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UNIroyal CHEM-TEXTS
Vol. 3, 1969 PUBLISHED FOR THE PEOPLE OF UNIROYAL CHEMICAL No. 7
Every Employee Holds Responsible Position
The Naugatuck Chemical complex comprises 142 buildings situated on 90 acres of land stretched out along the Naugatuck river.
Today the Chemical Division at Naugatuck employs 1,800 people. 1,025 work in the plant’s manufacturing operation; and 875 work in Divisional Sales, Research and Development, accounting and other departments.
People Make The Plant
Whatever an employee’s education, background, or position, he holds a position of responsibility in the plant’s diverse operations. People are the plant’s most irreplaceable asset. Without them, the plant’s equipment, machinery and capabilities are useless, and it would take years to replace their years of talent, experience and skill.
Every Job’s Important
To operate the plant efficiently and to provide better job security, an employee’s responsibility in doing his job properly is of extreme importance.
Whether the job is delivering mail; sorting tubes; painting; shipping materials to a customer on time; operating production equipment; packing products; online machinery; purchasing raw materials; paying bills; analyzing quality; researching new products; or selling to customers, the plant would not operate effectively without every employee performing his job in a responsible manner.
Individual’s Importance
Because of the importance of an individual employee’s job, it is easy to imagine the effects on the plant’s operation if he is absent from work for an unidentifiable reason. His absence could slow down or even shut down an entire operation if his duties cannot be handled by another employee.
Assistant Area Shift Foreman Mike Patrick, left and Bill Swick, right check plans for 4 to 12 P.M. shift with Clarence Parke, center. Area Shift Foremen, in charge of all plant operations on this shift, they are also experts in first-aid.
Don Olson, above, Joe Scullin, Bill Brewer, Clarence Parke rotate weekly on mail delivery. They make 5 tours daily in the plant, handle 140 bags of mail, and stay slim with 75 trips up and down stairs.
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FROM THE FACTORY MANAGER
DEAR FELLOW EMPLOYEE:
This year we have been pushing the slogan “SAFETY IS MY RESPONSIBILITY.” It seems to me that our success to date is in developing the attitude that “everybody is responsible for my safety.” It’s about time that we face up to our own responsibility for safety.
I’ve heard too much of, “you didn’t fix this” or, “why should I do it that way, so and so doesn’t.” Or, the old favorite, “I’ve been doing this for twenty years and nothing has happened to me.” These are, at best, just excuses.
We have to face up to the basic fact that each man is primarily responsible for his own safety. Management’s responsibility extends to providing the proper tools and equipment, protective devices and giving safe operating procedures and instructions.
Beyond this point, supervision can’t make a man safe if he doesn’t act safely. This is particularly true in our plant where each man works with a great deal of responsibility for his own work.
Recently, I read some criticism concerning companies where protective equipment wasn’t furnished to employees. Let’s take a look at our plant. UNIROYAL provides hard hats, safety glasses, goggles, safety shoes, gloves and other protective equipment, and yet too many employees take the attitude of “let’s see if we can make them force us to wear this stuff.” What kind of a game is this for men to be playing?
Don’t you think it’s about time for you to quit playing Russian Roulette with your SAFETY? I sincerely hope you will think this over and agree for your family’s sake.
Best regards,
[Signature]
John D. Evans
CHEM-TEXTS Vol. 3 No. 7
Little known but important is the job of sorting tubes and removing brass wastes in Reclaim production. Left to right are Hilda Moura, Linda Oliveira, Amelia Francisco, in rear is Ascenso Fonseca.
Responsibility, Reliability
Hand in hand with job responsibility is reliability. Knowing that an employee will perform his job conscientiously. For example, suppose the Control Laboratory did not evaluate the quality of a product properly before it was shipped to a customer. Shipping it would affect the profit of the product since it will be returned by the customer and transportation and rework costs must be absorbed by the Company. To some degree every department in the plant is affected by a chain-like interdepartmental reaction: Purchasing must supply new packages; Production must rework and repack-
age the material. Materials Handling must unload the returned product and store it in the warehouse; Billing must issue a credit; Sales must satisfy the customer’s complaint and possibly lose a long standing one; and Distribution/Scheduling must reschedule production and arrange for warehousing the material.
