Memories of working at Halele Carol

Unknown artist

We - Mona and Nicu - both worked at the Halele Carol factory, a heavy industrial site in Bucharest. We worked there through the 1970s and 1980s until 1993. At Halele Carol, heavy machinery, weight lifters, concrete mixers, hydraulic appliances and armoured doors for nuclear power plants, engines and key pieces for agricultural machinery or the naval industry were produced over the years. These were for local use and also being exported abroad. The machines used to make hydraulic equipment were ordered before 1989 and made in Germany after a project created by the factory. Mona's memories: I was hired at Steaua Roșie (one of the buildings belonging to Halele Carol) in 1973 as technical drafter where I was working on drawing projects of industrial design. I was still a student back then, I had graduated after 3 years and became a sketcher of machines and industrial equipment. Everything was done according to the standards and the information retrieved in professional publications. When the drawing project was done, it had to be approved by my superiors then it went into the production line, where a prototype was made. This was checked and validated by a commission of specialists from other factories when improvements and adjustments were needed. Later this was sent to mass production where highly skilled employees would finalise the production. In case there were bad pieces, these were taken out of the paycheck of the person that was working on manufacturing them. On a typical day at Halele Carol, from Monday to Saturday, the work at the factory was done in three shifts. When needed, we also worked Sundays to make sure the orders are delivered on time. In the morning, when we came to work, we had to sign the mandatory attendance register. After entering the factory you needed to put on protection clothing, that had different colours per department in order to be able to see where the staff was (in the factory either for work purposes or otherwise). The shift change was done with exact instructions written down in detailed reports. The staff working at the factory was selected based on their professional specialisation and training. The work environment was pleasant, everybody helped and respected each other. The Romanian Communist Party committee oversaw all the activity and the good functioning of each department. They would ask the staff to attend propaganda events or to 'volunteer' in a mandatory manner for different activities, regardless of the weather or health conditions. For example, we went to harvest the wheat in the collective farms in the countryside, to sort vegetables, to remove the snow from the streets in the city or to swipe clean the boulevard. Most 'volunteer' work was done during the religious holidays, so as to not allow people to go to church or during important holidays such as 1st of May or 23rd of August, an important communist holiday with activities thoroughly prepared beforehand in "honour" of Nicolae Ceausescu, the "beloved ruler". On the other hand, the best work was recognised by mentioning it in the newsboard at the entrance, or by getting a bonus. Staff members that had children would be automatically enrolled in the factory’s kindergarten. Nicu's memories: I started working at the factory in 1980 as a lathe operator while I was also attending university (Faculty of Technological Equipment) to become an engineer. After graduation, I was promoted and was in charge of following the production process for various machines, coordination of employees and to collaborate with other departments. Here I met Mona, during a student visit and shortly after that we got married. We worked there until 1993 when we had to leave the factory to find a better job as the work there was starting to fall apart. The work at the factory started to collapse after 1989. The equipment imported that were used to perform the work were sold cheaply to other parties and were not being used anymore as factories and industries such as Halele Carol started to be decommissioned or to change their work activities. After the 1989 revolution, the factory has changed its name to Hesper S.A., and the spaces started to be rented out to various companies, not directly related to the original profile of the factory. Currently at the main factory, there are few workers left that still produce a limited range of pumps, other spaces there are used by other companies to produce plastic or carton packaging.