we gotta do something about this’. So, he said, ‘I'll get your name down’. But he had to wait his turn on the growing list.
In the meantime, he worked on his uncle’s farm and for Humes Pipes.
His first role was on the hooks, collecting hooks and gambrels as the animals were butchered.
Brightwater resident Jeff, 65, took slightly longer to join his brothers, he was happy working on the family farm in Golden Bay, before doing a few years of mining exploration in Bainham. But with the exploration wrapping up, he found himself considering heading to Australia to continue, before his name was also added to the list.
He still recalls not doing very well in his interview for the job, but before he even got to the Tākaka Hill headed home, he had the call that the job was his.
Skippy reckons technology has been the biggest change over his five decades at the plant, while Mark says it’s time that’s changed.
“You’d never see someone sitting here at the smoko table playing cards like we used to, everyone is on their phones, there’s hardly a conversation,” Mark says.
He also recalls regular trips to the Railway Hotel or Star and Garter for a beer after work, another tradition that has largely disappeared
And what’s Skippy’s highlight over his 50-year career?
“When they used to have the intersports tournaments,” he says, refencing the biennial New Zealand Meatworkers Intersport Tournament which would see them travel all over the country to compete in different sports.
“That used to be a lot of damn fun.”
Plant manager Stephen Baird says that he has known the Souths for 30 years,
“For three brothers to have contributed 140 years combined service to the one employer, one workplace, and a variety of jobs within that, I think that shows loyalty, commitment, dedication… and I think that's a real credit.
“I haven't seen in my working career no three brothers that have done such a long time. So, I congratulate and salute the three of them.”
Skippy reckons he will fill in his spare time easy enough and is looking forward to being able to do things at a slower pace, with plenty to do around his Richmond home.
“Just enjoy what’s left of life.”
Mark says that he too will stay busy at home in Richmond when he retires in January, after hitting his 50 years’ service in December.
“The wife’s still working, she loves her job, so don’t worry, she will have a list for me to do,” he quips.