Profits Lost
It’s evident that every employee’s job is important in the profitable operation of the plant. If each person performs it well he will be contributing not only to his own, but to every other employee’s job security and to the plant’s successful operation.
Defective instruments affect product quality. Martin Cherrius, Mechanical Dept. repairs critical level band in Reclaim as Larry Rinaldi watches.
Floors are cleaned, waxed and buffed every night by the Janitors to keep offices clean and neat. Don Fuller, lnet group leader, advises Joao De Campos as he cleans floor in Bldg. 84.
Testing the quality of OXAF before it is shipped to customer is Edith Evans, left, and Margaret Sweeney of the Quality Control Lab. In background is Janet Lenaian.
SAFETY IS MY RESPONSIBILITY
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KNOW YOUR BENEFITS: by W. Kirkendall
Some Questions And Answers On Bereavement Pay Benefits
The bereavement pay ben- / efit is one of the many dif- / ferent benefits which Uniroyal / gives to people employed at a / plant where a United Rubber / Workers Union exist. At the / Naugatuck plant there are two / URW locals: Local 218 covers / the Chemical and Reclaim / plants; and Local 308 covers / the Synthetic plant. This / benefit applies only to the / wage members of the two / locals.
In 1968 Uniroyal contri- / buted $318,303 in Bereave- / ment Pay Benefits to em- / ployees working in plants / covered by the United Rubber / Workers Union contract.
Q. When can I qualify for / bereavement pay?
A. An employee who is ab- / sent from work after 3 days / from date of hire because of / the death of a member of his / immediate family, or a depen- / dent who lives in the house- / hold, shall be paid his straight / time average hourly earnings, / if an incentive worker or his / current hourly rate of pay / work for time lost from his / regularly scheduled shift.
Q. How many days’ pay do I / receive?
A. You shall be paid (3) con- / secutive working days. It is / understood the 3 days of paid / bereavement pay shall be re- / lated in time to the death for / which such payment is made.
Applies To Your / Immediate Family
Q. Who is immediate family?
A. Immediate family is de- / fined to mean husband, wife, / father, mother, grandfather, / grandmother, brother, sister, / or the employee’s children. / The foregoing intended to / cover legal as well as blood / relationships.
Q. Are uncles, aunts, nieces, / nephews and cousins covered / under bereavement pay?
A. No. They are not members / of the immediate family.
Safety Contest Winner Named
Cliff German distributes tither bags to the Plastics Compounding and Physical Testing groups for winning the Safety Contest in June. Left to right are Cliff German, Manny Andrade, Joyce Lockwood, Nick Ticione, and John Wanda, 1969 employees, who were awarded prizes in the contest for no lost time accidents or serious injuries in June.
by Bob Short
The Safety Department / announced the winner in the / new plant Safety Contest. / The contest is similar to last / year’s “free coffee” awards / which were distributed to / members of departments com- / pleting a full month without / a lost-time accident or a serious / injury.
In this new Safety Prize / program there is an added / 33 Join U.S. Bond Plan
The annual U.S. Savings / Bond and Freedom Share / drive which was recently / concluded saw 33 employees / purchase Bonds and Shares / through the thrifty, systemic / payroll plan. Twenty-one in- / creased their participation / in the plan. The total number / now enrolled in the plan is / 595 or 35% of the plant em- / ployees. Company-wide parti- / cipation in the U.S. Savings / Bond plan is approximately / 52% with some Uniroyal / plants participating 100%.
Appointments / Announced
Ken Stewart has been / named Sales Manager for / Plasticisic ABS division, the / Chemical division’s leading / plastic producer.
John Murray assumes the / position of Acting Credit / Manager for Uniroyal Chemi- / cal.
SAFETY IS MY RESPONSIBILITY
Marge Lasky, left, of Reclaim R & D signs herself and Rufus Lydon to purchase U.S. Savings Bonds.
A committee of seventy- / three canvassers, organized / in different sections of the / plant and sales headquar- / ters, contacted all employees / during the drive. Two depart- / ments deserve special recog- / nition for employee partici- / pation during the drive: Re- / claim Production and Reclaim / Research and Development. / Anyone may still join the / payroll deduction plan any- / time during the year by con- / tacting his foreman or super- / visor.
No July / Accidents
For the first time this year, / no lost time accidents or seri- / ous injuries took place in the / plant. Hopefully, July is the be- / ginning of another 1,000,000 / manhours worked without a / lost time accident which was / achieved in 1968.
