"I started my employment on a Friday when I was 20," Mr Mason (60) said.
"I was interviewed on a Thursday and was asked, ‘When can you start?’ so I said, ‘I’ll be here in the morning’."
Initially, he was "one of the guys on the floor" but 18 months later, the foreman left and Mr Mason was offered his job.
"I didn’t want to be the new boy who stepped on anyone’s toes, so I told [the CEO] to offer it to someone who’d been here longer but he came back and said no-one else wanted it, so the job was mine."
He recalled being "a bit green in those days", adding that there was no formal training in his new role.
"I was given a pickup docket [for orders to be filled] and a crane and told to get on with it. I was told ‘All the best and we’ll see you at smoko’. Imagine trying to do that now with Health and Safety rules."
Having said that, Mr Mason praised Steel & Tube for its dedication to health and safety.
"If you’re not on board with that, you don’t work for Steel & Tube. Steel is not forgiving."
He coped so well as foreman that about four years later, he was asked to fill in as store manager after the incumbent left.
"So I took on that role as a gap filler and they never came back to me. I’m still here, still waiting on that conversation," he quipped.
"It’s been an enjoyable ride. There’s been lots of fun," he said, adding that he has no thought of retiring. "I’m ready to go on until I’m 70."
And will there be a work "do" for him?
"I’m not one for ticker-tape parades, balloons and streamers but I’m waiting to see if anything happens.
"I wanted them to rename the company Stan & Tube for a day but the CEO declined."
