safety

No Violence As Management Crosses Lines

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No Violence As Management Crosses Lines

By Ruth Nichols

Police were alerted early this morning when it was noticed that an unusually large number of pickets were massing at the gates of the Chemical Division of UniRoyal, Inc.

An attempt was made by approximately 30 pickets to keep management of the Chemical Division from entering the plant.

A large contingent of policemen, led by Capt. Joseph Summa, was dispatched to the trouble area. Capt. Summa read the riot act to the pickets when they refused to open their ranks to allow management through.

However, there was no violence committed by the pickets in their attempt to seal off the gates.

A group of eight pickets, including Joseph Rzeszutek, president of Local 218, URW, were taken to the police station in patrol cars where they were booked on breach of peace charges at 8 o’clock this morning. No resistance was offered.

Rzeszutek said this morning that the union had been notified that the company intended to resume production yesterday using supervisory personnel.

Rzeszutek issued the following statement on behalf of the Local: “The membership questioned the poor judgment of management’s decision to operate equipment with personnel unfamiliar with operation procedure and safety hazards involved. Serious accidents occur with experienced operators at the control of equipment and with a full compliment of people who were fortunate to contain hazardous situations.”

Rzeszutek continued by saying, “Operating production equipment with inexperienced personnel and only skeleton crews presents definite hazards

to townspeople in the area sur- rounding the Naugatuck Chemi- cal plant. It exposes all to the possibility of explosion or dead- ly gases being released in the atmosphere.

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to townspeople in the area surrounding the Naugatuck Chemical plant. It exposes all to the possibility of explosion or deadly gasses being released in the atmosphere.”

He concluded with the statement that betterment of safety and progress at the Naugatuck Chemical plant has been the main concern of Local 218 in past years.

John Evans, manager of the Chemical Division, said this morning that no violence occurred at the gates this morning. He said the company was forced to resume production to serve key accounts which include defense contracts.

He had no comment to make on the union statement as to the danger of inexperienced people operating equipment.

Evans and Ronald Pohl, labor relations manager at the Chemical Division, conferred with Police Chief Frank Mariano early this morning. No information on this meeting was released.

Local 218 has been maintaining around-the-clock picket lines at the Chemical since the beginning of the strike 35-days ago. The normal picket line has been three or four men throughout the period, with Cy Blanchard, vice president of the Local in charge while Rzeszutek was in Cincinnati participating in the negotiation sessions.

Negotiations are continuing in Cincinnati today with strong rumors circulating the borough that settlement is imminent. No confirmation has been made as to this, however.

The following eight pickets were booked at 8 a.m. at the police station on breach of peace charges. They were released under the no cash bond program for appearance in Waterbury Circuit Court June 8.

Albert R. Lestage, 37, 85 Vernon St., Waterbury; Tano

Evans, in answer to these charges issued the following statement:

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Evans, in answer to these charges issued the following statement:

Evans, in answer to these
charges issued the following
statement: “We consider the
safety of all personnel in the
plant as well as that of the
residents of Naugatuck to be the
first consideration of manage-
ment in all decisions regarding
operations, regardless of cir-
cumstance.”

“At the present time oper-
ations are limited in scope and

are being achieved by crews completely familiar in all operating procedure and safety practices.

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are being achieved by crews completely familiar in all operating procedure and safety practices.

are being achieved by crews
completely familiar in all oper-
ating procedure and safety
practices.”

“Indeed, these personnel are
normally responsible for the
training and direction of the
regular operators.”

Rzeszutek also said yester-
day that he is considering ask-
ing the membership of Local
218 at their next meeting to no
longer honor withdrawal cards
of personnel who have salaried
positions.

He said the union considers
these people “undesirable for
readmittance to the Local in the
event they are removed from
salary.”

Evans said yesterday, that the plant was forced to start production in order to service key accounts which include defense contracts.

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Evans said yesterday, that the plant was forced to start production in order to service key accounts which include defense contracts.

Evans said yesterday, that
the plant was forced to start
production in order to service
key accounts which include de-
fense contracts.

An issue was raised yester-
day by Joseph Rzeszutek, pres-
ident of Local 218, as to the
safety of management oper-
ating production especially with
skeleton crews.

The striking Local circulated
handbills to this effect around
the borough yesterday.

Union officials said, “The union wishes to set the record straight on the qualifications of the supervisory personnel who operate the process equipment.”

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Union officials said, “The union wishes to set the record straight on the qualifications of the supervisory personnel who operate the process equipment.

“Mr. John Evans, plant manager, stated that the supervisory personnel normally train the regular operators, when in fact, new or transferred operators are trained by qualified operators from the bargaining unit.

“Mr. Evans’ consideration for the safety of personnel, as well as the residents of Naugatuck, can be refuted by the fact that in some instances, it had taken months to force the company to correct safety hazards in the plant. It also has been necessary to resort to grievance procedure and use of the extreme measure of refusing to operate some process equipment.

“The inaccurate statements made by the factory manager of the Chemical can be attributed to his inexperience, due to the fact that he was only recently appointed to the post of factory manager,” the official claimed.

Questioned Decision

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Questioned Decision

Alves questioned the decision of the management, criticizing its actions in attempting production with “unskilled personnel.” The union president further asserted that because of the “danger of work involved at the plant, a disaster could occur, not only endangering the lives and property of those in close proximity to the plant, but to also those in the neighborhood.”

Alves said the union has contacted the insurance company on whether they had been informed of the production work by the unskilled personnel and reported the insurance company had not been notified to date. He said periodic inspections are conducted at the plant due to the nature of work involved.

Third Plant Involved

The mass picketing at the Synthetic Plant, makes the third plant of the Uniroyal company to be involved since the three plants were struck 41 days ago.