With every employee’s / personal involvement in fol- / lowing the safety rules re- / quired in the different plant / areas and in his particular / job, a 1,000,000 manhours / can be reached again.
The most important person / in continuing this encourag- / ing trend is YOU. Only YOU / can help prevent accidents to / yourself and the people you / work with in your area.
LATE FLASH
A Chemical operator, not / wearing his safety goggles, / was splashed with caustic / acid for a serious injury, mar- / ring our August record.
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New Union President
Sam Blancato who was recently burned in a plant accident is well on the road to recovery at the Waterbury Hospital. Sam and his family express their sincere thanks to the many employees who sent him cards, letters and gifts. It’s times like this, Sam pointed out, that you measure your real wealth by the many friends you have.
Anxious to return to work soon, Sam will be in the hospital a short time more for skin grafts. Meanwhile, he looks forward to receiving letters from his many friends in the plant.
Leon Raskauskas recently became President of Local 308, United Rubber Workers which represents the Synthetic plant. Leon replaces Joe Archauskas who resigned as president for reason of health. Before his new appointment, Leon had been Vice-President and had served as President of Local 308.
Blancato Improving
Denise Pratt, an R & D Analyst, is the proud owner of the Brown Belt. She plans to obtain the Black Belt, a unique distinction in Judo for a woman. Denise has become so expert in Judo that she now teaches a beginner’s course at the Y.W.C.A. in Waterbury. Judo, the “gentle way”, is an art practiced as a sport, based on the ancient methods of barelhanded fighting. It’s a form of wrestling, requiring a special uniform to practice in and may be engaged in by both young and old, male and female.
Judo, which should not be confused with Karate, has a fourfold purpose: 1) physical development; 2) proficiency in a controlled mental development; and 3) the law of minimum effort for maximum efficiency.
A knowledge of Japanese words such as Ukemi, Kata, Uchikomi, Randori, Hidari, Shizentai is also required to result in an unexpected flip over the shoulder, and a sudden fall on the ground.
600 Deaths Over Labor Day Weekend
Safety seems ignored over the three-day weekends of national holidays. The July 4th weekend caused more than 600 deaths on the highways. Predictions for the long Labor Day weekend estimate another 600 deaths will occur on the highways, by drownings and other types of accidents.
Take safety awareness with you when you travel. Your life, your family’s life, and the lives of others are in your hands. By driving defensively – expecting that the other driver will do something wrong – by not following too closely in case of an unexpected stop by the car in front; by not speeding (it may mean a stiff fine and loss of license); and by checking your car and tires carefully, an accident will be less likely to happen to you and your family.
Watch your young children, especially when swimming, boating or fishing. Their curious minds and tendency to stray can cause you many anxious moments and spoil your holiday.
Your safety is in your hands and by expecting the unexpected happening during the Labor Day weekend, you can avoid an accident that may mean serious injury to you and your family.
[image caption]
Denise Pratt demonstrates Judo to a student at the Y.W.C.A. where she teaches a beginner’s course in the “gentle way.”
[image caption]
This fatal accident wiped out an entire family – the mother, father and three small children. Your life, your family’s, and the lives of other people depend upon your safe driving on the highway.
Judo Brown Belt Held by Denise Pratt
Denise Pratt, an R & D Analyst, is the proud owner of the Brown Belt. She plans to obtain the Black Belt, a unique distinction in Judo for a woman. Denise has become so expert in Judo that she now teaches a beginner’s course at the Y.W.C.A. in Waterbury. Judo, the “gentle way”, is an art practiced as a sport, based on the ancient methods of barelhanded fighting. It’s a form of wrestling, requiring a special uniform to practice in and may be engaged in by both young and old, male and female.
Judo, which should not be confused with Karate, has a fourfold purpose: 1) physical development; 2) proficiency in a controlled mental development; and 3) the law of minimum effort for maximum efficiency.
A knowledge of Japanese words such as Ukemi, Kata, Uchikomi, Randori, Hidari, Shizentai is also required to result in an unexpected flip over the shoulder, and a sudden fall on the ground.
[image caption]
Doug Ritchie, Group Leader, left, admires Denise Pratt’s brown belt in Judo. Watching at right is Warren Singleton, Finished Products Supervisor.
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