Pane Naskovski , Andon Naskovski, and Dragi Naskovski from LIBERTY Skopje

Legacy, safekeeping and commitment. These are not light concepts, rather they invoke a sense of responsibility, an understanding that we should invest in things that last, and a realisation that we are all custodians for future generations.

This understanding is shared by many of our people, who turn up every day to continue the tradition that generations of their family have built, who are committed to protecting the safety of the people they work with, making a meaningful contribution to our businesses and delivering quality products and services to internal and external customers.

Take for example Shane and Emily Wilton, who both work at our SIMEC Mining Tahmoor coking coal mine in Australia.

Shane, who is Emily’s father, has been in the coal mining business since he started his career and comes from a long line of coal miners. Shane’s great-grandfather became the first employee of the Muswellbrook Coal Company in 1901.

His daughter, Emily, has followed in his footsteps, joining the coal-industry and working at Tahmoor as an Electrical Apprentice this year.

Shane and Emily Wilton at the Tahmoor Coking Coal mine

The weight of what this means is not lost on Emily, who says she feels “incredibly proud to continue the family legacy as a fifth-generation miner”.

Shane is delighted Emily has joined but isn’t going to give her any breaks when she progresses in her role.

“Hopefully when Emily gets underground I’ll be able to boss her around – there’ll be no favours from me” Shane says. He also adds “there’s nothing better than to walk in to work together, it makes me very proud”.

For Pane, Dragi and Andon Naskovski, who work at our LIBERTY Skopje cold rolling mill in the centre of the Balkan peninsula, working together, sharing, and handing down professional knowledge and passion has helped connect them on the job and bring the family closer together.

Pane and Dragi are twins who know the benefits of prioritising family connection.

“We have been together our whole lives, and as twins have shared school lunches and benches, so starting our career in the same company only came naturally” says Pane, who was the first one to start working in the mill in ’84 as an electrician, shortly followed by his brother Dragi the following year.

The interest in the technical field came from their father, who also worked in the plant, so spending quality time together also meant finding solutions to challenging tasks, learning new skills and trying to contribute to their own respective unit.

This passion has been passed down to Andon, Dragi’s son, who explains he was exposed to the industry at a young age

“Even at gatherings, birthdays or celebrations, when we have the whole family together, stories about the mill tend to incorporate our conversations as if a regular life topic. It is one more string that binds our family together” says Andon, who works in the plant in mechanical engineering.

Radomír Vydržel is also carrying the family tradition at our LIBERTY Ostrava steelworks, with his grandfather, wife, father, mother and uncle all having worked there too.

After World War Two, his grandfather had a role helping to build the mill.

He says his family history certainly influenced his profession, and he would love for his son to take up a role with LIBERTY when he is ready.

“Apart from the family tradition, I would absolutely recommend that my son takes up a job with us. A big company like ours offers stability and reliability, and thanks to its strength and scale, it can respond flexibly even in difficult situations,” Radomír says.

It’s in examples like these where we see our values of family and sustainability shine, and we can see the importance of our role in contributing to something bigger than ourselves.

Do you have a GFG Family story to tell? We’d love to hear it – include some comments below and we’ll follow up with you.