Both Locals 218 of the Chemical and 308 of Synthetic Plants have maintained around-the-clock picketing since the beginning of the strike.

CHEM-TEXTS – Page 2

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Page 237

CHEM-TEXTS

Page 2

The thought of Christmas brings several things to mind. One is snow—and that speaks for itself; another is “that ole Christmas spirit” which unfortunately seems to come to many people only once a year; and another is safety.

We’ve all heard the expression before—have a safe Christmas. Well, here at the plant, I hope we all have a safe Christmas this year and next, and come to think of it, why not all the days in between. You all know that at Naugatuck we have just passed the milestone of working two million, that’s 2,000,000, manhours without a Lost Time Accident. We haven’t done that since 1961. That’s a tremendous and significant accomplishment and we should all be proud, and pleased, about it. After attaining this performance, I strangely found myself asking—”why has it taken us so long?” I ask myself, “why can’t we just keep on going?”

Jim Cronin [signature]

Wouldn’t that be a great Christmas present next year, working through all of 1976 without a Lost Time Accident. Strange as it may seem, this is one goal that is essentially under our full control. We can’t blame this on the Legislature in Hartford or the Congress in Washington—not even on the Governor or President. This is something that we, as employees of Uniroyal Chemical at Naugatuck, Conn., can claim full responsibility. It is, in a nut shell, strictly up to us.

Somehow, a happy Christmas helps to strengthen us. If we could minimize our exposure to accidents—at work, at home, on the road—we would, I’m sure, enjoy the spiritual and material joys of Christmastime even more. To attain this, we must not only be more aware of our own safety, but we must make others, particularly our family, more aware of their exposure to accidents. We have already seen how working together has reduced accidents and improved safety in the plant. We should instill this same positive attitude within our own family. Then we’ve really accomplished something.

With all this in mind, I would like to wish you and your families a very Merry, and Safe Christmas, and for next year, the return of reasonable prosperity.

Christmas in the Plant

[IMAGE: Photo of trees/spruces near a building]

In 1971, ninety five Colorado spruces were planted along the bank of the Naugatuck river; another 75 were planted in 1973. Besides improving the appearance of the plant, the trees add a touch of Christmas at this time of year. Naugatuck Chemical is probably the only industrial factory in the area with such a touch of green on its property. Over 100 hemlocks surround the scrap tire yard and 60 spreading yews were recently planted by the Main Entrance.

Diploma Awarded

[IMAGE: Photo of woman and man looking at documents]

Theresa Martin, an Order Clerk, in the D/S department plans to continue her education at the Mattatuck Community College in a Business related course. She is one of several Naugatuck Chemical people who have fulfilled the requirements for a high school equivalency diploma, which she is showing to Alex Nole.

The Industrial Relations department has a set of preparation books for the tests and may be borrowed at any time.

Survey Team Studies Noise

A survey was recently made of the noise factors in over 129 buildings throughout the plant by Thomas Ennis, Engineering, and James Loman of the Safety Dept. in compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA).

The purpose of the study was to determine the range of noise problems that may exist in each section or floor of a building in the plant. Basing their measurements on engineering procedures, they recorded over 875 noise soundings which are kept on file in the Safety department.

The results have been given to the department heads of the buildings who in turn consult the plant Engineering department for recommendations to diminish or eliminate the noise level in compliance with OSHA.

In areas where the level is higher than desirable, people working in the area are urged to wear the proper protective equipment until the condition is remedied.

Accidents Cost Over $100,000

Accidents in 1975 cost over $100,000. During the year there were 3 Lost Time Injuries and 26 Serious Injuries for a total of 29. Although this is a major improvement over the hospital, surgical, and medical costs of $238,359 in 1974 and prior years when injuries cost over $200,000 annually, it still represents a severe drain on the plant’s financial condition.

The average direct cost of a Lost Time accident is $15,000. Overtime and other indirect costs increase it 5 times more, according to estimates of the National Safety Council and the Safety department.

Accidents Can Be Avoided

Eighty-five percent of the injuries in the plant are person-caused. Not that the accidents are deliberate, but they could have been avoided by a greater safety awareness. Many of them are caused by “taking chances” or “short cuts” or by not using the proper safety equipment or procedures.

Fingers were the most common injuries, accounting for half of the 29 accidents that occurred during the year. All of them required sutures.

But incomparable to the medical and hospital costs is the unnecessary suffering to the employee, his family, and the people in the department of which the employee is a member.

$1,116 Paid for Ideas

[IMAGE: Photo of three men, one receiving a check]

Russell Volz, center, Chemical Production, receives a $286.00 check from James Cronin, Factory Manager, for his Idea that saved $2750.00 a year in valves. At right is Frank Commendatore.

$9,449 Savings

Twenty people received $1116.00 for Ideas submitted during the year recommending different ways to save money in the operation of the plant.

The Ideas resulted in savings of $9449.00 at the Naugatuck location.

The highest award for the year $286.00 went to Russell Volz, Chemical Production, for reducing the number of valves used in the manufacture of J-Z-F. His idea resulted in a savings of $2750.

Another high award of $186.00 was made to Emil Rehel and Raymond Kubick, Chemical Maintenance, plus an additional $100. in small awards.

continued on page 3

Eric Johnson Named Chemical Superintendent

Eric Johnson has been named Superintendent of Chemical Production.

He joined the Naugatuck Chemical plant in 1961 upon graduation from Clarkson College with a B.Ch.E. degree. He held several Engineering positions until 1968 when he was appointed General Foreman of Synthetic Production. In 1971 he was named Chief Process Engineer for Chemical Production and in 1973 was assigned to the Naugatuck Treatment Co. a subsidiary of Uniroyal, Inc.

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[IMAGE: Tire illustration]

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